AGENTS.md – Definition (for Code and for Stores)
AGENTS.md is a Markdown file of instructions for AI agents. In a code repository it tells coding agents how to build and test the project. On an online store, /agents.md tells shopping agents what the store sells, how to search and buy, and where the policies are – and since May 2026 Shopify serves it on every store as its main agent file.
A README written for AI agents – and, on stores, the file that tells them which policies to quote.
Two files with one name
AGENTS.md in a code repository | /agents.md on a store | |
|---|---|---|
| Reader | Coding agents working on the code | Shopping and assistant agents visiting the shop |
| Content | Build commands, tests, code style, rules | What the shop sells, how to search, cart and check out, and the policies |
| Where | Repository root | Site root, https://shop.example/agents.md |
| Who drives it | The open agents.md format, read by many coding agents and stewarded by the Agentic AI Foundation at the Linux Foundation | Shopify, which serves it on every store |
What Shopify did
In May 2026 Shopify started serving /agents.md on every storefront and made it the canonical agent-discovery document. /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt now mirror it by default. Merchants can customise it with an agents.md.liquid theme template. That is what turned a convention into an expectation for ecommerce.
What a good store agents.md says
- What the store sells, in two or three sentences.
- How an agent should search the catalogue, and which structured endpoints exist – a UCP profile, an MCP server, a product feed.
- Links to the policies an agent must quote: delivery, returns, privacy. This is the part most files miss.
- Contact and support.
Keep it short. A few hundred lines of clear Markdown beats a dump of the catalogue. Policies are the important part: an agent that cannot find your refund window will summarise it from memory, and that is how wrong return terms end up in front of shoppers.
On Magento
Magento does not serve /agents.md out of the box. You can add it as a static file or a CMS route. The angeo AEO audit checks it as the agents_md signal: whether the file exists, is long enough to be useful, and links delivery, returns and privacy.
Questions
- What is AGENTS.md?
- A Markdown file with instructions for AI agents. In code repositories it guides coding agents; on online stores, as /agents.md, it tells shopping agents what the store sells, how to use it and where its policies are.
- What does Shopify’s agents.md do?
- Since May 2026 Shopify serves /agents.md on every store as the canonical agent-discovery document. /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt mirror it by default.
- Is agents.md the same as llms.txt?
- No. llms.txt is a map of key pages. A store’s agents.md is an operating manual for agents: how to search, cart and check out, and which policies apply. On Shopify, llms.txt mirrors agents.md by default.
- What should a store’s agents.md contain?
- A short description, how to search and which structured endpoints exist, links to delivery, returns and privacy policies, and contact details.
- Does Magento support agents.md?
- Not out of the box. Add it as a static file or a CMS route at /agents.md.
Related
- llms.txt – definition
- llms-full.txt – definition
- A2A Agent Card – definition
- Merchant of record – definition
- Shopify vs Magento for AI commerce