Universal, shareable AI-Context for any AI, human or team, regardless of size, location, languages, stack, setup or documentation.
.faf is now an officially recognized Internet standard format.
Official Media Type: application/vnd.faf+yaml
IANA Status: Registered alongside PDF, JSON, XML, and other Internet standards
Registration Date: October 31, 2025
- ✅ IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (Official Internet Standard)
- ✅ Anthropic - Official MCP Registry (PR #2759 merged)
- ✅ Google - Chrome Web Store (Approved 2x: Sep 11 & Oct 29, 2025)
- ✅ xAI - Grok 4.2 recommends native FAF adoption (Feb 2026)
- ✅ Community - 27,000+ downloads, production-tested
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Media Type | application/vnd.faf+yaml |
| Registration | IANA Assignment |
| File Extensions | .faf |
| Standard Filename | project.faf |
| Encoding | UTF-8 |
| Base Format | YAML 1.2 |
Same recognition as application/pdf, application/json, application/xml.
New Standard: project.faf - visible, universal, like package.json
| File | Purpose | Who Reads It |
|---|---|---|
package.json |
Dependencies, scripts, metadata | npm, Node.js, developers |
project.faf |
Context, architecture, purpose | AI, Claude, Cursor, any AI tool |
README.md |
Human documentation | Developers, users |
The shift:
# Before (hidden like secrets)
ls -la
.env # Hidden (secrets - should be hidden) ✅
.faf # Hidden (AI context - should be visible!) ❌
# After (visible like package.json)
ls
package.json # Visible (dependencies) ✅
project.faf # Visible (AI context) ✅
README.md # Visible (documentation) ✅
.env # Still hidden (secrets stay secret) ✅.env hides secrets. project.faf shares context.
Migration: Legacy .faf files still work. Use faf migrate to rename to project.faf.
.faf (Foundational AI-context Format) is an IANA-registered open format for AI context — project DNA for any AI. Transform individual files or entire projects into structured data that AI instantly understands. Your tech stack, dependencies, architecture, and goals - all in one concise, shareable format.
Instead of explaining your project every time, AI reads your .faf once and knows exactly how to help.
27,000+ downloads across the FAF ecosystem (faf-cli, claude-faf-mcp, grok-faf-mcp, and more).
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| WHO is this for? | Developers using AI coding assistants (Claude, Gemini, Cursor, Grok, ChatGPT) |
| WHAT is it? | The package.json for AI context — IANA-registered format (application/vnd.faf+yaml) |
| WHERE does it work? | Everywhere AI needs context (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, etc.) |
| WHY do you need it? | 91% fewer tokens wasted on rediscovery. Context persists forever. Bi-syncs automatically. |
| WHEN should you use it? | New projects (day one), existing projects (now), exploring repos (faf git <url> — 2 seconds) |
| HOW does it work? | npx faf-cli init — or npx faf-cli git <url> for any GitHub repo, no install, no clone |
- Not a replacement for README.md — README is for humans,
project.fafis for AI - Not executable code — it's structured data (YAML), not a script or config
- Not a build configuration — it describes your project, it doesn't build it
- Not locked to one AI — works with Claude, Gemini, Cursor, Grok, ChatGPT, any AI tool
| FAF | AGENTS.md | .cursorrules | CLAUDE.md | GEMINI.md | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Structured YAML | Prose markdown | Prose markdown | Prose markdown | Prose markdown |
| IANA Registered | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Scored | 0-100% | No | No | No | No |
| Portable | Any AI | OpenAI ecosystem | Cursor only | Claude only | Gemini only |
| Machine-readable | Yes (schema) | No (free text) | No (free text) | No (free text) | No (free text) |
| Generates others | Yes (all 4) | No | No | No | No |
FAF is the structured source. The others are prose outputs. faf bi-sync --all generates all four from one project.faf.
AI tools need context. Files have context. But there's no standard way to measure or structure that context for optimal AI understanding.
# example.faf
version: 1.0
score: 85
type: package
confidence: 0.92
content:
name: "my-project"
dependencies: ["react", "typescript", "vite"]
scripts: ["dev", "build", "test"]
metadata:
source: "package.json"
processed: "2024-01-26T12:00:00Z"
engine: "faf-v1"
🩵 faf-cliCommand-Line Tool - v4.5.0
npm install -g faf-cli |
Claude Desktop MCP - v4.1.3
npm install -g claude-faf-mcp |
Total: 27,000+ downloads across the ecosystem 🎉
| Package | Platform | Registry | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| claude-faf-mcp | Anthropic | npm | 9,800+ |
| faf-mcp | Universal | npm | 2,800+ |
| grok-faf-mcp | xAI | npm | 850+ |
| gemini-faf-mcp | PyPI | v1.0.2 | |
| MCPaaS | Infrastructure | mcpaas.live | 153 souls |
FAF compiles to multiple targets:
| Component | Language | Output |
|---|---|---|
| xai-faf-rust | Rust | Native + .fafb binary |
| xai-faf-zig | Zig→WASM | 2.7KB ghost binary |
| faf-wasm-sdk | Rust→WASM | 211KB browser runtime |
One .faf file generates all four AI instruction formats:
project.faf → AGENTS.md (OpenAI Codex)
→ .cursorrules (Cursor)
→ CLAUDE.md (Anthropic)
→ GEMINI.md (Google)
Define once. Every AI reads it in its own language.
