AGENTS.md Template for Enterprise Modernization Agents

Overview

The AGENTS.md template for Enterprise Modernization Agents provides a repeatable operating manual to govern AI coding agents responsible for modernization tasks across large organizations. It supports both single-agent execution and multi-agent orchestration, clarifying roles, memory, data sources, tool access, and escalation paths.

Direct answer: This AGENTS.md template defines the operating context, roles, and collaboration rules needed to execute enterprise modernization workflows with AI coding agents, including orchestrator behavior, handoffs, and governance gates.

When to Use This AGENTS.md Template

• When planning cross-domain modernization (ERP, data platforms, legacy systems) that requires coordinated agent activity.
• When you need auditable, governance-driven workflows with clear handoffs across agents and teams.
• When establishing an operating model that scales from a single agent to multi-agent orchestration.
• When you require strict tool governance, secrets management, and production safety gates.
• When you want a copyable, project-level AGENTS.md that teams can adopt as-is.

Copyable AGENTS.md Template

# AGENTS.md
Project role: Enterprise Modernization Program Lead
Agent roster and responsibilities:
- Planner: designs the modernization strategy, sequences tasks, and defines success criteria.
- Implementer(s): execute component modernization tasks (data platform, services, APIs) per plan.
- Reviewer: validates modernization changes against governance and architectural constraints.
- Researcher: gathers domain context, requirements, and legacy system details.
- Domain Specialist: provides domain-specific constraints and regulatory considerations.
- Security Auditor: ensures compliance, secrets handling, and production safety.
Supervisor or orchestrator behavior:
- The Orchestrator Agent coordinates all agent actions, enforces memory and source-of-truth, and gate-keeps changes into production.
- Handoffs: use explicit handoff signals and evidence of completion; avoid parallel conflicting changes without merging.
- Context, memory, and source-of-truth: maintain a single source of truth (SoT) in the repository and a shared memory store; agents read from SoT and write to it with timestamps.
Tool access and permission rules:
- Only approved tools and APIs may be used; credentials stored in vault with rotation.
- Read/write access limited to the minimum scope required by each agent role.
- All tool actions must be auditable in the central log.
Architecture rules:
- Use modular, service-oriented modernization patterns; avoid monolithic, uncontrolled refactors.
- Interfaces and contracts must be versioned; breaking changes require a plan and approvals.
File structure rules:
- Keep modernization code organized by domain (data, services, UI) and by stage (planning, execution, validation).
Data, API, or integration rules:
- Validate data contracts against legacy systems; use adapters to translate formats.
- Respect data privacy and regulatory constraints; redact PII in logs.
Validation rules:
- Every change must pass architectural validations, tests, and security checks before promotion.
Security rules:
- Secrets never appear in code or logs; use vaults and ephemeral tokens for CI.
Testing rules:
- Unit, integration, and regression tests cover modernization scopes; require pass before deployment.
Deployment rules:
- Changes are promoted through a controlled pipeline with approvals, feature flags, and rollback paths.
Human review and escalation rules:
- Trigger human review if risk threshold exceeds defined criteria or if critical systems are impacted.
Failure handling and rollback rules:
- Maintain ability to rollback to a known-good SoT; preserve audit trails for all rollback actions.
Things Agents must not do:
- Do not bypass governance, skip reviews, or mutate production without approvals.

Recommended Agent Operating Model

The enterprise modernization operating model defines clear agent roles, responsibilities, decision boundaries, and escalation paths. The Orchestrator ensures safe coordination across Planner, Implementer, Reviewer, and Domain Specialist while facilitating timely escalation to Security Auditor or Program Lead when policy or risk concerns arise.

Recommended Project Structure

enterprise-modernization/
├─ planning/
│  ├─ requirements/
│  └─ roadmap.md
├─ execution/
│  ├─ data-platform/
│  │  ├─ adapters/
│  │  ├─ services/
│  │  └─ tests/
│  ├─ services/
│  │  ├─ api/
│  │  └─ migrations/
│  └─ ui/
├─ governance/
│  ├─ policies/
│  ├─ approvals/
│  └─ risk/
├─ tooling/
│  ├─ ci-cd/
│  └─ secrets/
└─ docs/
   └─ agdocs.md

Core Operating Principles

• Single source of truth (SoT) and auditable actions.
• Defensive, policy-driven automation with human-in-the-loop when needed.
• Explicit handoffs with evidence and status signals.
• Role-based access and least-privilege tool usage.
• Clear versioning, traceability, and rollback capabilities.

Agent Handoff and Collaboration Rules

• Planner to Implementer handoff requires a plan document, acceptance criteria, and data contracts.
• Implementer to Reviewer handoff includes test results, logs, and risk notes.
• Researcher and Domain Specialist provide context before planning; they may escalate to Security Auditor if policy conflicts arise.
• All agents must log decisions and update SoT after each handoff.

Tool Governance and Permission Rules

• Only approved tools and APIs; credentials in secure vaults; rotation enforced.
• CI/CD actions require reviews; production changes require environment approvals and feature flags.
• Do not run destructive commands in production without explicit approval.

Code Construction Rules

• Use modular patterns; avoid big rewrites without governance signs.
• Ensure contracts and interfaces are versioned and backwards-compatible when possible.
• Write tests for integration points with legacy systems.

Security and Production Rules

• Secrets must be stored in vault; avoid embedding in code or logs.
• Production changes require approvals and monitoring; implement rollback paths.
• Audit trails for all modernization actions and approvals.

Testing Checklist

• Unit tests for individual modernization adapters.
• Integration tests for cross-domain flows.
• End-to-end tests in staging with rollback checks.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping governance and approval gates.
• Allowing uncontrolled, parallel changes without coordination.
• Overfitting to one domain; failing to consider cross-domain impacts.

FAQ

What is this AGENTS.md Template for Enterprise Modernization Agents?

This template provides operating context, roles, and collaboration rules to orchestrate AI coding agents across enterprise modernization projects.

Who should adopt this AGENTS.md Template for enterprise modernization?

Engineering leaders, platform teams, and AI practitioners responsible for modernization governance and execution.

How are agent handoffs managed in multi-agent orchestration?

Handoffs are explicit, evidenced-driven signals between Planner, Implementer, Reviewer, and other roles, with a shared SoT and timestamped logs.

What security and data governance rules are included?

Secrets stored in vaults, access controls, auditable actions; all data handling follows policy constraints and regulatory requirements.

How should you validate and deploy modernization workflows?

Validate against architecture constraints, run tests, and promote through controlled pipelines with rollback options and monitoring.