What is arcaneum CLAUDE.md?

Repository instructions for Arcaneum, a command-line tool that searches text and meaning across Qdrant and MeiliSearch databases. They explain how to use Recommendation Decisioning Records (RDRs), written plans for complex technical decisions.

Planning architecture, recording technical decisions, researching implementation options, and using Arcaneum's Claude Code commands and plugins.

They give the coding agent the project context and a repeatable way to research and settle complex implementation choices before coding.

How cwensel/arcaneum configures Claude Code

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to cwensel/arcaneum. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.

Copy the file

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cwensel/arcaneum/main/CLAUDE.md

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cwensel/arcaneum

Made for: Claude Code.

Wrote 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.

README.md

[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/cwensel/arcaneum/claude-md/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/cwensel/arcaneum/claude-md)

Your own site

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/cwensel/arcaneum/claude-md"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/cwensel/arcaneum/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.

Your own site · 80×15

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/cwensel/arcaneum/claude-md"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/cwensel/arcaneum/claude-md.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>

Per session 1,401 This file is loaded in full into every session.

When invoked 1,401 The same file — it is already loaded in full.

Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.

Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.

Token cost

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	$0.01401	$0.01401
Opus 5.5	$0.00560	$0.00560
Sonnet 5.5	$0.00280	$0.00280
Haiku 4.5	$0.00140	$0.00140

Measured 24d ago against content hash 3e3e51ffda15, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

arcaneum 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 24d 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.

CLAUDE.md · 153 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 153 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

CLAUDE.md

This file provides guidance to Claude Code (claude.ai/code) when working with code in this repository.

Project Overview

Arcaneum is a CLI tool for semantic and full-text search across Qdrant and MeiliSearch vector databases. It provides Claude Code integration through slash commands and plugins.

This repository uses Recommendation Decisioning Records (RDRs) for detailed technical planning before implementation.

Recommendation Decisioning Records (RDRs)

RDRs are specification prompts built through iterative research and refinement. They evolve during planning and become locked specifications for implementation.

Location: docs/rdr/
Template: docs/rdr/TEMPLATE.md
Complete guide: docs/rdr/README.md

When to Use RDRs

Create an RDR for complex implementations, architectural decisions, framework workarounds, or when you want to iterate on an approach before committing to code.

Quick RDR Workflow

Create (Draft) — Document problem, constraints, technical environment
Research (Draft) — Investigate, add findings, label as Verified/Documented/Assumed
Decide (Draft) — Select approach, document rationale, complete Finalization Gate
Lock (Final) — All gate items answered; RDR is the spec for implementation
Implement (Final) — Use locked RDR as spec; do not edit during implementation
Close — Update status; create post-mortem in docs/rdr/post-mortem/

IMPORTANT: RDRs are immutable once locked (Final). They are specification documents that show what was planned and why. If implementation reveals the RDR is wrong, abandon implementation, iterate on the RDR with lessons learned, and start fresh.

See docs/rdr/README.md for complete RDR workflow, format details, and usage guidelines.

Markdown Files

When creating or modifying markdown files in this project:

ALWAYS run markdownlint <file> to validate markdown formatting before completing the task
Fix any linting errors reported by markdownlint
Follow the project's markdown style guidelines enforced by markdownlint

Read the full file on GitHub · 153 lines

Changes

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.

24d ago Changed · +2 lines · +37 tokens per session 3e3e51ffda15
25d ago Changed · +5 lines · +71 tokens per session bcb8f76cc891
26d ago Changed · +5 lines · +51 tokens per session dd62e5e72979
1mo ago Changed · +6 lines · +80 tokens per session 601892057e4a
1mo ago Changed · +12 lines · +121 tokens per session 9c696e5153b0
2mo ago First seen · 123 lines · 1,041 tokens per session scan A 1d6394c2d7c8

Subscribe to this mod's changes

arcaneum CLAUDE.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository cwensel/arcaneum (8 stars, last pushed 14d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,401 tokens to every session, about $0.0056 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 2026-08-31.

Databases

arcaneum CLAUDE.md next to 6 instructions from other repositories
Mod	Type	Stars	Last push	Licence	Scan	Tokens	Works with
arcaneum CLAUDE.mdcwensel/arcaneum	Instructions file	8	14d ago	MIT	A	1,401	Claude Code
vscode buildNext.instructions.mdmicrosoft/vscode	Instructions file	195k	yesterday	MIT	A	9,719	GitHub Copilot
next.js AGENTS.mdvercel/next.js	Instructions file	143k	yesterday	MIT	A	7,461	Codex, OpenCode
langchain AGENTS.mdlangchain-ai/langchain	Instructions file	149k	yesterday	MIT	A	4,680	Codex, OpenCode
vscode oss-third-party-notices.instructions.mdmicrosoft/vscode	Instructions file	195k	yesterday	MIT	A	5,516	GitHub Copilot
vscode copilot-instructions.mdmicrosoft/vscode	Instructions file	195k	yesterday	MIT	A	3,093	GitHub Copilot
deepseek-harness AGENTS.mddeepseek-ai/deepseek-harness	Instructions file	274k	2d ago	MIT	A	4,313	Codex, OpenCode

arcaneum: Instructions file for Claude Code