Migration guide — `.claude/` restructure (2026-04-23)

The claude-config layout moved task tracking, memory registries, and audit reports out of scattered roots (tasks/, SEO.md, HARDEN.md, etc.) into a single governance root: .claude/{tasks,memory,audits}/.

This guide walks through the migration for existing projects that use claude-config skills and were onboarded before this change.

TL;DR — full migration in one block

Run from the project root. Inspect the output before committing.

# 1. Create the new directory layout
mkdir -p .claude/tasks .claude/memory .claude/audits

# 2. Move task files
[ -d tasks ] && {
  for f in tasks/*.md; do
    [ -f "$f" ] || continue
    case "$(basename "$f")" in
      LESSONS.md)
        # Deprecated - content goes into learnings.md (see step 3)
        mv "$f" .claude/tasks/LESSONS.legacy.md
        ;;
      AUDIT_GOOD.md|AUDIT_ISSUES.md|AUDIT_PROPOSALS.md|ONBOARD_REPORT.md)
        mv "$f" ".claude/audits/$(basename "$f")"
        ;;
      *)
        mv "$f" ".claude/tasks/$(basename "$f")"
        ;;
    esac
  done
  # Remove the empty tasks/ dir if nothing's left
  rmdir tasks 2>/dev/null
}

# 3. Move orphan audit reports from project root
for f in SEO.md GEO.md HARDEN.md VALIDATE.md BUGS-FOUND.md; do
  [ -f "$f" ] && mv "$f" ".claude/audits/$f"
done

# 4. Seed the 5 memory registries from the shipped templates
#    (only if they don't exist yet - never overwrite real content)
for reg in decisions learnings blockers journal evals; do
  target=".claude/memory/${reg}.md"
  src="$HOME/.claude/templates/memory/${reg}.md"
  if [ ! -f "$target" ] && [ -f "$src" ]; then
    cp "$src" "$target"
    echo "✅ Created $target"
  elif [ -f "$target" ]; then
    echo "⏭️  Kept existing $target"
  else
    echo "⚠️  Template missing: $src"
  fi
done

# 5. If LESSONS.legacy.md had useful entries, convert them manually into
#    .claude/memory/learnings.md (LRN-XXX format) then delete LESSONS.legacy.md

# 6. Update .gitignore - see "Gitignore patch" section below

# 7. Update CLAUDE.md - see "CLAUDE.md patch" section below

# 8. Verify
git status
git check-ignore -v .claude/memory/decisions.md .claude/tasks/TODO.md 2>&1

Gitignore patch

If your project's .gitignore contains a bare .claude/ rule, it will ignore every memory/tasks/audit file you just created. Replace that line with:

# Local project config (per-machine)
.claude/*
!.claude/tasks/
!.claude/memory/
!.claude/audits/
!.claude/settings.json
# These stay ignored (per-machine state)
.claude/settings.local.json
.claude/agent-memory/

Verify after edit:

# These MUST be trackable (exit 1)
git check-ignore .claude/memory/decisions.md .claude/tasks/TODO.md .claude/audits/

# These MUST still be ignored (exit 0)
git check-ignore .claude/settings.local.json .claude/agent-memory/

CLAUDE.md patch

If your project's CLAUDE.md references tasks/LESSONS.md / tasks/TODO.md, update the ## Session start, ## Workflow, ## After code changes, and ## Task tracking sections to use .claude/tasks/TODO.md and reference the 5 memory registries.

Fastest route: run /onboard on the project (safe, won't overwrite existing CLAUDE.md — it will merge). Otherwise, apply this diff manually:

 ## Session start
-1. Read `tasks/LESSONS.md` — apply all lessons before touching anything.
-2. Read `tasks/TODO.md` — understand current state.
-3. If neither exists, create both before starting.
+1. Read `.claude/memory/` — the 5 registries (decisions, learnings, blockers, journal, evals).
+2. Read `.claude/tasks/TODO.md` — understand current state.
+3. If missing, create from `~/.claude/templates/memory/`.

Add a new section referencing the registries (full template in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — copy the ## Memory registries (.claude/memory/) block).

What gets committed vs ignored

Path	Committed?	Reason
`.claude/tasks/*.md`	✅ yes	Shared project backlog
`.claude/memory/*.md`	✅ yes	Shared decisions/learnings/blockers
`.claude/audits/*.md`	✅ yes	Snapshot of project state — version-able
`.claude/settings.json`	✅ yes	Shared project config
`.claude/settings.local.json`	🚫 no	Per-machine overrides
`.claude/agent-memory/`	🚫 no	Per-session agent state

Post-migration sanity check

# 1. No legacy tasks/ dir left
[ -d tasks ] && echo "⚠️ tasks/ still exists" || echo "✅ tasks/ gone"

# 2. No orphan audit files at project root
for f in SEO.md GEO.md HARDEN.md VALIDATE.md BUGS-FOUND.md; do
  [ -f "$f" ] && echo "⚠️ $f still at root"
done

# 3. Structure in place
ls .claude/tasks .claude/memory .claude/audits

# 4. Git sees the new files as trackable
git status -u .claude/ --short

All four checks should be clean before committing the migration.

If anything goes wrong

The migration block only uses mv, not rm — nothing is deleted.
Old LESSONS.md is preserved as LESSONS.legacy.md — review it, copy meaningful entries into .claude/memory/learnings.md (with LRN-XXX IDs), then delete.
To undo: git checkout . before commit.

MIGRATION.md 5.1 KB History Raw

Migration guide — .claude/ restructure (2026-04-23)