diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee4ef9d95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Commit messages
+
+Every commit must have a descriptive title and a substantive body. Title-only
+commit messages are not acceptable.
+
+The body must explain the problem or motivation, what changed, and why the
+chosen approach addresses it. Include relevant behavior before and after the
+change, design decisions, limitations, and validation results. Scale the detail
+to the change; do not add boilerplate or claim checks that were not run.
+
+Commit messages must stand on their own. Put the information needed to understand
+and review the change in the commit body, even when it also appears in a pull
+request description. PR and issue links may provide additional context, but must
+not substitute for that explanation.
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index c29b32b56..4eb2ee669 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3.1.61
+3.1.62
diff --git a/test/test_repo.py b/test/test_repo.py
index ad1fa68ab..b7b5718ff 100644
--- a/test/test_repo.py
+++ b/test/test_repo.py
@@ -1476,6 +1476,17 @@ def test_git_work_tree_from_bare_repo(self, rw_dir):
         assert not repo.bare
         assert osp.samefile(repo.working_tree_dir, worktree_path)
 
+        # Discovering from a subdirectory (as tools such as mkdocs plugins do) and then
+        # running a command with an absolute pathspec must use the worktree, not the
+        # bare common dir, as the working directory; 3.1.61 failed here with
+        # "is outside repository at '<bare_repo>/.'" (#2223).
+        subdir = osp.join(worktree_path, "git", "repo")
+        sub_repo = Repo(subdir, search_parent_directories=True)
+        assert not sub_repo.bare
+        assert osp.samefile(sub_repo.working_dir, worktree_path)
+        expected = repo.git.log("-n", "1", "--format=%H", "--", "git/repo")
+        assert sub_repo.git.log("-n", "1", "--format=%H", "--", subdir) == expected
+
     def test_git_work_tree_dotgit_relative(self):
         """Check that we find .git as a worktree file containing a relative path
         and find the worktree based on it."""