feat: project rules with .claw/rules/ and multi-framework auto-import

[TheArchitectit]

Summary

Adds a project rules system for loading instruction files into the system prompt, plus auto-import from other AI coding frameworks so users switching to claw-code don't have to duplicate their rules.

Problem this solves

No structured way to organize project rules

Before: rules could only go in CLAUDE.md or .claw/CLAUDE.md — single files. No way to organize rules by topic, no way to gitignore personal rules.

Fix: .claw/rules/ directory — drop any .md, .txt, or .mdc files, auto-loaded alphabetically. .claw/rules.local/ for personal rules that don't get committed.

Switching from Cursor/Copilot/Windsurf = duplicate all rules

Before: users coming from other AI coding tools had to manually copy their rules into CLAUDE.md.

Fix: claw-code auto-detects and imports rules from all major frameworks:

• Cursor: .cursorrules, .cursor/rules/
• GitHub Copilot: .github/copilot-instructions.md
• Windsurf: .windsurfrules, .windsurfrules/
• Aider: .aider.conf.yml instructions block
• Pi (Plandex): .plandex/instructions.md, .plandex/plan.md
• OpenCode: opencode.json instructions field
• Crush: .crush/CLAUDE.md, .crush/rules/

No way to control which frameworks get imported

Fix: rulesImport config in settings.json:

• "auto" (default) — import from all detected frameworks
• "none" — only load .claw/rules/ and CLAUDE.md files
• ["cursor", "copilot"] — import only from listed frameworks

How it works

All loaded files are deduplicated by content hash, so the same rule appearing in both .cursorrules and .claw/rules/cursor.md won't appear twice.

Example directory structure

project/
├── CLAUDE.md                          # Top-level project rules
├── .cursorrules                        # Auto-imported from Cursor
├── .claw/
│   ├── rules/
│   │   ├── 01-style.md                # Code style rules
│   │   ├── 02-testing.md              # Testing standards
│   │   └── 03-database.md            # Database conventions
│   ├── rules.local/
│   │   └── personal-preferences.md    # Personal rules (gitignored)
│   └── CLAUDE.md                       # Claw-specific overrides
└── .github/
    └── copilot-instructions.md         # Auto-imported from Copilot

Template support (.mdc files)

.claw/rules/ also loads .mdc (Markdown Context) files — the same format used by Cursor's rules.

Files changed

File	What changed
runtime/src/prompt.rs	discover_instruction_files() scans .claw/rules/, .claw/rules.local/, and 7 framework locations. Added push_rules_dir(), push_framework_imports(), read_aider_instructions(), read_opencode_instructions()
runtime/src/config.rs	RulesImportConfig enum, rules_import field, accessor, parser
runtime/src/config_validate.rs	rulesImport field validation
runtime/src/lib.rs	Export RulesImportConfig

Test plan

• cargo build --release — clean build
• 513 runtime tests pass
• Existing instruction file discovery tests still pass
• Create .claw/rules/test.md and verify it appears in system prompt
• Create .claw/rules.local/personal.md and verify it loads
• Create .cursorrules and verify auto-import
• Set "rulesImport": "none" and verify framework files skipped
• Verify deduplication when same content exists in multiple locations

💘 Generated with Crush