---
title: AI coding agents
description: How Curb's parser-only design lets it run inside the build, removing formatting from the work a coding agent has to do.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/design-principles/ai-native
---

# AI coding agents
Coding agents spend context on whatever the build reports. If your build reports IDE0055 diagnostics,
the agent reads them, edits the file, and rebuilds — one round trip per mechanical offence, all of them
with a single right answer already written in your `.editorconfig`.
Curb eliminates that round trip.

## How it works

Curb is parser-only: it needs no compilation, so it can run *before* the compiler — inside the
build, before `CoreCompile`. By the time the compiler reads your source, every formatting offence is
already gone. The agent never sees them.
What reaches the agent is the part that needs judgement: diagnostics that require a compilation to
decide. That is [the semantic pass](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/design-principles/syntax-and-semantic), and it is the only part worth an agent's
attention.

## What to put in AGENTS.md

Delete the style section. Replace it with one line:
```markdown
## Style
Formatting and syntax-level code style are applied automatically by the build — see `.editorconfig`.
Do not hand-format code; `dotnet build` does it.
```

Then put the actual rules in `.editorconfig`:
```ini
[*.cs]
indent_style = tab
max_line_length = 160
csharp_new_line_before_open_brace = all
csharp_prefer_braces = true
csharp_style_namespace_declarations = file_scoped
```

One source of truth, read by your IDE, by `dotnet format`, and by Curb.

## What the build handles


| Scope                            | What is fixed                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| All layout                       | Indentation, spacing, brace placement, blank lines, reflow — decided from the parse tree. Nothing in this class reaches the agent's context.                                                               |
| Syntax style (opt-in)            | Braces, expression bodies, file-scoped namespaces, modifier order, using placement — for every key you set in `.editorconfig`.                                                                             |
| Semantic remainder (after build) | `var`, unused usings, `readonly` and more. `curb cleanup` reads the diagnostics your build already reported and applies the rewrites. See [Cleanup](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/workflow/cleanup). |
| Not handled, deliberately        | Naming, unused members, unread assignments. Their fixes can change which overload binds or break a reflection string. Curb reports them; the agent decides.                                                |

See [Integrations](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/workflow/integrations) for how to wire this into MSBuild, CI, and pre-commit hooks.