AI-assisted development — commonly known as “vibe coding” — has become part of many developers’ workflows. But as projects grow, a familiar problem emerges: context gets scattered, you end up re-explaining the same things over and over, and token usage compounds with every new conversation.

The solution is straightforward: skill files and project files.

Before starting any project, create two core documents:

1. Project file — Documents what you’re building, the architecture, tech stack, and key decisions.
2. Skill file — Defines how the AI should behave within that project: which patterns to follow, which conventions to use, and what to avoid.

Without these files, every conversation starts from scratch. The AI has no memory of your project’s context, so you repeat yourself constantly — wasting both time and tokens.

Once the files exist, the real challenge is keeping them current. As the project evolves, architectural decisions shift, new components get added, and earlier approaches get abandoned. If these changes aren’t reflected in the skill and project files, the documentation becomes stale and loses its value.

This is exactly where the skill file I’m sharing comes in. When running in agent mode, it automatically transfers what you’ve written back into your skill files and keeps them updated. You keep building — the system keeps itself in sync.

The result: less repetition, fewer tokens spent, and a far more consistent development process.

If you’re doing vibe coding and your project feels like it’s drifting, the first thing to do is create these files. Everything else becomes significantly easier from there.

The Code:

Agent Behavior Skill Update Workflow

This skill is applied when the user requests a change to agent behavior or agent mode settings. The skill is updated first, then the change is applied.

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Trigger Conditions

Apply this workflow when:

• The user wants to change how the agent operates
• A setting or modification is requested in agent mode
• A persistent behavior rule needs to be added or removed
• Phrases like “change agent behavior,” “add this to the skill,” or “do it this way from now on” are used

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Workflow Steps

1. Skill Update (First)

Update the relevant skill file to make the change permanent:

Situation	Action
New behavior rule	Add to an existing relevant skill or create a new one
Modification of an existing rule	Update the relevant section in the skill file
Removal of a rule	Remove the relevant item from the skill file

Skill location selection:

• If project-specific: .cursor/skills/<relevant-skill>/SKILL.md
• If general behavior: Add to an existing general skill if one exists; otherwise add to agent-behavior-skill-update or the most appropriate skill

2. Apply the Change (After)

Once the skill update is complete:

• Apply the change in the code, configuration, or relevant location
• Execute the behavior the user requested

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Example Scenarios

Example 1: “The agent should always run a security check when doing code reviews.”

1. Add a security check item to the code-review skill or relevant skill
2. Apply the security check during the code review process

Example 2: “Don’t apply this rule in this project anymore.”

1. Remove the rule from the relevant skill
2. Remove the rule reference from the current implementation if necessary

Example 3: “Agent mode change: Use English in commit messages.”

1. Add this rule to the commit/versioning skill or project skill
2. Use English when generating commit messages

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Summary

1. Skill first — Write the change to the skill file (add / modify / remove)
2. Then apply — Implement the requested change in the actual code or config

This order ensures the agent “remembers” the change in future conversations as well.