Agent Instructions for ModelOpt

These instructions apply to AI-assisted work in this repository.

Repository orientation

Start with README.md for project overview and install.
Use modelopt/ for source, tests/ for focused test coverage, and examples/ or docs/ for usage patterns.
Agent skills and shared config live under .agents/ — the canonical, agent-agnostic source of truth (.agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md, .agents/scripts/, .agents/clusters.yaml.example). Claude Code's .claude/skills, .claude/scripts, and .claude/clusters.yaml.example are relative symlinks into .agents/. Always edit files under .agents/, not the symlink path. See .agents/README.md for the convention.

Coding guide: Code development and review require reading and following the coding standards in CONTRIBUTING.md; do not skip this step.
Use relative paths from the repo root in commands and file references.

Running tests: Follow the writing and running tests instructions. For fast initial iteration, choose focused tests for the changed area from tests/.
Running pre-commit: Follow the pre-commit hook instructions. Hooks may modify files; review and re-stage those changes before committing.
Signed commit: Use git commit -s -S -m "<message>" for commits so they follow the signing your work requirements.
Never git push without explicit approval in the current turn. Commit locally is fine; publishing to a remote is not.
After git commit, stop and wait for the user to say "push", "publish", "ship", or equivalent before running git push, gh pr create, or any push-option flags like -o merge_request.create.

Before opening or marking a PR ready for review, read the submitting your code guidance.
Read .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md and satisfy the checklist.