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Version-Controlling Your AI Agent Instructions with vem

February 20, 20266 min read

Stop copy-pasting AGENTS.md across machines. Learn how vem instructions lets you push, pull, version, and instantly roll back your AI instruction files.

The Problem: Instruction Files Drift

Every project that uses AI assistants ends up with a collection of instruction files — AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, custom system prompts. These files are the DNA of your AI workflow. When they drift between teammates or machines, agents start behaving inconsistently.

vem instructions treats these files as versioned artefacts stored in the cloud alongside your memory snapshots. Push, pull, and roll back — just like you would with code.

Pushing and Pulling Instructions

The first time you push, vem reads your instruction file (default: AGENTS.md), stores it as version 1 in the cloud, and associates it with your current project. Every subsequent push creates a new immutable version.

Push your current instruction file

# Push AGENTS.md (default) to the cloud
vem instructions push

# Push a custom instruction file
vem instructions push --file CLAUDE.md

Pull on a new machine or after a team update

# Pull the latest version from the cloud
vem instructions pull

# Check if your local file matches the cloud version
vem instructions status

Viewing History and Rolling Back

Bad prompt? No problem. Every push creates a snapshot you can diff and revert. Run vem instructions versions to see the full history with timestamps and content previews.

Browse version history and revert

# List all stored versions for this project
vem instructions versions

# Revert to a specific version
vem instructions revert 3

A Team Workflow for Prompt Engineering

Think of vem instructions as a shared prompt registry for your team. One person owns the canonical AGENTS.md, pushes updates after testing, and teammates pull the latest before starting a session. If a new version breaks something, anyone can revert.

Combined with vem cycle, you can tie instruction updates to sprint goals — lock down the prompt for the sprint, then iterate after the retrospective.

  • vem instructions push — publish a new version
  • vem instructions pull — sync to the latest team version
  • vem instructions status — detect local drift
  • vem instructions versions — browse full version history
  • vem instructions revert <n> — restore any previous version

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