Write standing instructions the assistant always follows

An instruction file at the root of your vault is injected into every conversation. It can be called CORTEX.md, CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, and exactly one of them is ever in force.

Last checked against the app on · View as Markdown

Steps

  1. Create a file called CORTEX.md at the top level of your vault folder.
  2. Write your standing instructions in it as plain Markdown: how you want to be addressed, what the assistant should never do, conventions it should follow.
  3. Open Settings, then Intelligence, then Standing instructions, to see exactly what is in force.
  4. You can also tell Cortex in Chat: say "from now on, do X" and it appends that rule to your own CORTEX.md, the same file Settings shows you. The write pauses on an approval card until you approve it, so you can read it first.

How to tell it worked

The Standing instructions screen shows your text, and names which of the three filenames it read.

If it does not work

You wrote CORTEX.md but the assistant ignores it.
It has to be at the ROOT of the vault. A CORTEX.md inside a subfolder is an ordinary note.
You have both a CORTEX.md and a CLAUDE.md.
Only the first of CORTEX.md, CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md that exists and is not blank is used. Never both. A blank CORTEX.md is skipped, so a written CLAUDE.md beside it is what takes effect.