claude-md-auditor

name	claude-md-auditor
description	Use PROACTIVELY when reviewing CLAUDE.md configurations, onboarding new projects, or before committing memory file changes. Validates against official Anthropic documentation, community best practices, and LLM context optimization research. Detects security violations, anti-patterns, and compliance issues. Not for runtime behavior testing or imported file validation.

CLAUDE.md Auditor

Validates and scores CLAUDE.md files against three authoritative sources with actionable remediation guidance.

When to Use

• Audit before committing CLAUDE.md changes
• Onboard new projects and validate memory configuration
• Troubleshoot why Claude isn't following standards
• CI/CD integration for automated validation gates

Validation Sources

1. Official Anthropic Guidance

• Memory hierarchy (Enterprise > Project > User)
• "Keep them lean" requirement
• Import syntax and limitations (max 5 hops)
• What NOT to include (secrets, generic content)
• Authority: Highest (requirements from Anthropic)

2. Community Best Practices

• 100-300 line target range
• 80/20 rule (essential vs. supporting content)
• Organizational patterns and maintenance cadence
• Authority: Medium (recommended, not mandatory)

3. Research-Based Optimization

• "Lost in the middle" positioning (Liu et al., 2023)
• Token budget optimization
• Attention pattern considerations
• Authority: Medium (evidence-based)

Output Modes

Mode 1: Audit Report (Default)

Generate comprehensive markdown report:

Audit my CLAUDE.md file using the claude-md-auditor skill.

Output includes:

• Overall health score (0-100)
• Category scores (security, compliance, best practices)
• Findings grouped by severity (CRITICAL → LOW)
• Specific remediation steps with line numbers

Mode 2: JSON Report

Machine-readable format for CI/CD:

Generate JSON audit report for CI pipeline integration.

Use for: Automated quality gates, metrics tracking

Mode 3: Refactored File

Generate production-ready CLAUDE.md:

Audit my CLAUDE.md and generate a refactored version following best practices.

Output: CLAUDE_refactored.md with optimal structure and research-based positioning

Quick Examples

Security-Focused Audit

Run a security-focused audit on my CLAUDE.md to check for secrets.

Checks for: API keys, tokens, passwords, connection strings, private keys

Multi-Tier Audit

Audit CLAUDE.md files in my project hierarchy (Enterprise, Project, User tiers).

Checks each tier and reports conflicts between them.

Score Interpretation

Overall Health (0-100):

• 90-100: Excellent (minor optimizations only)
• 75-89: Good (some improvements recommended)
• 60-74: Fair (schedule improvements)
• 40-59: Poor (significant issues)
• 0-39: Critical (immediate action required)

Category Targets:

• Security: 100 (any issue is critical)
• Official Compliance: 80+
• Best Practices: 70+

Finding Severities

• CRITICAL: Security risk (fix immediately)
• HIGH: Compliance issue (fix this sprint)
• MEDIUM: Improvement opportunity (next quarter)
• LOW: Minor optimization (backlog)

Reference Documentation

Detailed validation criteria and integration examples:

• reference/official-guidance.md - Complete Anthropic documentation compilation
• reference/best-practices.md - Community-derived recommendations
• reference/research-insights.md - Academic research findings
• reference/anti-patterns.md - Catalog of common mistakes
• reference/ci-cd-integration.md - Pre-commit, GitHub Actions, VS Code examples

Limitations

• Cannot automatically fix security issues (requires manual remediation)
• Cannot test if Claude actually follows the standards
• Cannot validate imported files beyond path existence
• Cannot detect circular imports

Success Criteria

A well-audited CLAUDE.md achieves:

• Security Score: 100/100
• Official Compliance: 80+/100
• Overall Health: 75+/100
• Zero CRITICAL findings
• < 3 HIGH findings

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Version: 1.0.0 | Last Updated: 2025-10-26