instruction-placement-framework

name	instruction-placement-framework
description	Decide where to place Claude Code instructions (CLAUDE.md, rules, skills, subagents, hooks, output styles, or appended system prompt) based on load timing, compaction behavior, context cost, and authority.

Instructions

Use this skill when you are configuring Claude Code and want a consistent way to choose where an instruction should live.

1. Classify the instruction:

   • Project facts that should always be in context → CLAUDE.md (root)
   • Team or folder-specific conventions → CLAUDE.md (subdirectory) or path-scoped rules
   • Specific constraints that must hold reliably → rules (prefer path-scoped)
   • A repeatable procedure (runbook/checklist) → skill
   • A side task that should run in isolation and return only a summary → subagent
   • Deterministic automation or enforcement on lifecycle events → hook
   • A major, persistent change in role or tone → output style
   • One-off additive instructions for a single invocation → append-system-prompt

2. Check tradeoffs:

   • If always-on instructions are growing, reduce context cost by using path scoping or skills.
   • If you need deterministic enforcement, prefer hooks/permissions over prompts.
   • If you don’t want intermediate results cluttering the main thread, use subagents.

Examples

• If you wrote a 30-line deployment procedure in CLAUDE.md, move it into a skill.
• If a rule only applies to src/api/**, add paths: frontmatter so it loads only when relevant.
• If you need to block a dangerous tool call reliably, use a PreToolUse hook and exit code 2.

See: references/methods-table.md See: examples/rules-paths-frontmatter.md