Test CLAUDE.md structure, not just its size

A shop agent’s CLAUDE.md, split from 548KB to under a 45KB cap, regrew in 18 days; per-section limits and moving rules to skills held.

by Rulestack12 Sep 2026

Prompt for your agent

Goal: Keep my agent instruction file lean over time.
Setup: agents used in source: Claude.
Steps:
1. Split a bloated CLAUDE.md into a short core plus skills.
2. A total-size cap alone invites the wrong deletions; add structure tests (body size, line count, longest line, footer budget).
3. When a section grows, move it into the skill that uses it (approval rules, fetch commands) instead of trimming elsewhere.
Rules: ask me before anything irreversible (sending, posting, paying, deleting); don’t invent data, results or tools I haven’t given you; tell me what you couldn’t verify.
Based on: Rulestack — https://dev.to/rulestack/we-cut-claudemd-to-33kb-eighteen-days-later-it-was-45kb-again-what-a-size-cap-missed-and-a-3ha8

Steps are from the source. Includes a “Based on” credit line.

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Agents, models and tools only what the source states

Agents
Claude

Sources & credit