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AI Coding Rules Plugin#

The AI Coding Rules plugin for Backstage provides comprehensive visualization and management of AI coding rules, agent skills, ignore files, and agent configurations from a wide range of AI coding assistants. It supports 11 agent types including Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Cline, Claude Code, Windsurf, Roo Code, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Amazon Q Developer, Continue, and Aider. Rules, MCP server configs, ignore files, agent configs, and Agent Skills (agentskills.io standard) are all discoverable directly within the Backstage interface with clickable links to open files in their git repositories.

Plugin Components#

Frontend Plugin#

The frontend plugin provides a unified tabbed interface (AiInstructionsComponent) with five tabs, plus standalone components for each capability:

AiInstructionsComponent (Top-Level Component)#

A scrollable tabbed interface that integrates all AI context features:

Tab Component Description
Agent Rules AIRulesComponent Visualize and filter coding rules from 11 agent types
MCP Servers MCPServersComponent Inspect MCP server configurations from 5 sources
Ignore Files IgnoreFilesComponent View agent-specific ignore files
Agent Configs AgentConfigsComponent Inspect agent configuration files
Agent Skills AgentSkillsComponent Browse Agent Skills (agentskills.io standard)

AIRulesComponent#

Rules visualization and management supporting all 11 agent types:

  • Cursor: .cursorrules, .cursor/rules/*.mdc|.md, .cursor/MEMORY.md
  • GitHub Copilot: .github/copilot-instructions.md, .github/instructions/*.instructions.md
  • Cline: .clinerules (root file), .clinerules/*.md
  • Claude Code: CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md, .claude/rules/*.md
  • Windsurf: .windsurfrules, .windsurf/rules/*.md
  • Roo Code: .roorules, .roo/rules/, .roo/rules-code/, .roo/rules-architect/, .roo/rules-ask/, .roo/rules-debug/
  • OpenAI Codex: AGENTS.md, AGENTS.override.md
  • Gemini CLI: GEMINI.md, .gemini/*.md
  • Amazon Q: .amazonq/rules/*.md
  • Continue: .continue/rules/*.md, .continue/prompts/*.md
  • Aider: CONVENTIONS.md

UX features: content search bar, copy to clipboard, raw/rendered toggle per rule, export all rules to Markdown, manual filter with Apply Filter button.

MCPServersComponent#

MCP server configuration visualization supporting 5 sources:

  • .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor)
  • .vscode/mcp.json (VSCode)
  • .mcp.json (Claude)
  • .windsurf/mcp.json (Windsurf)
  • .cline/mcp_settings.json (Cline)

Groups servers by source, displays type (local/remote), command, environment variables, and raw JSON.

IgnoreFilesComponent#

Displays agent-specific ignore files found in the repository:

  • .cursorignore (Cursor)
  • .aiderignore (Aider)
  • .rooignore (Roo Code)
  • .geminiignore (Gemini CLI)
  • .copilotignore (Copilot)

Shows line-numbered content with syntax highlighting and a link to open the file in the repository.

AgentConfigsComponent#

Displays agent configuration files with syntax highlighting:

  • .aider.conf.yml (YAML)
  • .continue/config.yaml or .continue/config.json
  • .cursor/settings.json
  • .zed/assistant.json

AgentSkillsComponent#

Discovers and displays Agent Skills — the open standard for portable, reusable AI capabilities:

  • .agents/skills/ (cross-client interoperability standard)
  • .claude/skills/ (Claude Code native location)
  • .cursor/skills/ (Cursor native location)

Each skill shows its name, description, compatibility, license, author/version metadata, full SKILL.md content, and an enumeration of bundled resource files (scripts/, references/, assets/).

