# Claude Code can skip AGENTS.md when telemetry is off

> Claude Code's native AGENTS.md support depends on version, feature-flag access, provider and file precedence. The released agents-md plugin's own telemetry rows omit paths and file text.

By BIG CHANGE Editorial

Published: 2026-09-23T13:54:58.721Z
Updated: 2026-09-23T13:54:58.721Z
Canonical: https://bigchange.ai/blog/claude-code-agents-md-telemetry-feature-flags

![A desktop monitor shows a minimal project-instructions view with plain AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md labels above a keyboard and mouse.](https://bigchange.ai/api/media/file/claude-code-project-instructions-hero-v2.png)
AI-generated conceptual illustration by BIG CHANGE.

Claude Code 2.1.277 added native support for repository instructions in `AGENTS.md`. The feature has a consequential limit: Anthropic's current documentation says sessions that cannot fetch feature flags, including sessions with telemetry disabled and many third-party-provider setups, load `CLAUDE.md` only.

The released `agents-md` plugin separates file loading from its optional telemetry rows. Those rows contain counts and fixed choices and omit paths and file text. The dependency sits one layer earlier, where a remote flag decides whether the built-in loader is available.

## The big change

- **What changed:** A local instruction file now crosses a remote rollout boundary: feature-flag access determines whether Claude Code's built-in `AGENTS.md` reader is available.
- **Why it matters:** Two developers on the same commit can receive different project instructions because their version, provider or privacy settings differ, making agent behavior harder to reproduce across a team.
- **What to watch:** Teams using several providers or locked-down environments can treat instruction loading as a runtime dependency, verify it in each setup and keep a `CLAUDE.md` import as the portable path.

## What the release and report establish

Anthropic's [2.1.277 release notes](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/releases/tag/v2.1.277), dated September 18, say Claude Code reads `AGENTS.md` when a project has no `CLAUDE.md`. The notes also exclude Bedrock, Vertex and Foundry from that release.

The current [project-memory documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory) also excludes the first session after installing or upgrading to a supporting version, and sessions with the built-in plugin disabled.

Przemek Szypowski's [triggering report](https://blog.szypowi.cz/p/claude-code-reads-agents.md-only-when-telemetry-is-on) describes a canary test on 2.1.280. He reports that `DISABLE_TELEMETRY` and `CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC` prevented his `AGENTS.md` from loading, while an adjacent `CLAUDE.md` import worked. BIG CHANGE did not reproduce that paid model test. Anthropic's documentation now independently states the same availability conditions.

## Feature availability and telemetry logging are separate

Anthropic's [environment-variable documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/env-vars) says any non-empty `DISABLE_TELEMETRY` value, including `0` or `false`, opts out of telemetry and disables feature-flag fetching. `DO_NOT_TRACK`, `DISABLE_GROWTHBOOK` and `CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC` can also stop that fetch. Third-party-provider sessions are excluded unless an embedding host sets `CLAUDE_CODE_PROVIDER_MANAGED_BY_HOST`; Claude apps gateway sessions are also excluded.

The [released plugin README](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/v2.1.280/mods/agents-md/README.md) says missing telemetry calls are dropped without changing the plugin's other work. The repository's [mods overview](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/v2.1.280/mods/README.md) identifies telemetry and `agents-md` as separate built-ins.

The source describes an operating loader; the product documentation describes whether a session gets that loader. Optional logging inside the module does not remove the availability condition outside it.

On September 23, BIG CHANGE fetched the `agents-md` README and [registration module](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/v2.1.280/mods/agents-md/hooks/register.ts) from both `main` and the 2.1.280 tag, released September 22; each pair was byte-identical.

## When Claude Code loads the file

For an available, enabled plugin, the default mode follows this precedence:

| Instruction files | Default result |
| --- | --- |
| `AGENTS.md`, no project Claude instruction file | `AGENTS.md` loads |
| Project `CLAUDE.md`, `.claude/CLAUDE.md` or `CLAUDE.local.md` in the working directory or above | Direct `AGENTS.md` loading yields to those files |
| User or managed `CLAUDE.md`, or `.claude/rules/` | These do not displace `AGENTS.md` |

Change Project instructions in `/config` to load both file types. Its JSON option belongs in user, `--settings` or managed settings; project and local settings files are ignored.

## The fallback is one explicit import

For sessions without direct support, Anthropic recommends a `CLAUDE.md` beside the shared file containing:

`@AGENTS.md`

The import includes the file; prose asking Claude to read it leaves that choice to the model.

Check `claude --version` and Project instructions in `/config`. In 2.1.280, `/memory` or `/context` can list a directly loaded `AGENTS.md`; earlier supporting versions did not list it there.

## Sources

- [Claude Code reads AGENTS.md only when telemetry is on](https://blog.szypowi.cz/p/claude-code-reads-agents.md-only-when-telemetry-is-on) — Przemek Szypowski's reported 2.1.280 canary tests and workaround. BIG CHANGE did not reproduce the paid model run; the article separates his observations from official product documentation and source interpretation.
- [Claude Code v2.1.277 release](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/releases/tag/v2.1.277) — Official release record that introduced AGENTS.md support and excluded Bedrock, Vertex and Foundry from availability at launch.
- [How Claude remembers your project](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory) — Current official documentation for minimum version, file precedence, Project instructions modes, unavailable-session conditions, diagnostics and the CLAUDE.md import fallback.
- [Claude Code environment variables](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/env-vars) — Current official documentation showing that telemetry opt-out also disables feature-flag fetching, which makes direct AGENTS.md loading unavailable, and listing other affected sessions.
- [agents-md built-in source and behavior, Claude Code v2.1.280](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/v2.1.280/mods/agents-md/README.md) — Released source description for instruction-file modes, precedence and optional telemetry rows. It says the rows contain counts and fixed choices, not paths or file text.
- [Claude Code built-in mods, v2.1.280](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/v2.1.280/mods/README.md) — Released overview establishing that telemetry and agents-md are separate built-in plugins and that the tagged source ships inside Claude Code.
- [agents-md registration module, Claude Code v2.1.280](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/blob/v2.1.280/mods/agents-md/hooks/register.ts) — Released registration source inspected alongside the README. Its bytes matched the corresponding file on main when checked September 23.