- Universal - 153+ file types supported
- Scored - 0-100% context completeness score
- AI-Optimized - Structured for maximum AI comprehension
- Human-Readable - Simple, structured format
- Shareable - One file contains complete context
Input: package.json
{
"name": "my-app",
"version": "1.0.0",
"dependencies": {
"react": "^18.0.0"
}
}Output: package.faf (85% context score)
version: 1.0
score: 85
type: package
content:
name: "my-app"
version: "1.0.0"
dependencies: ["react@^18.0.0"]
metadata:
processed: "2024-01-26"- 🎯 Measure - Know exactly how complete your AI context is
- 📊 Optimize - See what's missing, improve your score
- 🚀 Standardize - One format for all file types
- 🤖 AI-Ready - Optimized for LLM consumption
| Score | Meaning | AI Readiness |
|---|---|---|
| 0-60% | Incomplete | Poor context |
| 61-80% | Basic | Acceptable |
| 81-90% | Good | Recommended |
| 91-99% | Excellent | Optimal |
| 100% | Perfect | Maximum context |
- File Conversion: Transform any file type into .faf format
- Project Context: Create a single .faf file for your entire project
- Build Integration: Companies can create custom implementations
- AI Optimization: Perfect context for any AI tool
# CLI Tool (recommended for getting started)
npm install -g faf-cli
cd your-project
faf init
# Or Claude Desktop Integration
npm install -g claude-faf-mcp
# Add to Claude Desktop configUniversal tools. Zero configuration. Production-ready.
→ faf-cli on npm (14,000+ downloads) → claude-faf-mcp on npm (9,800+ downloads)
- Specification - Complete format documentation
- Implementations - All tools, SDKs, and servers
- Examples - Real-world .faf files (5 examples)
- Where to Find FAF - Ecosystem directory
🏆 IANA-Registered Internet Standard - Specification v1.1.0 (October 2025)
- ✅ IANA Registration -
application/vnd.faf+yaml(October 31, 2025) - ✅ Anthropic Official - MCP Registry PR #2759 merged (October 17, 2025)
- ✅ Google Chrome Verified - Web Store approved 2x (Sep 11 & Oct 29, 2025)
- ✅ Format specification complete
- ✅ Enhanced with project-level context and AI workflows
- ✅ Production tools available (faf-cli, claude-faf-mcp)
- ✅ 27,000+ combined downloads across ecosystem
- ✅ Battle-tested with 12,500+ test iterations (WJTTC GOLD Certified)
- ✅ Open source (MIT License)
- Feb 25, 2026 - Grok 4.2 recommends native FAF adoption; integration spec sent to xAI
- Feb 24, 2026 - faf-cli v4.5.0 "The AGENTS.md Edition" (AI interop across 4 formats)
- Feb 2, 2026 - FAFb binary format v1.0 (Rust + Zig compilers shipping)
- Jan 2026 - gemini-faf-mcp v1.0.2 on PyPI (Google MCP bridge)
- Nov 2025 - IETF standardization in progress (
vndprefix removal) - Oct 31, 2025 - 🏆 IANA Registration (
application/vnd.faf+yaml) - Oct 29, 2025 - Google Chrome Web Store approval (2nd)
- Oct 17, 2025 - Official Anthropic MCP Registry merger (PR #2759)
- Oct 12, 2025 - Specification v1.1.0 published
- Sep 24, 2025 - CLI v2.1.0 published to npm
- Sep 16, 2025 - MCP Server v2.0.0 published to npm
- Sep 11, 2025 - Google Chrome Web Store approval (1st)
- Sep 1, 2025 - Developer platform launch (fafdev.tools)
- Aug 8, 2025 - Format created, first official .faf file generated
Quintuple Validation: IANA, Anthropic, Google (2x), xAI
Add this badge to your repo's README to show it uses FAF:
[](https://github.com/Wolfe-Jam/faf)This is an open standard. Ideas, feedback, and contributions welcome.
This repository contains the format specification only. For implementations, see IMPLEMENTATIONS.md.
Most people get FAF through npm:
npm i -g faf-cli— CLI tool (14,000+ downloads)npm i -g claude-faf-mcp— Claude Desktop MCP (9,800+ downloads)
The package.json in this repo provides spec metadata and versioning but contains no executable code.
MIT - Use freely, build anything.
Created by wolfejam.dev
**STOP .fafFing About! Let's RACE 🏎️⚡️🏁


