What is the primary purpose of the Claude MD Maintenance skill?

It ensures your project-specific instruction files (CLAUDE.md) are updated with the latest conventions and lessons learned to prevent the AI from repeating mistakes.

How does the file hierarchy work?

The skill manages two levels: a global file in your home directory for personal preferences and a local project file for repository-specific rules, with the local file taking priority.

Why is there a 500-line size guideline for CLAUDE.md?

Claude scans the CLAUDE.md file on every request. Keeping it under 500 lines ensures fast performance and prevents relevant instructions from being diluted.

When should I add a new rule to my CLAUDE.md file?

You should add a rule when the same mistake happens twice, a non-obvious convention is discovered, or a critical project constraint is identified.

Does this skill help with project structure?

Yes, it provides a standardized template for project names, key commands, conventions, and common mistakes to avoid.

Claude MD Maintenance

Name: Claude MD Maintenance
Author: spences10

byspences10

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Learning & Documentation

Optimizes and maintains project-specific instruction files to ensure accurate AI context and prevent recurring mistakes.

The Claude MD Maintenance skill is designed to keep CLAUDE.md files lean, accurate, and highly effective by automating the capture of lessons learned and project-specific conventions. It helps developers maintain a high-quality context window for Claude by structuring project instructions, managing the hierarchy between global and local preferences, and pruning redundant information. This skill ensures that once a non-obvious convention is discovered or a mistake is made, the project's documentation is immediately updated to guide the AI's future behavior.

Key Features

0113 GitHub stars

02Modular documentation refactoring for bloated context files

03Smart hierarchy management between global (~/.claude/) and local project files

04Standardized templates for project commands, conventions, and pitfalls

05Automated capturing of lessons learned to prevent repeat errors

06Size optimization guidelines to keep instruction files under performance limits

Use Cases

01Onboarding a new repository by generating standardized command and structure lists

02Updating project conventions immediately after solving a complex architectural bug

03Cleaning up and restructuring outdated documentation to improve AI response speed

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add spences10/claude-code-toolkit claude-md-maintenance

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill