Memory

One at a time. Tell it whether you knew, and the ones you did not stay in your pile.

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Block-level HTML comments in CLAUDE.md cost zero tokens.

They are stripped before the file is injected, so leave maintainer notes there without paying for them.

The whole topic8

Block-level HTML comments in CLAUDE.md cost zero tokens.
They are stripped before the file is injected, so leave maintainer notes there without paying for them.
An @path import does not reduce context cost.
Imported files load together with the importing file, up to four hops deep. Use imports to organize, not to slim down.
Wrap @README in backticks and it is not imported.
Import parsing skips code spans and fenced blocks, so you can mention a path in CLAUDE.md without loading it.
Only the first 200 lines or 25KB of MEMORY.md load at startup.
Topic files are read on demand, so keep the index short and put the detail in topic files.
Auto memory is shared by every worktree of a repo but never leaves the machine.
It does not sync to other machines or into cloud sessions, so anything that must travel belongs in CLAUDE.md.
Editing CLAUDE.md mid-session does not change the running session.
The new text loads after /clear, /compact or a restart.
A rule file with paths: globs loads only when a matching file is touched.
Rules without paths: load at launch like CLAUDE.md. Of the rule frontmatter only paths is read; other fields are silently ignored.
/doctor prompt-audit audits your instruction files for stale or contradicting content.
Run it every few weeks. Contradicting lines are a common reason a rule seems ignored.