Rules

Rules allow you to provide specific instructions to guide how AI agents behave when processing code. You can clearly define guidelines to ensure consistent, context-appropriate responses, rather than having AI make assumptions about your coding standards, architectural patterns, or project-specific requirements.

Think of rules as "guardrails" for AI coding agents, serving to:

• Enforce company-specific coding standards and security practices

• Implement quality checks that align with your engineering culture

• Pave a clear path for developers to follow organizational best practices

By setting rules, you can transform AI from a generic coding assistant into a knowledgeable team member that understands your project's unique requirements and constraints.

How Rules Work

Your agents detect and apply specified rules in Chat, Plan, and Agent modes.

Rule Management

📂 Local Rules (.vjsp/rules)

Create files in the .vjsp/rules folder

Automatically synchronized and displayed with Hub assistants

Can be directly edited in the file system

Version controlled with code

Most suitable for project-specific rules

☁️ Hub Rules

Managed in Agent Hub - Personal Center

Referenced in Hub Agents

Can be shared with teams

Easy to reuse across multiple agents

Most suitable for organizational-level rules

Creating and Managing Rules

Rules are used to provide system message instructions for Chat, Plan, and Agent mode requests to the model.

ⓘ Rules do not apply to autocomplete or apply functions.

Understanding Integration Differences Between Hub Rules and Local Rules

⚠️ Important Note

Rules created in different locations have different behaviors and synchronization methods.

VJSP supports two types of rules, each with distinct behaviors:

📂 Local Rules

Location: .vjsp/rules folder in workspace

Visibility: Automatically displayed when using Hub assistants

Creation Method: Via "Add Rule" button in VS Code, or manually creating files

File Management: Generates actual .md files that can be directly edited

☁️ Hub Rules

Location: Managed in Personal Center - My Agents page

Visibility: Only displayed when referenced in Hub Agent configuration

Creation Method: Created directly on Hub or reference official ones

How to Create Rules

Creating Local Rules

1. In Agents, select "Local Agent", click Configure rules

2. On the "Rules" page, click the Add rules button to add rules locally.

ⓘ Automatically Create Local Rules

In Agent mode, if the create_rule_block tool is enabled, you can prompt the Agent to create rules for you.

For example, you can say "Create a rule for this", and a rule will be created for you in .vjsp/rules based on your conversation.

Creating Hub Rules

You can also create and manage rules on Agent Hub:

Rule Examples

Here's a quick example of creating a new rule file:

1. Create a folder named .vjsp/rules in your workspace root directory

2. Add a file named rule.md in this folder

3. Write the following content in rule.md and save

---
description: Language Style
---

Answer questions using Northeastern Chinese dialect

Now you can test if your rule is working by asking questions about a file in the chat.

Rule Troubleshooting

Issue 1: Rules created in different locations cannot synchronize

Symptom: Rules created in Hub are not displayed in VS Code, or vice versa.

Solution:

1. Hub rules need to be referenced via uses: syntax in config.yaml to be displayed;

2. Local rules are automatically displayed when using Hub assistants;

3. Currently, bidirectional automatic synchronization between local and Hub rules is not supported.

Issue 2: "Edit" link points to wrong location

Symptom: When clicking the "Edit" button for rules in VS Code, it tries to open Hub even for local rules, or displays incorrect URLs.

Root Cause: When both local and Hub rules exist, VJSP cannot correctly identify the source of each rule.

Temporary Solution:

1. Local rules: Navigate directly to the .vjsp/rules/ folder and edit the corresponding .md files;

2. Hub rules: Visit the Agent Hub's assistant page directly and edit within the page;

3. Record the type of each rule (local/Hub) to avoid confusion.

Issue 3: Rules not displayed in assistant

Symptom: Rules have been created but do not appear in the rules toolbar.

Items to Check:

1. File Location: Confirm local rules are stored in the .vjsp/rules/ folder (not .vjsp/rule/, note the plural form);

2. File Format: Rules must be .md files with proper YAML frontmatter;

3. Configuration Reference: Hub rules must be configured and referenced in config.yaml;

4. Assistant Type: Confirm you're using the correct type of assistant (local assistant / Hub assistant).