Custom Presets¶

Set presets in .ai-rulez/config.toml to control which tools ai-rulez generates for. Most projects use only built-in presets; custom presets cover a tool ai-rulez does not ship.

Built-in Presets¶

Under the default [rules] mode = "split" each rule is written to the tool's rules folder (.claude/rules/, .github/instructions/, .junie/rules/, .agents/rules/, ...) and the root file keeps context. See Rules for the per-preset behaviour in each mode.

mcp is a shared utility preset (the generic .mcp.json) invoked automatically when MCP servers are configured; you normally do not name it.

Custom Presets¶

A custom preset is an inline table in the presets array (you can mix it with built-in names). It has a name, a type (markdown, directory, or json), and a path:

presets = [
  "claude",
  { name = "my-tool", type = "markdown", path = "docs/MY_TOOL.md" },
]

A config that defines only custom presets can use [[presets]] instead:

[[presets]]
name = "my-tool"
type = "markdown"
path = "docs/MY_TOOL.md"

Preset types¶

markdown — renders one file at path. Without a template, ai-rulez renders a default document with a title and the rule and context sections.

[[presets]]
name = "dev-guide"
type = "markdown"
path = "docs/AI_DEVELOPMENT_GUIDE.md"

directory — creates path and writes one markdown file per rule, named after the sanitized rule name (<name>.md). Rules are the only content kind this type emits.

[[presets]]
name = "agent-rules"
type = "directory"
path = ".my-tool/rules"

json — renders one JSON file at path. Without a template, ai-rulez marshals the template data (below) as indented JSON.

[[presets]]
name = "config-json"
type = "json"
path = "config/rules.json"

Templates¶

markdown and json presets accept a template, parsed with Go's text/template. Only Go's built-in template functions are available (len, printf, eq, index, range, with, if, …) — there is no extra function library, so helpers such as where, truncate, sortByPriority, or now are not defined and a template using them fails to parse.

[[presets]]
name = "my-tool"
type = "markdown"
path = "docs/MY_TOOL.md"
template = """
# {{ .Name }}

{{ range .Rules }}
## {{ .Name }}{{ if .Priority }} ({{ .Priority }}){{ end }}

{{ .Content }}
{{ end }}
"""

Template data¶

The template receives:

Each rule/context/skill entry is a map with Name and Content, plus Priority and Targets when the source frontmatter sets them.

Targeting content at a preset¶

Content is filtered to a preset with the file's frontmatter targets, not with inline config. A rule with targets: ["CLAUDE.md"] is only rendered into outputs matching that target, including rules folders and every root file; a rule with no targets goes to every output. A target can be a preset name, root file, path, directory prefix, glob, or *; see Targets.

---
priority: high
targets: ["CLAUDE.md", ".cursor/rules/*"]
---

Guidance that only Claude and Cursor should see.

Ordering¶

Rules and context render in priority order (critical → high → medium → low → minimal) within each section, with name order breaking ties. Pinning a priority in frontmatter is the supported way to influence it.

Combining built-in and custom¶

Because presets is one array, list built-ins and custom presets together:

presets = [
  "claude",
  "cursor",
  { name = "internal-guide", type = "markdown", path = "docs/INTERNAL.md" },
]

Troubleshooting¶

Template fails to parse. A referenced function is not one of Go's built-ins (see above). Remove it or rewrite the logic with range/if.

Output path is wrong. path is relative to the project root and must stay inside it.

Content is empty. Rules may be filtered out by targets; remove the frontmatter for a rule that should appear everywhere.

Next Steps¶

• Configuration: full config reference, including provider specs
• Domains & Profiles: organizing content by team or service