Stop Overloading Claude Code: Fix Your CLAUDE.md & Skills

Keep a useful project entry point

A small CLAUDE.md should still explain the repository, its important working rules, and the checks needed for a useful result. The episode’s local cleanup removes repeated material without treating a shorter file as the only goal. Keep instructions that prevent a recurring mistake, and inspect the edited file to confirm that meaningful boundaries survived.

Moving a file does not necessarily defer its content

Anthropic’s documentation explains that CLAUDE.md imports load at startup. Splitting a large file into several imported files can improve organization while leaving the context cost in place. Task-specific skills and references serve a different purpose. Choose their scope and loading behavior deliberately, and review other instruction sources that may still duplicate the same rules.

Give the next stage checked evidence

The research-to-script example asks what a writer actually needs: a supported claim, its source, the relevant date, and the limitation that should travel with it. A large collection of notes can obscure those distinctions. A compact handoff is useful when it preserves the reasoning a reviewer needs to verify the final wording.

Measure the claim you want to make

The episode shows local file operations and reports from an authored example. It does not record live Claude inference or a doctor-command session, and it does not measure speed or billing savings. The vendor’s reported prompt reduction remains an attributed report. Check current commands and version requirements before trying the diagnostic steps in your own installation.

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