diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c6598da..f7c9856 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Coming from [AIChat](https://github.com/sigoden/aichat)? Follow the [migration g
 * [RAG](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/RAG): Retrieval-Augmented Generation for enhanced information retrieval and generation.
 * [Sessions](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Sessions): Manage and persist conversational contexts and settings across multiple interactions.
 * [Memory](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Memory): Persistent file-based memory that survives across sessions. Bootstrap with `coyote --init-memory [global|workspace]`.
-* [Workspace Instructions](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Workspace-Instructions): Human-curated project instructions (`COYOTE.md`) injected into every prompt, with `AGENTS.md`/`CLAUDE.md` fallbacks for cross-tool compatibility. Scaffold with `coyote --init-instructions`.
+* [Workspace Instructions](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Workspace-Instructions): Human-curated project instructions (`COYOTE.md`) injected into every prompt, with `AGENTS.md`/`CLAUDE.md`/`GEMINI.md` fallbacks for cross-tool compatibility. Scaffold with `coyote --init-instructions`.
 * [Roles](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Roles): Customize model behavior for specific tasks or domains.
 * [Skills](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Skills): Modular knowledge or capability packs the LLM can load and unload mid-conversation. Multiple skills compose; instructions stack, tools and MCPs union.
 * [Agents](https://github.com/Dark-Alex-17/coyote/wiki/Agents): Leverage AI agents to perform complex tasks and workflows, including sub-agent spawning, teammate messaging, and user interaction tools.
diff --git a/assets/skills/iwe-knowledge-base/SKILL.md b/assets/skills/iwe-knowledge-base/SKILL.md
index 71e7e50..0090e8d 100644
--- a/assets/skills/iwe-knowledge-base/SKILL.md
+++ b/assets/skills/iwe-knowledge-base/SKILL.md
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Use IWE tools when the task involves a corpus of markdown documents: plan reposi
 Do NOT use IWE tools for:
 
 - **Agent memory** (`.coyote/memory/`) — use the `memory__*` tools; they own the index conventions there.
-- **Workspace instructions** (`COYOTE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `CLAUDE.md`) — human-curated and read-only; never edit them with IWE write tools.
+- **Workspace instructions** (`COYOTE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `CLAUDE.md`, `GEMINI.md`) — human-curated and read-only; never edit them with IWE write tools.
 - **Semantic/similarity search over documents** — that is RAG's job. IWE search is fuzzy title/key matching plus structural traversal, not embeddings.
 - **Source code** — IWE only understands markdown.
 
diff --git a/config.example.yaml b/config.example.yaml
index 5f1cb3f..7a29ea9 100644
--- a/config.example.yaml
+++ b/config.example.yaml
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ memory_cap_without_tools: null   # Char cap when function calling is unavailable
 # repeatable --workspace-instructions-file flags.
 workspace_instructions: null     # null/true = inject when an instructions file exists; false = never inject
 workspace_instructions_files: null # File name chain to search, in priority order.
-                                   # Default: [COYOTE.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md]
+                                   # Default: [COYOTE.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md]
                                    # Set to a custom list to reorder or drop fallbacks, e.g.:
                                    #   workspace_instructions_files: [COYOTE.md]
 
diff --git a/src/config/instructions.rs b/src/config/instructions.rs
index 94fe566..4541dff 100644
--- a/src/config/instructions.rs
+++ b/src/config/instructions.rs
@@ -4,8 +4,12 @@ use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use log::warn;
 
 pub const WORKSPACE_INSTRUCTIONS_FILE_NAME: &str = "COYOTE.md";
-pub const DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_INSTRUCTIONS_FILES: [&str; 3] =
-    [WORKSPACE_INSTRUCTIONS_FILE_NAME, "AGENTS.md", "CLAUDE.md"];
+pub const DEFAULT_WORKSPACE_INSTRUCTIONS_FILES: [&str; 4] = [
+    WORKSPACE_INSTRUCTIONS_FILE_NAME,
+    "AGENTS.md",
+    "CLAUDE.md",
+    "GEMINI.md",
+];
 const INSTRUCTIONS_SIZE_WARN_THRESHOLD: usize = 24_000;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
@@ -108,10 +112,14 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn discovery_falls_back_to_agents_md_then_claude_md() {
+    fn discovery_falls_back_through_chain_in_order() {
         let root = temp_root("fallback");
-        fs::write(root.join("CLAUDE.md"), "claude instructions").unwrap();
+        fs::write(root.join("GEMINI.md"), "gemini instructions").unwrap();
 
+        let found = discover_workspace_instructions(&root, &defaults()).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(found.path, root.join("GEMINI.md"));
+
+        fs::write(root.join("CLAUDE.md"), "claude instructions").unwrap();
         let found = discover_workspace_instructions(&root, &defaults()).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(found.path, root.join("CLAUDE.md"));