Claude Code reads AGENTS.md only when telemetry is on [fixed]
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Claude Code silently skips AGENTS.md files when telemetry is off due to a feature flag dependency.
Claude Code 2.1.277 added AGENTS.md support but gates it behind a remote feature flag (tengu_agents_md_mod) that defaults to false. With CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1 or DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1 set, the flag cannot resolve to true, so the file is never read-silently. The workaround is to create a one-line CLAUDE.md containing `@AGENTS.md`, which loads via @path imports that don't depend on the flag. The author argues this is unacceptable because a privacy setting should not disable local file reading, and the silence misleads users into thinking their instructions are ignored. They request a startup warning when AGENTS.md is present but skipped, and native support for shared agent skills and global AGENTS.md files.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split between those calling it a likely bug from AI-generated code and those attributing it to intentional rollout gating. One commenter noted Anthropic commonly gates features behind telemetry-requiring flags until promoted. Another pointed out the source repo only contains plugins, not the Claude Code harness itself. An Anthropic employee responded that it was a rollout artifact fixed in v2.1.281, explaining they needed remote toggle capability and telemetry-off users don't get those flags.