--- title: AI rules for Flutter and Dart shortTitle: AI rules description: >- Learn how to add AI rules to tools that accelerate your development workflow. --- This guide covers how you can leverage AI rules to streamline your Flutter and Dart development. ## Overview AI-powered editors use rules files to provide context and instructions to an underlying LLM. These files help you: * Customize AI behavior to your team's needs. * Enforce project best practices for code style and design. * Provide critical project context to the AI. The Flutter project provides several versions of the rules file to accommodate different tool limits: * [`rules.md`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flutter/flutter/refs/heads/main/docs/rules/rules.md): The comprehensive master rule set. * [`rules_10k.md`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flutter/flutter/refs/heads/main/docs/rules/rules_10k.md): A condensed version (<10k chars) for tools with stricter context limits. * [`rules_4k.md`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flutter/flutter/refs/heads/main/docs/rules/rules_4k.md): A highly concise version (<4k chars) for limited contexts. * [`rules_1k.md`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flutter/flutter/refs/heads/main/docs/rules/rules_1k.md): An ultra-compact version (<1k chars) for very strict limits. Download the Flutter and Dart rules template ## Device & editor specific limits Different AI coding assistants and tools have varying limits for their "rules" or "custom instructions" files. *Last updated: 2026-01-05.* | Tool / Product | Rules file / Feature | Limit (soft / hard) | Documentation | |:---|:---|:---|:---| | Antigravity (Google) | `.agent/rules/.md` | 12,000 chars (Hard) | [Configure rules][antigravity] | | Claude Code | `CLAUDE.md` | No Hard Limit | [Claude Code Docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory) | | Cursor | `AGENTS.md` | No Hard Limit | [Cursor Docs](https://cursor.com/docs/context/rules) | | Gemini CLI | `GEMINI.md` | 1M+ Tokens (Context) | [Gemini CLI Docs](https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/long-context) | | GitHub Copilot | `.github/copilot-instructions.md` | ~4k chars | [GitHub Copilot Docs](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/customizing-copilot/adding-custom-instructions-for-github-copilot) | | JetBrains AI (Junie) | `.junie/guidelines.md` | No Hard Limit | [JetBrains AI Docs](https://www.jetbrains.com/help/junie/get-started-with-junie.html) | | VS Code | `.instructions.md` | Unknown | [Configure instructions][vs-code] | {:.table .table-striped} :::note Support is evolving Support for rules files is still evolving. Please check the documentation for your specific development environment for the most up-to-date naming conventions and instructions. ::: [copilot]: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/custom-instructions#_use-a-githubcopilotinstructionsmd-file [claude]: https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/claude-code-best-practices#1-customize-your-setup [cursor]: https://cursor.com/docs/context/rules [firebase]: https://firebase.google.com/docs/studio/set-up-gemini#custom-instructions [gemini-cli]: https://geminicli.com/docs/cli/gemini-md [antigravity]: https://antigravity.google/docs/rules-workflows [junie]: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/junie/customize-guidelines.html [vs-code]: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/custom-instructions#_use-instructionsmd-files [windsurf]: https://docs.windsurf.com/windsurf/cascade/memories#rules ## Create rules for your editor You can adapt our Flutter and Dart rules template for your specific environment. To do so, follow these steps: 1. Download the Flutter and Dart rules template: rules.md 1. In an LLM like [Gemini][], attach the `rules.md` file that you downloaded in the last step. 1. Provide a prompt to reformat the file for your desired editor. Example prompt: ```text Convert the attached rules.md file into a guidelines.md file for Gemini CLI. Make sure to use the styles required for a guidelines.md file. ``` 1. Review the LLM's output and make any necessary adjustments. 1. Follow your environment's instructions to add the new rules file. This may involve adding to an existing file or creating a new one. 1. Verify that your AI assistant is using the new rules to guide its responses. [Gemini]: https://gemini.google.com/