Keep CLAUDE.md under 200 lines so rules actually stick

Claude Code / CLAUDE.md·13 hours ago·verified 13 hours ago·easy·~10 min setup·verified

Trim project memory to under ~200 lines so Claude follows critical rules instead of drowning them in noise.

#claude-md #context #best-practices #tokens

The problem

Long CLAUDE.md files burn tokens every turn and make Claude ignore the rules you care about most.

The hack

Treat CLAUDE.md like a briefing, not a wiki: keep only always-true facts, and move workflows into skills or path-scoped rules.

Why it works

Official guidance targets under 200 lines. Bloated files consume startup context and reduce instruction adherence.

Setup

1. Open your root CLAUDE.md and run a pass asking: would removing this line cause a specific mistake? 2. Cut tutorials, API dumps, and anything Claude can infer from code. 3. Move multi-step workflows into `.claude/skills/` or `.claude/rules/`. 4. Run `/context` or `/memory` to confirm the trimmed file still loads.

Additional details

Specific beats vague: "2-space indentation" outperforms "format code nicely."

Source

anthropic·View original →·by Anthropic Docs

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Discussion

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