diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 2ea28e1..3a985a1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -70,9 +70,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install lint tools
         run: |
           pip install ruff
-          # lychee is a Rust binary; fetch the prebuilt release.
+          # lychee is a Rust binary; fetch the prebuilt release. The tarball
+          # nests everything under lychee-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/, so strip
+          # that leading directory and extract just the binary.
           curl -sSfL https://github.com/lycheeverse/lychee/releases/latest/download/lychee-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz \
-            | tar -xz -C /usr/local/bin lychee
+            | tar -xz -C /usr/local/bin --strip-components=1 lychee-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lychee
 
       - name: ruff check
         working-directory: autolens_profiling
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bee232c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+# autolens_profiling — Agent Instructions
+
+This repo is the single home for **PyAutoLens performance measurement**: it benchmarks likelihood
+runtime, per-step breakdown, VRAM usage, simulators, and samplers/searches across CPU, laptop GPU,
+and HPC GPU (A100), framed by astronomy instrument (HST, Euclid, JWST, …). It is a collection of
+standalone profiling scripts, **not** an installable package — there is no `pyproject.toml`. These
+are the canonical, agent-agnostic instructions for this repo. The `README.md` is the human-facing
+overview (vision, latest run-times, roadmap); this file is the operational guide.
+
+## Repository Structure
+
+```
+likelihood/             Per-instrument likelihood profile scripts (imaging, interferometer,
+                        datacube, point_source) — import the shared _profile_cli helper
+likelihood_runtime/     Full-pipeline JIT runtime, driven by sweep.py across CPU/GPU/A100 × fp64/mp
+likelihood_breakdown/   Per-step JIT decomposition of a single likelihood config
+vram/                   GPU memory-usage profiling
+instruments/            Instrument definitions (pixel scale, shape) used to frame results
+searches/               Sampler / search profiling (Nautilus first)
+simulators/             Run-time tracking for the PyAutoLens simulators
+latent/                 Latent-variable profiling
+quick_update/           Fast incremental re-profiling helpers
+hpc/                    SLURM submit scripts for the RAL HPC
+results/                Versioned JSON + PNG artifacts (`*_v<YYYY>.<M>.<D>.<PATCH>.{json,png}`)
+config/ dataset/ output/   Config, input data, runtime output
+```
+
+## Running Profiles
+
+Run a script from the repo root. Each profiling script writes a versioned `summary` JSON + PNG pair
+under `results/` whose version string matches the PyAutoLens release that produced the numbers, so
+trends stay inspectable across releases. A script auto-simulates its dataset if missing.
+
+```bash
+python3 likelihood/imaging/mge.py --config-name hst --use-mixed-precision
+```
+
+`_profile_cli.py` is the **shared helper module** imported by the likelihood scripts (not a runnable
+command): it defines the common sweep flags (`--config-name`, `--output-dir`,
+`--use-mixed-precision`), the device-info capture, the output-path resolver, and the
+auto-simulate-if-missing hook, so per-script boilerplate stays minimal.
+
+The PyAuto* libraries are **not pip-installed** here — they are resolved from sibling source
+checkouts via `PYTHONPATH`. On the HPC, `source activate.sh` activates the shared venv (third-party
+deps only) and points `PYTHONPATH` at the canonical `PyAutoConf`/`PyAutoFit`/`PyAutoArray`/
+`PyAutoGalaxy`/`PyAutoLens` checkouts; `HPCPullPyAuto` is then the whole library-update story.
+
+JAX convention (mirrors `autolens_workspace_developer`): pass `xp=jnp` through PyAuto* functions to
+select the JAX backend, and extract `.array` from autoarray types before crossing the `jax.jit`
+boundary **as inputs**. See the PyAutoArray deep dive
+`../PyAutoArray/docs/agents/jax_and_decorators.md` for the full boundary story.
+
+## Testing
+
+The PR gate is `lint.yml` on Python 3.12 (every PR + push to `main`). Its headline lint is **ruff**,
+not black:
+
+```bash
+ruff check .
+ruff format --check .
+```
+
+The same job also runs `scripts/build_readme.py --check` (dashboard idempotence), a `lychee`
+markdown link-rot check over the `README.md` files, and a per-section **smoke** that imports one
+script from each area under `AUTOLENS_PROFILING_SMOKE=1` (catches import-graph breakage without
+running a full profile). None of these produce result artifacts.
+
+`profile.yml` runs the actual profile sweeps + dashboard refresh, but it is **manual / on-release
+only** (`workflow_dispatch` + release tag) — it is **not** a per-PR gate (profiling burns CI minutes
+and is noisy; releases are the natural cadence).
+
+## Sandboxed / restricted runs
+
+If `numba` or `matplotlib` cannot write to the default cache locations, point them at writable dirs:
+
+```bash
+NUMBA_CACHE_DIR=/tmp/numba_cache MPLCONFIGDIR=/tmp/matplotlib python3 likelihood/imaging/mge.py
+```
+
+## Bulk-edit safety
+
+When editing the same region across many scripts in one pass, only rewrite the targeted region.
+**Never produce a whole-file write unless you have read the entire current file** — a whole-file
+write from a header skim silently deletes every section below the header.
+
+## Related Repos
+
+- `../PyAutoLens` — the library being profiled (plus `../PyAutoGalaxy`, `../PyAutoArray`,
+  `../PyAutoFit`, `../PyAutoConf` on `PYTHONPATH`).
+- `../autolens_workspace` — user-facing science scripts and tutorials.
+- `../PyAutoBuild` — build/CI tooling.
+
+## Task Workflows
+
+When adding or updating a profile script, keep `ruff check .` and `ruff format --check .` clean
+(the PR gate), write the versioned `results/` artifact pair, and do not commit machine-specific
+absolute paths. Flag any change that affects the source libraries or `autolens_workspace` in your PR.
+
+## Clean state
+
+Never rewrite history on a repo with a remote (no `git init` over a tracked tree, no force-push to
+`main`, no rebasing pushed shared branches). To reset a dirty tree the only correct sequence is:
+
+```bash
+git fetch origin
+git reset --hard origin/main
+git clean -fd
+```
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..838eeb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# autolens_profiling — agent instructions
+The canonical, agent-agnostic instructions live in `AGENTS.md`. Claude Code loads them
+via the import below; if your tool does not process `@`-imports, open `AGENTS.md` in
+this directory and read it directly.
+@AGENTS.md