diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 90ef219e..64d86646 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ jobs:
         # current. This found two dead references to a workflow and a makefile
         # that the CI split had already removed.
         if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
-        run: python3 scripts/check-skill-refs.py
+        run: python3 scripts/check-skill-refs.py AGENTS.md
 
       # What follows needs LINT_PKGS, and the three checks that use it read
       # only C sources, the style file, and the .ci scripts that implement
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fc599e50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Working on elfuse
+
+elfuse runs Linux ELF binaries from the macOS shell: each guest runs in a
+Hypervisor.framework VM the `elfuse` process owns, and Linux syscalls are
+translated to macOS behavior in host-side handlers rather than served by a
+kernel. `README.md` states the scope and the limitations, `docs/internals.md`
+the design, `docs/testing.md` the build and lane requirements.
+
+This file routes. It restates nothing that is settled elsewhere, because a
+rule copied to a second place is a rule that can drift.
+
+## Before writing C
+
+`CONTRIBUTING.md` is the tracked style guide and it wins over everything
+here. Read it rather than working from a memory of typical C style: several
+of its rules are not the common default.
+
+## The skills
+
+The conventions `CONTRIBUTING.md` does not cover live in `.claude/skills/`,
+reachable as `.agents/skills/` as well. Each directory holds one SKILL.md
+whose description states when it applies; read the one covering the change
+before making it, not after review asks for it.
+
+- `elfuse-conventions`: comments, commit messages, PR text, `docs/`, naming,
+  atomics, and the prose register every written surface obeys.
+- `elfuse-syscall`: adding or changing a Linux syscall, the translation
+  boundary, `src/syscall/dispatch.tbl`, fd classes, lock order.
+- `elfuse-guest-abi`: HVC calls, the EL1 shim, page tables, TLBI, and
+  anything that changes what the guest observes on return.
+- `elfuse-verify`: which lanes an area needs, the test matrix, and the
+  Frama-C proof targets.
+- `elfuse-security`: the guest as an attacker, and what a handler on the
+  trust boundary owes.
+- `elfuse-debug`: a guest that faults, hangs, or answers the wrong errno.
+- `elfuse-refactor`: behavior-preserving cleanup of code that works.
+- `elfuse-skills`: editing these skill files themselves.
+
+## Gates
+
+`make check` builds, runs the tests, and runs the checkers. `make indent`
+formats and `make check-format` verifies without rewriting; between them
+they settle most review comments before they are written.
+
+Run what the change touched before calling the work done, and say what ran
+and what it reported; effort is not a finding. `elfuse-verify` settles which
+lanes an area needs, and which of them skip rather than fail when a tool is
+missing.
+
+## Prose
+
+Two rules bind before the first sentence. Source comments and commit
+messages are ASCII with no markdown syntax, which `make check-ascii` and the
+commit-message hook enforce. The em dash (U+2014) is banned on every surface,
+including the ones no gate reaches: `docs/`, PR bodies, and review replies. A
+spaced double hyphen carries the same register rather than avoiding it.
+
+The rest of the machine register, effort claims and inflation words and
+prompt echo among them, is defined once in
+`.claude/skills/elfuse-conventions/references/prose-register.md`. A PR thread
+is a technical discussion between people; walkthroughs, status tables, and
+replies that hand the choice back to the reviewer are rejected on sight.
+
+## Files that are not yours
+
+Untracked working docs at the repo root or under `.claude/` belong to
+whoever put them there. Never `git add`, commit, stage, gitignore, or delete
+another person's: untracked and visible in `git status` is deliberate.
+Anything that has to survive a fresh clone belongs in `CONTRIBUTING.md`,
+`docs/`, or a skill.
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
new file mode 120000
index 00000000..47dc3e3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+AGENTS.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mk/tests.mk b/mk/tests.mk
index 3555ba3d..adbfd194 100644
--- a/mk/tests.mk
+++ b/mk/tests.mk
@@ -97,10 +97,10 @@ check-svc-tails:
 	@python3 scripts/check-svc-tails.py --self-test
 	@python3 scripts/check-svc-tails.py
 
-## Verify every path, target, and section the skills name still resolves
+## Verify every path, target, and section the skills and AGENTS.md name resolve
 check-skill-refs:
 	@python3 scripts/check-skill-refs.py --self-test
-	@python3 scripts/check-skill-refs.py
+	@python3 scripts/check-skill-refs.py AGENTS.md
 
 define RUN_OPTIONAL_SKIP77
 	@set -e; \
diff --git a/scripts/check-skill-refs.py b/scripts/check-skill-refs.py
index 1203305d..8e850a36 100755
--- a/scripts/check-skill-refs.py
+++ b/scripts/check-skill-refs.py
@@ -555,9 +555,9 @@ def main():
             SKILL_DIR.glob("*/references/*.md")
         )
 
-    # A routing file is checked the same way, but only when its owner names
-    # it: whether one exists is local to a working copy. It is checked even in
-    # a clone with no skills directory, where its references rot fastest.
+    # A routing file is checked the same way, when named: AGENTS.md is the
+    # tracked one and a working copy may name its own. It is checked even in a
+    # clone with no skills directory, where its references rot fastest.
     for extra in sys.argv[1:]:
         path = pathlib.Path(extra)
         if not path.is_absolute():