Borrowing it
Nothing to install: this file belongs to cdeust/Cortex. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cdeust/Cortex/main/CLAUDE.mdgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cdeust/CortexWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/cdeust/cortex/claude-md)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/cdeust/cortex/claude-md"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/cdeust/cortex/claude-md/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/cdeust/cortex/claude-md"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/cdeust/cortex/claude-md.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00406 | $0.00406 |
| Opus 5.5 | $0.00162 | $0.00162 |
| Sonnet 5.5 | $0.00081 | $0.00081 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00041 | $0.00041 |
Grade A, and why
Cortex CLAUDE.md scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 28d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
What it actually says
Cortex — Persistent Memory MCP Server
Persistent memory and cognitive profiling MCP server for Claude Code. Python 3.10+,
FastMCP, Pydantic, numpy; SQLite by default, PostgreSQL+pgvector opt-in (PRIVACY.md).
This file is deliberately short: the host harness (hooks, skills, agents) loads what it
needs on demand. Everything that used to be here is in docs/agent-guidance.md
(architecture pointers, releasing, code style and the craftsmanship gate, what not to do,
the zetetic implementation standard). Read it before any non-trivial change.
Build & Test
- Install (dev):
uv sync --no-default-groups --extra dev(add--extra sqlitefor the SQLite backend). Resolve fromuv.lock, never from thepyproject.tomlranges (issue #253). - Preflight:
python -m mcp_server.doctor - Tests:
pytest· one layer:pytest tests_py/core/ - Lint before every commit:
ruff check && ruff format --check(CI enforces both). - Type gate: CONTRIBUTING.md § Reproducing the pyright gate locally.
- Craftsmanship gate:
python scripts/check_craftsmanship.py(300 lines per file, 40 per method, layer whitelist,# source:on every constant). - Release-gate benchmarks:
benchmarks/reproduce.sh, never against the live database.
Non-negotiables
- Layers:
server → handlers → core ← shared,infrastructure → shared; handlers are the only composition roots. - Every git worktree lives at
.claude/worktrees/<name>/(.Codex/worktrees/<name>/for Codex), never outside the repo. - No source, no implementation; benchmark before commit; no silent fallbacks or compatibility shims.
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 28d ago Changed · +1 lines · +16 tokens per session a0c8c7fbc5c6
- 1mo ago Changed · -140 lines · -2,079 tokens per session 02def822dbf3
- 1mo ago First seen · 170 lines · 2,469 tokens per session scan A 72d5a225331a
Cortex CLAUDE.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository cdeust/Cortex (75 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 406 tokens to every session, about $0.0016 per session on Opus 5.5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.
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