The open standard for agent-ready documentation and workspaces
One format. Every AI coding agent. Define your project context once — all major AI coding agents understand it automatically. New in v4.0: the same standard now extends into the cloud workspace, so the documents your team shares and the context your agents see are the same objects.
5 AI tools. 5 config formats. 0 standards.
Every AI coding agent invented its own way to read project context. Your team maintains duplicate files that drift out of sync.
Before
After
v4.0: from file standard to workspace standard
Through v3, context was something a repository presented to an agent. In v4.0, knowledge and context unify: the documents a team shares and the context an agent sees are the same objects, living in a cloud workspace the agent reaches through MCP. The file layer is unchanged and fully valid on its own — every workspace feature is additive and optional, and a valid v3 project is a valid v4 project.
Workspace Model & Scopes
Five scopes — personal, workspace-private, workspace, repo, public — with hard, credential-enforced isolation boundaries.
Workspace as Command Center
Knowledge lives and agents launch in the workspace. The git repo becomes tooling shell and archive, with a file-layer offline fallback and mandatory export.
Tasks & Stages
An 8-stage lifecycle from todo to done, with stage-bound artifacts that serve as agent memory across sessions.
Agent Launch & Playbooks
Declared tool allow/deny lists, stage-authority ceilings, heartbeats, and metering for every launched agent.
Skill Runtime & Executable Plans
The dated plan doc becomes the runtime's input — journaled deterministic resume with budget ceilings.
MCP Integration
A versioned, append-only tool vocabulary with capability tiers, gated availability, workspace-pinned credentials, and OAuth 2.1.
How it works
Three files. Universal compatibility. Zero lock-in.
- 1
Write your context5 min
Create
CONTEXT.mdand a.context/directory with your agent definitions and knowledge docs. - 2
Target platforms2 min
Add
surfcontext.jsonto declare which AI platforms to generate config files for. - 3
AI auto-discovers0 min
Open your project in any supported AI tool. It reads your context automatically — no copy-paste, no per-tool config.
- 4
Connect a workspaceOptional
Adopt the v4 workspace layer when you're ready. Agents reach the same knowledge through MCP, and the file layer remains your export and offline fallback.
Platform compatibility
SurfContext generates the right config file for each platform from a single source of truth.
| Generated File | Status |
|---|---|
| CLAUDE.md | ✓ |
| AGENTS.md | ✓ |
| .cursorrules | ✓ |
| .github/copilot-instructions.md | ✓ |
| .windsurfrules | ✓ |
Ready to standardize your AI context?
Get started in under 5 minutes. No dependencies, no build step, no lock-in.
Get Started Read the Full Spec