diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index c97a3f3..e7883e2 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -164,3 +164,23 @@ still match what the pipeline produces.
 - **No live network at pipeline run time.** `make sources` is the only
   stage that touches the network; all downstream stages read disk.
 - **Determinism.** Reconcile output must be byte-stable across runs.
+
+## Layout conventions
+
+`docs/` holds **only** human-readable prose. Technical artifacts live
+elsewhere — m-standard's top-level layout:
+
+| Path | Contents |
+|---|---|
+| `docs/` | Spec, ADRs, user guides, build logs, m-libraries surveys |
+| `integrated/` | Reconciled cross-source layer — machine-readable M-language reference (TSV + JSON) |
+| `per-source/` | Per-source extracted TSVs (anno / ydb / iris) — provenance layer |
+| `schemas/` | JSON Schemas validating `integrated/*.json` |
+| `sources/` | Offline replicas of upstream sources |
+| `mappings/` | Hand-maintained cross-source name mappings |
+| `dist/` | Phase 0 `repo.meta.json` (org-level contract) |
+| `src/m_standard/` | Library + pipeline tools |
+| `tools/` | Non-Python helpers (`clone-ydb.sh`, `check-repo-meta.py`) |
+
+Enforced by `make check-docs-prose` (CI gate). Org-level rule:
+[`.github/CONTRIBUTING.md` § Layout conventions](https://github.com/m-dev-tools/.github/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#layout-conventions).