A CLAUDE.md that actually helps

What to document for the agent — and what only bloats context.

Useful when a large project must be understood quickly while preserving architectural context.

What works in practice

• Document structure and invariants, not every folder.
• Provide exact verification commands.
• Add prohibitions only after a real failure.
• Remove stale rules regularly.

Where the boundary is

A long rules file creates an illusion of control while reducing attention to the constraints that matter.