Give Snotra rules

Since 1.30 A rule says what to do in a situation: when you write a commit message, write it in English. Snotra keeps rules in rules files — small Markdown files it reads with every message and follows when the situation arises, in this project or in every folder.

A fact goes into the memory, a step-by-step procedure into a skill. A rule sits between them: it is not something that is true, and it is not a whole task — it is a condition and what to do then.

What you need

A text editor. For rules of one project, an open folder.

Steps

1. Create a folder rules and a file in it whose name is the rule’s name — lower case, digits and dashes, ending in .md:

   • for this project: .agents/rules/commit-messages.md in the open folder,
   • for every folder: ~/.snotra/rules/commit-messages.md in your home folder.

2. Write when the rule applies at the top, and the rule below it:

   ---
   description: When you write a commit message
   ---
   
   - Write it in English, in the imperative.
   - Link the issue with "Closes #…".

3. For a rule whose condition holds all the time — when you answer me, answer in German — add always: true below the description.

From the next message on, the rule applies.

You don’t have to write the file yourself: ask Snotra to remember a rule — remember: when you write a commit message, write it in English — and it proposes the rules file, its description and whether it applies always, on a card you approve. See Let Snotra remember.

What happens

• A rule with always: true goes along with every message in full.
• Every other rule goes along as one line: its name and its description. When Snotra comes to a step that matches the description, it fetches the rule and follows it — before that step, not only at the start. The chat shows Rule commit-messages (project) when it does.
• A file without a description still counts: Snotra takes its first heading, or its first line, as the description. A description that says when works better than one that says what.
• Each list item is one rule. A date at the start of a line — - 2026-10-31 — … — says how old it is.
• Rules files are also read from ~/.agents/rules/, where other tools keep theirs. A file of the same name in ~/.snotra/rules/ takes precedence.
• Since 1.30 Settings › Knowledge marks rules that read like an episode, that are nearly the same as another rule or a memory entry, or that are older than 180 days, and two files of a level whose names differ only slightly (commit, commits). The rules of a file with hints sit behind 1 entry with a hint on its row; Merge… moves the rules of one file into the other, without the ones it already has, and removes the emptied file. Files in ~/.agents/rules/ belong to the other tools and are not changed. See Hints on entries.

When rules disagree

What you say in the chat wins over every rule. Between two rules, the one with the more specific condition wins, then the newer one. When a rule of the project and one of your own say different things in the same situation, Snotra tells you and asks — it does not pick one quietly. A project’s rules can come with a repository you cloned; they never outweigh what you say.

See and switch off rules

Settings › Knowledge › Rules shows the rules files of both levels — Project for the open folder, Global · every folder for your own — each with its description, its path and how many characters it holds.

• The switch next to a level, Send the rules: Project, leaves all its files out without deleting them; the switch on a file’s row, Use the rules file commit-messages, leaves out that one file.
• Open opens the file in your editor.
• New rules file asks for the Name and When does it apply?, with a box for Applies in every turn (always), then writes the file with that description and opens it in your editor.

The labels on a row say what Snotra does with the file: Always; Description derived when the file has no description of its own; Shortened when it is over 20,000 characters; Over the always budget — fetched when it applies and Gave way to the knowledge budget when there was not room for all of it; Shadowed by ~/.snotra/rules for a file in ~/.agents/rules/ that has a namesake in ~/.snotra/rules/. Files that are not read are named under their level: in subfolders, past the limit of 50, or with a name that is no rule name. A project rules file that looks as if it hides something from you carries the note Check this file: it may hide instructions from you.

Switches and new files take effect with the next message.

Limits

What	Limit
Files per folder	50; more are not read
Name	64 characters: a–z, 0–9, -
Description	200 characters
One rule file	20,000 characters; a longer one is cut visibly
All always rules of one level	8,000 characters; the newest file over that is fetched when it applies instead

Memory, always rules, AGENTS.md and the list of rules together take at most a quarter of the room a request has. When they need more, the list of rules first shows names only, then the project’s always rules are fetched when they apply, then AGENTS.md is shortened, and last your own always rules are fetched when they apply. Your memory always goes along in full. The breakdown behind the token count in the input field shows each step — see Write a message.

If it doesn’t work

• Snotra ignores the file. Check its name: lower case, no spaces, ending in .md, directly in the rules folder. Files in subfolders are not read.
• Snotra does not follow an on-demand rule. Make the description name the situation: When you open a pull request rather than Pull requests.
• A project’s rules surprise you. A folder you did not write can bring its own rules, like its AGENTS.md. Snotra checks them for signs that they hide something from you and marks such a file in the breakdown — see Project instructions.