diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4135ddea8c6209f05989e64ddc356a2244efbb03..43effa7820c90b7b0f1903fbb7346ffc20a8d818 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -311,6 +311,31 @@ using `$(echo $VAR)` syntax.
 }
 ```
 
+### Memory files
+
+Crush automatically includes two files for cross-project instructions.
+
+- `~/.config/crush/CRUSH.md`: Crush-specific rules that would confuse other
+  agentic coding tools. If you only use Crush, this is the only one you need to
+  edit.
+- `~/.config/AGENTS.md`: generic instructions that other coding tools might
+  read. Avoid referring to Crush-specific tools or workflows here.
+
+You can customize these paths using the `memory_paths` option in your
+configuration:
+
+```jsonc
+{
+  "$schema": "https://charm.land/crush.json",
+  "options": {
+    "memory_paths": [
+      "~/path/to/custom/memory/file.md",
+      "/full/path/to/folder/of/files/" // recursively load all .md files in folder
+    ]
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ### Ignoring Files
 
 Crush respects `.gitignore` files by default, but you can also create a
diff --git a/internal/config/config.go b/internal/config/config.go
index 901562420e61fe3950886bebba7ff094eb8c91b6..f482a1402433821d282805bde1cc9fe515a5c5a1 100644
--- a/internal/config/config.go
+++ b/internal/config/config.go
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ func (Attribution) JSONSchemaExtend(schema *jsonschema.Schema) {
 
 type Options struct {
 	ContextPaths              []string     `json:"context_paths,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=Paths to files containing context information for the AI,example=.cursorrules,example=CRUSH.md"`
+	MemoryPaths               []string     `json:"memory_paths,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=Paths to files containing memory information for the AI,default=~/.config/crush/CRUSH.md,default=~/.config/AGENTS.md"`
 	SkillsPaths               []string     `json:"skills_paths,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=Paths to directories containing Agent Skills (folders with SKILL.md files),example=~/.config/crush/skills,example=./skills"`
 	TUI                       *TUIOptions  `json:"tui,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=Terminal user interface options"`
 	Debug                     bool         `json:"debug,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=Enable debug logging,default=false"`
diff --git a/internal/config/load.go b/internal/config/load.go
index 63904abc057e877c959991769c20f62a7ac8459a..585c1e3c3fef94058bc73a97fbb81a6c1ff94ee5 100644
--- a/internal/config/load.go
+++ b/internal/config/load.go
@@ -330,6 +330,14 @@ func (c *Config) setDefaults(workingDir, dataDir string) {
 	if c.Options.ContextPaths == nil {
 		c.Options.ContextPaths = []string{}
 	}
+	if c.Options.MemoryPaths == nil {
+		crushConfigDir := filepath.Dir(GlobalConfig())
+		c.Options.MemoryPaths = []string{
+			filepath.Join(crushConfigDir, "CRUSH.md"),
+			filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(crushConfigDir), "AGENTS.md"),
+		}
+	}
+	c.Options.ContextPaths = append(c.Options.ContextPaths, c.Options.MemoryPaths...)
 	if c.Options.SkillsPaths == nil {
 		c.Options.SkillsPaths = []string{}
 	}
@@ -363,6 +371,7 @@ func (c *Config) setDefaults(workingDir, dataDir string) {
 
 	// Add the default context paths if they are not already present
 	c.Options.ContextPaths = append(defaultContextPaths, c.Options.ContextPaths...)
+
 	slices.Sort(c.Options.ContextPaths)
 	c.Options.ContextPaths = slices.Compact(c.Options.ContextPaths)
 
diff --git a/schema.json b/schema.json
index a2d88bfd5f4be210534209694a9f0c0eb5c993c0..f9b44870373a8364cb6c4a0421d6054bc66e25aa 100644
--- a/schema.json
+++ b/schema.json
@@ -367,6 +367,17 @@
           "type": "array",
           "description": "Paths to files containing context information for the AI"
         },
+        "memory_paths": {
+          "items": {
+            "type": "string"
+          },
+          "type": "array",
+          "description": "Paths to files containing memory information for the AI",
+          "default": [
+            "~/.config/crush/CRUSH.md",
+            "~/.config/AGENTS.md"
+          ]
+        },
         "skills_paths": {
           "items": {
             "type": "string",