Microsoft Agent Package Manager

Microsoft released an open-source dependency manager for AI agents called Agent Package Manager (APM), which allows developers to declare agentic dependencies in a manifest file and reproduce them across different coding agents. The tool supports transitive dependency resolution, plugin authoring, and integration with multiple AI coding assistants including GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, and Cursor.

An open-source, community-driven dependency manager for AI agents. Think package.json , requirements.txt , or Cargo.toml — but for AI agent configuration. GitHub Copilot · Claude Code · Cursor · OpenCode · Codex · Gemini · Windsurf · Kiro Documentation · · Quick Start https://microsoft.github.io/apm/getting-started/quick-start/ · CLI Reference https://microsoft.github.io/apm/reference/cli-commands/ Roadmap https://github.com/orgs/microsoft/projects/2304 Portable by manifest. Secure by default. Governed by policy.One file describes every agent's context; one command reproduces it everywhere; one policy controls what an org will allow. AI coding agents need context to be useful — standards, prompts, skills, plugins — but today every developer sets this up manually. Nothing is portable nor reproducible. There's no manifest for it. APM fixes this. Declare your project's agentic dependencies once in apm.yml , and every developer who clones your repo gets a fully configured agent setup in seconds — with transitive dependency resolution, just like npm or pip. It's also the first tool that lets you author plugins with a real dependency manager and export standard plugin.json packages. apm.yml — ships with your project name: your-project version: 1.0.0 dependencies: apm: Skills from any repository - anthropics/skills/skills/frontend-design Plugins - github/awesome-copilot/plugins/context-engineering Specific agent primitives from any repository - github/awesome-copilot/agents/api-architect.agent.md A full APM package with instructions, skills, prompts, hooks... - microsoft/apm-sample-package v1.0.0 mcp: MCP servers -- installed into every detected client - name: io.github.github/github-mcp-server transport: http MCP transport name, not URL scheme -- connects over HTTPS git clone <org/repo && cd <repo apm install every agent is configured Coming from npx skills add? Drop-in: apm install vercel-labs/agent-skills whole bundle, like npx skills add apm install vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill deploy-to-vercel one skill, persisted to apm.yml Same install gesture. You also get a manifest, lockfile, and reproducibility https://microsoft.github.io/apm/reference/package-types/ skill-collection-skillsnameskillmd . Zero-config Copilot: apm compile -t copilot writes .github/copilot-instructions.md One command, no configuration -- VS Code and GitHub Copilot read the file automatically. APM dogfoods this target on its own repository. One apm.yml describes every primitive your agents need — instructions, skills, prompts, agents, hooks, plugins, MCP servers — and apm install reproduces the exact same setup across every client on every machine. apm.lock.yaml pins the resolved tree the way package-lock.json does for npm. — declared once, deployed across Copilot, Claude, Cursor, OpenCode, Codex, Gemini, Windsurf, Kiro One manifest for everything https://microsoft.github.io/apm/reference/primitive-types/ — GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, GitHub Enterprise, Gitea, Gogs, any git host Install from anywhere https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/dependencies/ — packages can depend on packages; APM resolves the full tree Transitive dependencies https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/dependencies/ — build Copilot, Claude, and Cursor plugins with dependency management, then export standard Author plugins https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/plugins/ plugin.json — install plugins from curated registries in one command, deployed across all targets and locked Marketplaces https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/marketplaces/ — Pack & distribute https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/pack-distribute/ apm pack bundles your configuration as a zipped package or a standalone plugin— GitHub Action for automated workflows CI/CD ready https://github.com/microsoft/apm-action Agent context is executable in effect — a prompt is a program for an LLM. APM treats it that way. Every install scans for hidden Unicode that can hijack agent behavior; the lockfile pins integrity hashes; transitive MCP servers are gated by trust prompts. — Content security https://microsoft.github.io/apm/enterprise/security/ apm install blocks compromised packages before agents read them; apm audit runs the same checks on demand— Lockfile integrity https://microsoft.github.io/apm/enterprise/governance/ apm.lock records resolved sources and content hashes for full provenance— SBOM export https://microsoft.github.io/apm/reference/cli/lock/ apm lock export --format cyclonedx|spdx emits a standard inventory of what reached disk, straight from the lockfile — provenance for procurement, not a compliance attestation— Drift detection https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/drift-detection/ apm audit rebuilds your agent context in scratch and diffs it against your working tree to catch hand-edits before they ship— transitive MCP servers require explicit consent MCP trust boundaries https://microsoft.github.io/apm/guides/mcp-servers/ apm-policy.yml lets a security team say "these are the only sources, scopes, and primitives this org will allow" and have every apm install enforce it — with tighten-only inheritance from enterprise to org to repo, a published bypass contract, and audit-mode CI gates. apm-policy.yml governs what gets installed; your agent harness governs what runs. The two planes do not overlap. — the canonical enterprise reference: enforcement points, bypass contract, air-gapped story, failure semantics, rollout playbook Governance Guide https://microsoft.github.io/apm/enterprise/governance-guide/ — every check, every field, every default Policy reference https://microsoft.github.io/apm/enterprise/policy-reference/ — staged rollout from warn to block across hundreds of repos Adoption playbook https://microsoft.github.io/apm/enterprise/adoption-playbook/ — wire GitHub rulesets integration https://microsoft.github.io/apm/integrations/github-rulesets/ apm audit --ci into branch protection curl -sSL https://aka.ms/apm-unix | sh irm https://aka.ms/apm-windows | iex Native release binaries are published for macOS, Linux, and Windows x86 64. apm update reuses the matching platform installer. Then start adding packages: apm install microsoft/apm-sample-package v1.0.0 Or install from a marketplace: apm marketplace add github/awesome-copilot apm install azure-cloud-development@awesome-copilot Or add an MCP server wired into Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini, Windsurf, and Kiro : apm install --mcp io.github.github/github-mcp-server --transport http connects over HTTPS See the Getting Started guide for the full walkthrough. agentrc https://github.com/microsoft/agentrc analyzes your codebase and generates tailored agent instructions — architecture, conventions, build commands — from real code, not templates. Use agentrc to author high-quality instructions, then package them with APM to share across your org. The .instructions.md format is shared by both tools — no conversion needed when moving instructions into APM packages. Created by @danielmeppiel https://github.com/danielmeppiel . Maintained by @danielmeppiel https://github.com/danielmeppiel and @sergio-sisternes-epam https://github.com/sergio-sisternes-epam . Roadmap & Discussions https://github.com/microsoft/apm/discussions/116 Contributing /microsoft/apm/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md AI Native Development guide https://danielmeppiel.github.io/awesome-ai-native — a practical learning path for AI-native development Built on open standards: AGENTS.md https://agents.md · Agent Skills https://agentskills.io · MCP https://modelcontextprotocol.io This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general . Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. 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