Skip to main content
CodeRabbit scans your repository for well-known AI coding assistant configuration files and uses their content as review criteria. If your team already writes instructions for tools like Cursor, Claude, or Windsurf, CodeRabbit picks those up automatically and enforces the same standards during code review.

​
Supported files

The following file patterns are detected by default:
File patternAssociated tool
**/AGENTS.mdAI agent instructions
**/.cursorrulesCursor
.github/copilot-instructions.mdGitHub Copilot
.github/instructions/*.instructions.mdGitHub Copilot (scoped instructions)
**/CLAUDE.mdClaude Code
**/GEMINI.mdGemini CLI
**/.cursor/rules/*Cursor (rules directory)
**/.windsurfrulesWindsurf
**/.clinerules/*Cline
**/.rules/*Generic team rules
**/AGENT.mdAI agent instructions
File names are case-sensitive. A file named claude.md is not matched by the **/CLAUDE.md pattern.

​
How scoping works

A guideline file applies to the directory it lives in and all of its subdirectories. CodeRabbit does not apply guidelines from one part of your repository tree to unrelated paths. Examples:
  • CLAUDE.md at the repository root → applies to all files
  • src/frontend/CLAUDE.md → applies only to files under src/frontend/
  • src/backend/.cursorrules → applies only to files under src/backend/
This directory-scoped behaviour means you can maintain separate, purpose-fit guidelines for different areas of a monorepo without them interfering with each other.
Guidelines in a documentation or tooling directory will not affect code review unless the code files you are reviewing live inside that same directory tree.
A common mistake is adding guideline file names (for example CLAUDE.md) to path_instructions. This tells CodeRabbit to review those files as changed code, not to use them as guidelines. Use filePatterns instead (see below), or rely on auto-detection.

​
Adding custom file patterns

If your team stores coding standards in files that are not in the default list, you can extend the detected patterns by setting knowledge_base.code_guidelines.filePatterns in your .coderabbit.yaml. Custom patterns are added on top of the defaults—they do not replace them.
.coderabbit.yaml
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://coderabbit.ai/integrations/schema.v2.json
knowledge_base:
  code_guidelines:
    filePatterns:
      - "**/CODING_STANDARDS.md"
      - "**/docs/style-guide.md"
      - "**/.teamrules"
Glob patterns follow the same syntax used elsewhere in CodeRabbit configuration. The ** wildcard matches any number of path segments.

​
Configuration reference

.coderabbit.yaml
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://coderabbit.ai/integrations/schema.v2.json
knowledge_base:
  code_guidelines:
    enabled: true
    filePatterns:
      - "**/CODING_STANDARDS.md"
FieldTypeDefaultDescription
enabledbooleantrueApply coding guideline files as review criteria. Set to false to disable auto-detection entirely.
filePatternsarray of strings[]Additional glob patterns for guideline files. Supplements the built-in defaults; does not replace them. File names are case-sensitive.
Setting filePatterns to an empty list ([]) keeps the default patterns active. To disable code guidelines entirely, set enabled: false.

​
What’s next

Knowledge base overview

Learn about all knowledge base capabilities: learnings, code guidelines, and linked repositories.

Learnings

Teach CodeRabbit your team’s review preferences through natural conversation.

Configuration reference

Full reference for all knowledge_base configuration options.