# AI Tooling

Source: https://payloadcms.com/docs/beta/getting-started/ai-tooling

Payload publishes an agent skill inside the `payload` package. Because it ships with the
package, the guidance your AI assistant reads always matches the version of Payload you
have installed.

The skill lives at `node_modules/payload/skills/payload/` once `payload` is installed.

## What's included

The skill's `SKILL.md` opens with a Quick Reference table mapping common tasks to the
relevant reference file, so your assistant only opens the reference docs a given task
needs rather than loading everything up front. Those reference docs cover:

- **Collections**: auth, uploads, drafts, and live preview configurations
- **Fields**: all field types including relationships, arrays, blocks, joins, and virtual fields
- **Hooks**: `beforeChange`, `afterChange`, `beforeValidate`, and field hooks
- **Access Control**: collection, field, and global patterns including RBAC and multi-tenant, plus advanced row-level security
- **Queries**: Local API, REST, and GraphQL with complex operators
- **Database Adapters**: MongoDB, Postgres, and SQLite configuration and transactions
- **Endpoints**: custom collection and global API routes
- **Plugin Development**: plugin architecture and package structure
- **Advanced Features**: jobs queue, localization, and other advanced configuration

## Setup

New projects created with `create-payload-app` are configured automatically with an
`AGENTS.md` at the project root. Pass `--no-agent` to skip it.

For an existing project, add `AGENTS.md` at the project root:

```md
# AI Agent

For any Payload-related work, reference the skill at `node_modules/payload/skills/payload/SKILL.md`.
```

> **Note**
>
> `SKILL.md` costs roughly 8,000 tokens once your assistant opens it. The files
> under `reference/` are only read on demand, so the full skill is not loaded
> into context up front.

## Claude Code plugin

Payload also publishes the skill as a Claude Code plugin. The plugin tracks the `main`
branch rather than your installed version, so prefer it only when contributing to Payload
itself or when you specifically want unreleased guidance.

```bash
/plugin marketplace add payloadcms/payload
/plugin install payload@payload-marketplace
```

> **Warning**
>
> Use one channel per project. The plugin and the `node_modules` pointer both
> provide a skill named `payload`. Enabling both puts two copies at different
> versions in scope, and they can give conflicting guidance.