Learn more about the frontend plugin

Backend Plugin#

The backend plugin handles:

  • Integration with Backstage SCM integrations
  • Fetching rules from Git repositories with retry logic and exponential backoff
  • Parsing frontmatter metadata in rule files
  • REST API endpoints for all capabilities
  • Support for 11 rule types and formats
  • Rate limiting protection for large repositories
  • Multi-provider git support (GitHub, GitLab, etc.)
  • MCP server configuration discovery (5 sources)
  • Agent ignore file discovery
  • Agent configuration file discovery
  • Agent Skills discovery (agentskills.io standard)

Learn more about the backend plugin

Features#

  • 11 Agent Types: Cursor, Copilot, Cline, Claude Code, Windsurf, Roo Code, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Amazon Q, Continue, Aider
  • Content Search: Full-text search across all rule names, titles, and content
  • Copy to Clipboard: One-click copy for any rule's content
  • Raw/Rendered Toggle: Switch between rendered Markdown and raw source per rule
  • Export to Markdown: Download all rules as a single .md file
  • Ignore Files Viewer: Inspect agent-specific ignore patterns
  • Agent Configs Viewer: Inspect agent configuration files with syntax highlighting
  • Agent Skills Support: Full support for the agentskills.io standard
  • 5 MCP Sources: Cursor, VSCode, Claude, Windsurf, Cline
  • Clickable Git Links: Direct links to open rule/skill files in git repositories
  • Manual Filtering: Users control when to search with Apply Filter functionality
  • Configurable Defaults: Separate configuration for allowed and default rule types
  • Repository Integration: Seamless integration with all Backstage SCM integrations
  • Rate Limiting Protection: Retry logic with exponential backoff for large repositories

Screenshots#

AI Rules Overview#

AI Rules Plugin Empty Overview AI Rules component showing no rule types selected

AI Rules Plugin Overview AI Rules component showing rule statistics and filtering options

AI Cursor Rules Details Detailed view of AI coding rules from Cursor with expandable cards

AI Claude Code Rules Details Detailed view of AI coding rules from Claude Code project rules

AI Copilot Rules Details Detailed view of AI coding rules from Copilot project rules

AI Cline Rules Content Detailed view of AI coding rules from Cline with expandable cards

Documentation Structure#

Frontend Plugin
- About
- Installation
- Configuration

Backend Plugin
- About
- Installation
- Configuration

Supported Rule Types#

Agent Rule Type Value Files Scanned
Cursor cursor .cursorrules, .cursor/rules/*.mdc\|.md, .cursor/MEMORY.md
GitHub Copilot copilot .github/copilot-instructions.md, .github/instructions/*.instructions.md
Cline cline .clinerules (root file), .clinerules/*.md
Claude Code claude-code CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md, .claude/rules/*.md
Windsurf windsurf .windsurfrules, .windsurf/rules/*.md
Roo Code roo-code .roorules, .roo/rules/, .roo/rules-{mode}/
OpenAI Codex codex AGENTS.md, AGENTS.override.md
Gemini CLI gemini GEMINI.md, .gemini/*.md
Amazon Q amazon-q .amazonq/rules/*.md
Continue continue .continue/rules/*.md, .continue/prompts/*.md
Aider aider CONVENTIONS.md

MCP Actions Integration#

The plugin provides MCP (Model Control Protocol) actions that can be used by AI assistants to access rules and MCP servers. To enable these actions:

  1. Ensure you have the MCP actions backend plugin installed and configured.

  2. Add the plugin to your actions configuration in app-config.yaml:

backend:
  actions:
    pluginSources:
      - 'catalog'
      - 'ai-rules'

Available MCP Actions#

  • get_ai_rules: Fetch AI coding rules from a Git repository
  • Input: Git repository URL and rule types to fetch (all 11 supported types)

  • Output: List of rules with metadata, content, file locations, and type-specific fields

  • get_mcp_servers: Get configured MCP servers from a Git repository

  • Input: Git repository URL
  • Output: List of MCP server configurations from all 5 supported sources

Getting Started#

  1. Install and configure the backend plugin
  2. Set up the frontend components
  3. Configure rule types in your app-config.yaml
  4. Configure MCP actions in your app-config.yaml
  5. Add the component to entity pages
  6. Start discovering and managing AI coding rules, skills, and configurations

For detailed installation and configuration instructions, refer to the individual plugin documentation linked above.