diff --git a/.changeset/create-app-pin-jest-30-3.md b/.changeset/create-app-pin-jest-30-3.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7d71b9e789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/create-app-pin-jest-30-3.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/create-app': patch
+---
+
+Pinned the Jest version range in app templates to `~30.3.0` to prevent automatic upgrades to Jest 30.4.x, which requires Node.js v24.9+ and breaks tests on Node 22.
diff --git a/.cursor/rules/backstage-project.mdc b/.cursor/rules/backstage-project.mdc
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..b7e6491d3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.cursor/rules/backstage-project.mdc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../AGENTS.md
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index ae39378648..033a090d3f 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+---
+alwaysApply: true
+---
+
 Backstage is an open platform for building developer portals. This is a TypeScript monorepo using Yarn workspaces.
 
 ## Key Directories