diff --git a/include/mujoco/.clang-format b/include/mujoco/.clang-format
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8b0b33c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/mujoco/.clang-format
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+# disable clang-format for public headers
+DisableFormat: true
+...
diff --git a/src/engine/.clang-format b/src/engine/.clang-format
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b9c52c6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/engine/.clang-format
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+# disable clang-format for engine source files
+DisableFormat: true
+...