Show HN: We added AGENTS.md to 120 challenges so AI teaches instead of codes
frontendmentor.io
The problem: AI coding tools are great, but they can work against you when you're learning. Ask Copilot or Cursor to help with a beginner project, and they'll happily write the whole thing for you. You ship the project, but you didn't really learn anything.
What we did: We added AGENTS.md (and CLAUDE.md) files to every challenge's starter code. These files tell AI tools how to help based on the challenge's difficulty level, so the AI becomes a learning partner rather than an answer machine.
The idea is simple: AI guidance should scale with the learner.
- Newbie: AI acts as a patient mentor. Breaks problems into tiny steps, uses analogies, and gives multiple hints before showing an approach. Won't hand you a complete solution.
- Junior: AI becomes a supportive guide. Introduces debugging, encourages DevTools usage, and explains the "why," not just the "what."
- Intermediate: AI acts like an experienced colleague. Presents trade-offs, shows multiple approaches, and lets you make decisions.
- Advanced: AI acts like a senior dev. Challenges your thinking, plays devil's advocate, gives honest feedback.
- Guru: AI acts like a peer. Debates approaches, references specs, brings different viewpoints.
The core principle across all levels: guide thinking, don't replace it.
Since tools like Cursor and Copilot already look for AGENTS.md in project directories, this works out of the box with no setup.
We don't think anyone has fully figured out AI-assisted learning yet, and the landscape is shifting so quickly. This is our first attempt at making AI tools better by default for people who are trying to build foundational coding skills, not just ship projects.
Would love to hear your thoughts, especially from anyone considering how AI tools and skill development can work together.