{"schema_version":"newruntime-agent-readable-v0.2","type":"post","stable_id":"post:agent-behavior-spec-format","slug":"agent-behavior-spec-format","title":"Agent Behavior Makes Conduct Reviewable","description":"Agent Behavior proposes repo-local BEHAVIOR.md specs for recurring agent conduct, giving trace reviewers, eval authors, and prompt maintainers a concrete behavior contract.","retrieval_nugget":"Agent Behavior proposes repo-local BEHAVIOR.md specs for recurring agent conduct, giving trace reviewers, eval authors, and prompt maintainers a concrete behavior contract. #AgentBehavior #Evals #PromptEngineering #AgentGovernance Agent Behavior is small on purpose: it proposes a standard way to describe expected agent conduct in repo-local behavior files. The value is not another framework.","status":"published","published_at":"2026-08-01","updated_at":"2026-08-01","record_date":"2026-08-01","date_kind":"published_at","topics":["agent-behavior","evals","prompt-engineering","agent-governance"],"source_urls":["https://www.agentbehavior.dev/"],"visuals":[{"id":"agent-behavior-spec-format","kind":"editorial-diagram","role":"hero","src":"https://newruntime.com/images/posts/agent-behavior-spec-format.webp","alt":"A whiteboard governance diagram showing behavior specification files feeding trace review, eval design, prompt alignment, auditing, and recovery checks.","caption":"Agent Behavior turns recurring conduct into a repo-local review artifact: behavior specs can guide trace review, evals, prompt alignment, and recovery checks.","credit":"New Runtime synthesis from Agent Behavior public specification","source_url":"https://www.agentbehavior.dev/","generated_with":"gemini-3.1-flash-image","width":1600,"height":900,"legend":[{"label":"Behavior spec","description":"A repo-local markdown contract describes expected conduct across repeated interactions."},{"label":"Review surfaces","description":"Trace review, eval design, prompt updates, and audits can point at the same artifact."},{"label":"Runtime discipline","description":"The spec should guide inspection and debugging without becoming a giant prompt dump."}]}],"routes":{"html":"https://newruntime.com/posts/agent-behavior-spec-format/","markdown":"https://newruntime.com/posts/agent-behavior-spec-format.md","json":"https://newruntime.com/posts/agent-behavior-spec-format.json"},"source_format":"markdown","next_reads":[{"type":"topic","path":"/topics/evals/","reason":"Explore the evals topic hub.","url":"https://newruntime.com/topics/evals/","title":"Agent evals - New Runtime","media_type":"text/html"},{"type":"related_material","path":"/posts/agentic-sdlc-software-factory-loop/","reason":"Shares evals.","url":"https://newruntime.com/posts/agentic-sdlc-software-factory-loop/","title":"A Software Factory Connects Agents Through Verified Outcomes","media_type":"text/html"},{"type":"related_material","path":"/posts/cerebras-moe-router-gradient-null-expert/","reason":"Shares evals.","url":"https://newruntime.com/posts/cerebras-moe-router-gradient-null-expert/","title":"A Balanced MoE Router Can Still Be Functionally Dead","media_type":"text/html"},{"type":"related_material","path":"/posts/claude-code-auto-mode-action-gate/","reason":"Shares evals.","url":"https://newruntime.com/posts/claude-code-auto-mode-action-gate/","title":"Claude Code Auto Mode Gates Actions Instead Of Explanations","media_type":"text/html"},{"type":"related_material","path":"/posts/contextual-agent-memory-four-layer-system/","reason":"Shares evals.","url":"https://newruntime.com/posts/contextual-agent-memory-four-layer-system/","title":"A Vector Store Is Not An Agent Memory System","media_type":"text/html"}]}