Coding agent knowledge
How to Give Codex a Source-Backed Project Knowledge Base
Keep repository rules, source-of-truth documents, and maintained project knowledge separate so Codex can retrieve evidence without loading everything.
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Workflows
Developers who want Codex or another coding agent to reuse trustworthy project knowledge
5 min read
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Keep AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md short and reserve it for instructions the agent must load every time.
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Keep code, tests, specifications, and maintained documents as the source of truth.
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Retrieve only the relevant cited page, then verify the conclusion against the repository and tests.
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Quick answer
Use AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md for short operating instructions, keep repository files as the source of truth for current facts, and use a source-backed knowledge base for decisions and explanations that must remain cited, reviewable, and reusable across sessions.
Wenlan keeps Sources, atomic knowledge, and maintained Pages separate. Codex can connect to the local daemon, retrieve a relevant Page, inspect its citations, and share the same reviewed project knowledge with Claude Code or another MCP client.
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When this problem appears
A giant instruction file consumes context and becomes stale, while raw repository search repeatedly rediscovers the same architecture decisions and external constraints. A coding agent needs a small always-loaded contract plus an on-demand, source-backed project knowledge layer.
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Use AGENTS.md and the knowledge base for different jobs
Start with one bounded project topic and one inspectable document set. The slash commands below require the Wenlan Codex plugin: install it and run /setup once. The wenlan connect codex command configures the MCP connection only; MCP-only clients should use the equivalent Wenlan tools instead of slash commands. Then prove the complete read, cite, verify, and refresh loop before adding more material.
- Put build commands, repository boundaries, and non-obvious rules in AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md.
- Keep code, tests, specifications, and first-party docs authoritative; do not copy facts the agent can read directly.
- Add only supported Markdown, text, text-extractable PDF, or Obsidian sources to the maintained knowledge layer.
- Distill one repeated question into a Page, then check that important claims return to a source or repository fact.
- Run lint and review before trusting a refreshed answer, especially after source files change.
One bounded Codex knowledge workflow
wenlan status
wenlan connect codex
wenlan sources add ~/project/docs
/distill <project topic>
/pages <project topic>
/lint
/curate04
What to check next
Do not turn the knowledge base into a second copy of the repository. If the answer is already clear in current code or tests, link to that source; maintain only the reasoning, external constraint, or cross-file conclusion that is expensive to reconstruct.
Give Codex one project topic it can verify
Connect Codex, add one inspectable source set, and prove that the resulting Page stays cited, reviewable, and subordinate to the repository.
FAQ