.ai folder template

A starter template for the .ai/ folder structure — a simple way to give your AI coding assistant full context at the start of every session.

What's in here

File	Purpose
.ai/agents.md	Describes your project to the AI: what it does, stack, conventions, and things it should never do
.ai/todo.md	Your running task list: in progress, up next, blocked items, done, and a quick last-session handoff
.ai/session-opener.md	A ready-to-paste prompt for starting every AI session
.ai/example-feature.md	A sample feature doc — copy its shape for each major feature you plan to build
SETUP.md	A paste-into-AI prompt that interviews you and fills in the .ai/ files for you

How to use it

Option A — let your AI fill it in for you (fastest)

1. Copy this template (or just the .ai/ folder and SETUP.md) into your project
2. Open SETUP.md, copy everything below the divider, and paste it into your AI assistant
3. Answer a handful of questions — it writes agents.md, todo.md, and session-opener.md for you

Option B — fill it in by hand

1. Copy the .ai/ folder into the root of your project
2. Fill in agents.md with your actual stack and conventions
3. Update todo.md as you work
4. Add a new file for each major feature you plan to build (see .ai/example-feature.md)

Suggested todo.md shape

Use todo.md as the working document first and the handoff second:

# Todo

## In progress
- [ ] [What you're working on right now]

## Up next
- [ ] [Next priority]
- [ ] [After that]

## Blocked / Questions
- [ ] [Anything waiting on a decision, dependency, or answer]

## Done
- [x] [Things you've shipped]

---

## Last session
- Changed:
- Next:
- Watch out for:

Start every session with this prompt

Paste this at the beginning of every AI conversation:

Take a look at the agents.md file and any other markdown files inside the .ai folder.
Once you've reviewed everything, let me know which tasks we have next, prioritized.
Also, let me know what the last change in the git repo was so I can jog my own memory
of where we left off. Then we'll discuss and get started.

Examples

Real-world examples of how this looks across different project types:

Example	Stack	Description
examples/mobile-app	React Native + Expo + Supabase	Personal expense tracking app
examples/web-app	Next.js 15 + Supabase + Vercel	Freelance proposal generator
examples/ecommerce	Shopify + Dawn theme	Handmade textile goods store
examples/marketing-website	Astro + Netlify	HR consulting firm site

---

From Good Code — a practical field guide for non-developers building with AI.