Progressive Disclosure: What, Where, When, and Why
Do you remember when we first started using AGENTS.md files? You would have a project root file describing the project, and some nested ones describing the content in the folder where they reside. This opened up exciting possibilities for everyday users: For the first time you could put a rule where the work was and trust it to show up only there. I ran an entire project this way once, one small…
Progressive disclosure is a method for gradually introducing relevant instructions and context to a coding agent. Instead of using one always-on file, instructions are loaded one at a time when they are needed, keeping them out of the way during the rest of the time. This approach addresses context rotation, where relevant instructions load only when the agent is working in the appropriate folder.
The benefits of progressive disclosure include more efficient use of the agent's attention, as it only focuses on the relevant instructions when needed. It also reduces the cognitive load on the user, as the agent only presents the most pertinent information at each turn. The concept has been embraced by Anthropic in its guidance for the Claude 5 generation, with emphasis on heavily utilizing progressive disclosure and letting other instructions load from skills pointed at by the file.
Rules can take the form of self-contained instructions, known as skills, which are pulled in when needed and never seen otherwise. This allows for greater flexibility in when and where rules are loaded, as well as better organization and management of code-related instructions.
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