Skip to content

Add visual diagram for agent instruction hierarchy #30

Description

@dieterbaier

Goal

Create a clear, visual representation (diagram or flowchart) that illustrates the three-tier agent instruction hierarchy introduced in PR #29, making the mental model intuitive and accessible to new users and consuming projects.

Rationale

PR #29 establishes an important conceptual model:

  1. Global agent instructions (user's local installation: ~/.vibe/AGENTS.md)
  2. Project-specific instructions (consuming project's AGENTS.md)
  3. GitHub Copilot instructions (consuming project's .github/copilot-instructions.md)
  4. Toolkit instructions (toolkit repository as fallback source of truth)

The priority and flow (which level overrides which) is well explained in text, but a visual diagram could make this much clearer and faster to understand, especially for:

  • New users encountering the toolkit for the first time
  • Teams deciding how to structure their own project instructions
  • Documentation or onboarding materials

First Step: Check Existing Diagrams

Before creating a new diagram, check whether:

  • Any existing diagrams or flowcharts in the repository already illustrate instruction precedence or agent behavior
  • Any documentation (architecture docs, ADRs, READMEs) already contains visual examples of instruction hierarchy
  • The toolkit's own architecture documentation (src/docs/, if it exists) shows how agents should process instructions

If diagrams exist, assess whether they clearly communicate the new three-tier model.

Implementation

If no suitable diagram exists or the existing ones need updating, create:

  1. A flowchart or decision tree showing:

    • The priority/execution order of instructions (global → project → skill → toolkit)
    • Which instructions override which
    • When agents should fall back to toolkit defaults
    • Examples of what happens at each level
  2. Optionally, a supporting diagram showing:

    • Directory structure of instructions across local and project environments
    • Visual mapping of which instructions apply to which tools (GitHub Copilot, Vibe, Codex, etc.)
  3. Integration point:

    • Add the diagram to the appropriate arc42 documentation of the project
    • Add the diagram to AGENTS.md and/or the main README (if possible, reuse the diagram from the arc42 documenation instead of duplicating it)
    • Link to it from templates/agents/README.md (if created per the other improvement issue)

Format Suggestion

  • Recommended: PlantUML flowchart or UML diagram (consistent with toolkit style for AsciiDoc)
  • Alternative: Mermaid diagram, ASCII art, or SVG

Definition of Done

  • Audit complete; existing diagrams (if any) documented in issue comments
  • Visual diagram created or updated
  • Diagram is placed in accessible documentation (AGENTS.md, main README, or templates guide)
  • Diagram is tested for clarity with at least one peer review

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Fields

    No fields configured for issues without a type.

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions