diff --git a/docs/ai/overview.md b/docs/ai/overview.md
index 7456e72..ab9ea7b 100644
--- a/docs/ai/overview.md
+++ b/docs/ai/overview.md
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ Where they live:
 
 Instructions are always-on defaults. Agents and skills are optional and only used when you explicitly invoke them.
 
+## Agents.md vs Instructions
+Agents.md is a human-readable contributor guide for how to work in this repo (request format, plan-first habits, and sync expectations). It does not apply automatically.
+
+Instructions files are machine-readable rules that auto-apply when you edit matching files. They are enforced by the assistant without you having to reference them.
+
 ## Agents vs Skills (Where They Live)
 Agents are full personas or modes (for example, Task Researcher) that control how the assistant behaves end-to-end. Skills are focused, reusable workflows (for example, webapp-testing) that the assistant can load for a specific task.