· Mark Lester Mahilum · Resources · 1 min read
CLAUDE.md persists instructions across every session
You don't have to re-explain your project conventions every time. CLAUDE.md is loaded automatically at the start of every Claude Code session.
Put your standing instructions in CLAUDE.md at the project root. Claude Code reads it automatically on every session start, no prompting required.
Useful things to put there:
- Tech stack and conventions (“We use Zod for validation, never raw JSON.parse”)
- What commands to run for tests/build/lint
- Things Claude should always or never do in this repo
- Context that would take 2 minutes to re-explain each session
The file is just markdown. Keep it short and opinionated. It’s a briefing, not documentation.
Next step
If you are new to the tool, start with getting started with Claude Code. To see what a CLAUDE.md is worth when it is missing a decision, read how Claude “fixed” this site into 404s. I set up Claude Code workflows for teams; book a call if you want one tuned to your repo.