Claude Code loads modular rule files from ~/.claude/rules/ (user scope, recursive, markdown, optional paths: frontmatter for lazy path-scoped loading — stable, symlink-supported). The repo had no rules/ at all, so the ctx7 setup had created ~/.claude/rules as a REAL directory outside version control — invisible to the repo, unreproducible on a new machine. - rules/README.md — doctrine: one rule per file; paths:-scoped extraction is the token win, always-on doctrine stays in CLAUDE.md - link.sh — rules added to the symlinked-dirs loop - .gitignore — rules/context7.md ignored (machine-owned: `ctx7 setup` (re)writes it, same treatment as skills/find-docs/) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XpphkdTosUzokBDNG7PToS
28 lines
1.1 KiB
Markdown
28 lines
1.1 KiB
Markdown
# rules/
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Modular instruction files loaded by Claude Code alongside `CLAUDE.md`.
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Symlinked to `~/.claude/rules` by `link.sh`, same model as `agents/`,
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`skills/`, `lib/`.
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## What belongs here
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One rule = one file = one concern. Candidates: instructions that are
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self-contained enough to live outside `CLAUDE.md`'s main flow, or that
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tooling generates/owns.
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Rules support an optional `paths:` YAML frontmatter (glob list). A rule
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WITH `paths` loads lazily — only when Claude reads a file matching a
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glob; a rule WITHOUT it loads at session start, same cost as CLAUDE.md.
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So: extract from CLAUDE.md only what can be path-scoped (the token win)
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or what is generated; always-on doctrine stays in CLAUDE.md.
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Docs: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory.md#path-specific-rules
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## Machine-owned files (gitignored, regenerated)
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- `context7.md` — written by `ctx7 setup --claude --cli`
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(install-plugins.sh STEP ctx7). Not vendored: ctx7 owns its content
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and rewrites it on setup; the repo would fight the generator. Same
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treatment as `skills/find-docs/`.
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Hand-written rules ARE tracked — add them normally.
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