ingenious: Command for Claude Code

Prune CLAUDE.md

Reduce CLAUDE.md to only the most essential information for effective agent performance. Target: 300 lines maximum.

Principles for Pruning

Keep information that:

• Directly affects code generation (coding standards, patterns to follow)
• Prevents common mistakes (critical gotchas, forbidden patterns)
• Enables task completion (how to build, test, run)
• Is unique to this project (not general knowledge)

Remove information that:

• Claude already knows (general best practices, language syntax)
• Is redundant or repeated
• Is too verbose when a shorter version suffices
• Describes obvious project structure
• Contains examples that can be inferred from code

Step 1: Analyze Current Size

wc -l CLAUDE.md

Step 2: Categorize Content by Priority

Priority 1 - Must Keep:

• Project-specific commands (build, test, run)
• Critical constraints or requirements
• Non-obvious architectural decisions
• Environment setup essentials

Priority 2 - Keep if Space Allows:

• Code style preferences beyond linting
• Common gotchas specific to this codebase
• Key file locations for important modules

Priority 3 - Remove:

• General programming advice
• Lengthy explanations of standard tools
• Verbose examples when terse ones work
• Aspirational guidelines not enforced

Step 3: Apply Compression Techniques

1. Consolidate related points into single concise statements
2. Use bullet points instead of paragraphs
3. Remove filler words and unnecessary qualifiers
4. Replace examples with patterns where possible
5. Link to docs instead of duplicating documentation
6. Use code blocks sparingly - only for non-obvious commands

Step 4: Restructure for Scanning

Organize remaining content:

# CLAUDE.md
## Quick Reference (commands, key paths)
## Constraints (must-follow rules)
## Patterns (how things are done here)
## Gotchas (common mistakes to avoid)

Step 5: Validate Final Size

wc -l CLAUDE.md