| name | agents-md |
| description | Customize CLAUDE.md file(s) for either the user or a project, including guidance on project, subdirectory, and user-level instruction scope. |
CLAUDE.md
Use this subskill when changing durable agent instructions in CLAUDE.md files.
Project CLAUDE.md
Claude Code can use one CLAUDE.md per directory, including the project root. Agents working inside subdirectories automatically load and concatenate the relevant CLAUDE.md files along that path.
Use project CLAUDE.md files for stable context:
- The project's goal.
- Modules and their responsibilities.
- Key files, including code and artifacts like a paper draft.
- Project infrastructure: key dependencies, name of a CLI command, how to run tests.
- Project specific gotchas and user preferences.
Subdirectory CLAUDE.md files should contain context specifically relevant to understanding or modifying that part of the codebase. For typical scientific programming projects, extensive directory-specific prompt structure is usually unnecessary.
Do not use CLAUDE.md as technical documentation; either the documentation becomes stale when the code changes, or every code change incurs the overhead cost of updating the documentation file.
User CLAUDE.md
Claude Code loads the user-owned ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md. The unified installer preserves that file and adds an @<config-repo>/claude/global/CLAUDE.md import line.
Use this command for first-run setup:
${CLAUDE_HOME:-$HOME/.claude}/bin/config-agent-tool install --agent claude
Changes to the shared global file are picked up by new Claude Code sessions through the import. Changes to the user's own ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md should remain short and personal.