diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 7f3ba91ca..e1cd8c420 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -124,6 +124,17 @@ Use a conventional-commit prefix (e.g., `fix:`, `feat:`, `docs:`, `fix(extract):
 - Keep description synchronized with final implementation.
 - Rebase/resolve conflicts before requesting final review.
 
+## Working with AI Coding Agents
+AI assistants are welcome, but every rule in this guide applies to the code they write, and you remain the author of the PR.
+- Point your agent at this file and [ARCHITECTURE.md](ARCHITECTURE.md) before it changes anything.
+- Branch off `upstream/v8`, keep the PR to one concern, and never let an agent hand-edit generated skill files.
+- For bug fixes, confirm the regression test fails without the fix, not only that it passes with it.
+- Run the checks yourself before opening the PR: `uv run pytest tests`, `uv run ruff check .`, `uv run pyright`.
+- Disclose material AI help with a `Co-Authored-By:` trailer, as described under [Commit Messages](#commit-messages).
+- Write the PR description yourself, and list the commands you actually ran.
+
+Optional: [ContribOS](https://github.com/adityatiwari101104/contribos) can list these rules with file and line references (`contribos policy Graphify-Labs/graphify`) and review a branch against them before you open a PR (`contribos check`).
+
 ## Issue Reports
 ### Bugs
 Include exact version/commit, environment, minimal reproduction, expected vs actual, logs, graph/cache artifacts where relevant, and whether a clean checkout reproduced it.