Introducing the Umbraco Sustainability Agent Profile
A practical starting point for lower-carbon development and lower costs
Thomas Morris from the Umbraco Community Sustainability team has prepared a first draft of an “agents.md” file. It is a lightweight set of instructions designed to help developers use AI tools in a more efficient way that results in lower-emissions, while still getting reliable help with Umbraco development.
The intention is that not only will it conserve tokens as you use your LLM. Ultimately the idea is that it should also reduce running costs of the solutions you are creating with it as more efficient, less carbon-emitting solutions frequently also come with lower resource use and thus lower running costs.
This file is now available for community use, and we encourage everyone working with Umbraco to try it out.
Why create an AI agent profile for Umbraco?
The goals behind the draft are simple:
Provide an LLM with specific guidance so it behaves like a focused Umbraco assistant
Put sustainability at the center of AI-supported development
Reduce unnecessary token usage
Promote development practices aligned with the Web Sustainability Guidelines and the Umbraco Sustainability team’s recommendations
Offer a shared baseline that we can iterate and improve together
This approach helps ensure that when we rely on AI tools, we do so in a way that is as sustainable as possible .
What the agent does
When used in tools like ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot, the agent.md profile guides the model to:
1. Focus on Umbraco documentation
The agent knows to base its help on the official Umbraco documentation and match responses to the specific CMS version used in the project.
2. Apply sustainable web development practices
It actively encourages choices that reduce energy and resource consumption, such as:
Optimising images and media
Reducing HTTP requests
Keeping page weight under control
Lazy loading assets
Avoiding unnecessary dependencies
Using modern image formats
Monitoring Core Web Vitals
Reducing or removing unused content and media
3. Keep responses lean
The profile limits unnecessary verbosity and focuses on immediate, actionable guidance. This reduces token consumption and improves clarity.
How you can use it
You can drop the agents.md file directly into your project or personal AI setup. Most tools allow setting a system prompt or project-level instruction file. Once active, the model will automatically follow the sustainability-focused Umbraco behaviour outlined in the file.
Teams can also adapt the file to match their own coding standards or internal review processes.
This is a starting point. We need your input.
The draft is intentionally lightweight. It is meant to grow with feedback from developers using it in everyday work.
We would love to hear from you if you:
Notice gaps
Have suggestions for clearer guidelines
Find a sustainability practice that should be added
Or have practical examples from your projects
The Umbraco Sustainability Community team will continue developing this resource based on your experiences.
Moving Umbraco development toward lower carbon-emissions
AI-assisted development is here to stay. By shaping the tools rather than letting them shape us, we can keep Umbraco development productive while reducing the environmental impact of our workflows. This agent profile is one step in that direction.
We invite you to test the agents.md file, and share your thoughts. Together we can evolve a practical guide that supports high-quality, sustainable Umbraco solutions for years to come.