Claude Code reads AGENTS.md only when telemetry is on [fixed]
- ID
- 27765
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 23 Sep 2026, 8:15 PM
- Fetched
- 24 Sep 2026, 4:22 AM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://blog.szypowi.cz/p/claude-code-reads-agents.md-only-when-telemetry-is-on/
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 7.5
- Created
- 24 Sep 2026, 4:22 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersai_agent_users
What happened
Claude Code 2.1.277+ added AGENTS.md support, but the loader is gated behind a remote feature flag (tengu_agents_md_mod) that defaults to false. If you set DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 or CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1, the flag can't be fetched and AGENTS.md is silently skipped with no warning. The author confirmed this with canary-word tests and found a session-level override that clears both env vars works from the second session onward.
Why it matters
If you use AGENTS.md for project instructions and keep telemetry off (as many privacy-conscious devs do), your instructions are being silently ignored right now. Either switch to CLAUDE.md (which loads without the flag) or use the session-level override: claude --settings '{"env":{"DISABLE_TELEMETRY":"","CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC":""}}'. Don't assume your AGENTS.md is being read just because the file exists.
Discussion angle
This is a concrete example of local-first features being silently broken by remote feature flags — worth discussing how to audit whether your AI coding assistant is actually loading your project instructions, and whether CLAUDE.md is the safer default for now.