Instructions
claude-code ai-engineering
What Anthropic calls CLAUDE.md files: plain markdown files loaded into the context window at session start to give the model persistent context.
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Instructions are CLAUDE.md files that load into the context window at session start. The model’s response is conditioned on them, but they are not enforced. Instructions are distinct from rules: rules are path-scoped files in .claude/rules/ that load based on glob patterns, while instructions are broad and always-on. Both end up in the context window, but instructions load by directory hierarchy while rules load by file path matching. Anthropic’s docs are specific: CLAUDE.md files are instructions, .claude/rules/ files are rules.
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