Write key decisions to a file so compaction cannot erase them

The problem

Compaction is lossy. Important mid-session decisions can disappear from the summary.

The hack

Maintain a short `NOTES.md` or `TODO.md` of decisions; instruct Claude to update it at boundaries and re-read after compact.

Why it works

Project-root CLAUDE.md survives, but conversation decisions may not. Files are durable external memory.

Setup

1. Create `NOTES.md` (or reuse an existing decision log). 2. Tell Claude: "After each major decision, append a one-line note to NOTES.md." 3. Before `/compact`, ask it to sync NOTES.md. 4. After compact, have it re-read NOTES.md before continuing.

Prompt

Append today's decisions to NOTES.md as bullet points, then continue.

Additional details

Source