What it is
Developers often keep instructions for AI coding tools in their GitHub repository: GitHub Copilot, Claude, Gemini and other tools read them. When ARVO Studio writes code for the same app, those instructions should never be ignored without anyone knowing.
So ARVO always tells you when a linked repository has such rule files. If you switch it on, ARVO also follows them, after its built-in rules and the ARVO Studio coding standards, which win where they disagree.
Which files ARVO looks for
ARVO reads them in this order, which is also the order the AI gets them in:
| Order | File | Where | Counted when |
| 1 | AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md | The app’s own folder | Always |
| 2 | Files ending in .instructions.md | .github/instructions, and folders up to three levels below | Their applyTo line could reach a file ARVO writes in the app’s folder |
| 3 | copilot-instructions.md | .github | Always |
| 4 | AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md | The top of the repository, when the app has a folder of its own | Always |
ARVO writes AL, app.json, and the app’s scripts, styles, layouts and translations. So an instructions file for **/*.al or **/*.js counts, even in a repository with no code yet. One for **/*.ts (TypeScript) never does, and neither does one with no applyTo line, which GitHub does not apply by itself either.
ARVO never counts:
- its own standards file for Copilot (arvo-standards….instructions.md, or any file marked as managed by ARVO Studio);
- REVIEW.md, which is advice for reviewers;
- files in other apps’ folders.
The warning
The warning needs only GitHub Integration and a project linked to a repository. It shows even while ARVO does not use the files:
- On the project card. When the card opens, ARVO reads the repository if the branch has moved. A notice names the files, and GitHub Repository Coding Rules on the GitHub tab lists them in red. Coding Rules Read At Commit, under Show more, says which commit ARVO read. Choose the field to read the repository again on the spot.
- On the receipt. A GITHUB REPOSITORY CODING RULES section lists the files and says whether ARVO follows them.
- In ARVO’s pull requests. The description has a “GitHub repository coding rules” paragraph, so reviewers in GitHub see it too.
A rule file is never a change to the app’s code: adding, changing or removing one never shows up as a developer change to bring in.
Follow the files: Use GitHub Repository Coding Rules
- In ARVO Studio Setup, turn on Use GitHub Repository Coding Rules in the GitHub group. It needs GitHub Integration and Use Coding Standards on.
- The project’s own Use Coding Standards must be on too.
ARVO then keeps a read-only copy of each file. Choose GitHub Repository Coding Rules on the project card to see them on the GitHub Repository Coding Rules – Project page:
- Each copy shows the repository, the path, the commit it was read at, and GitHub’s fingerprint of its content.
- When a developer changes a file, the next reading makes a new version, and the old one becomes Superseded. A removed file is Retired.
- Nothing on a copy can be changed in ARVO: change or remove the file in GitHub instead.
- Each copy is checked for conflicts like an uploaded document, against this project’s own prefix and object range.
ARVO reads the files again when the branch has moved, and before Generate, Regenerate and a pull request. Every run records the version and commit of each file it carried, on its trail, on the receipt and in its pull request.
Good to know
- Who wins. ARVO’s built-in rules come first, then the project’s settings and the ARVO Studio coding standards, then the repository’s files. Between two repository files, the earlier one in the order above wins.
- Switching off. With the switch off, ARVO only warns: nothing from the repository goes to the AI. Turning the switch on or off makes ARVO read every linked repository again.
- Copilot reads them too. GitHub Copilot uses the same files when it reviews ARVO’s pull requests, so keep them in line with your ARVO Studio coding standards.