What is tessera CLAUDE.md?

Project instructions for Tessera, an open-source Python service and command-line tool that gives Claude Code persistent memory of a codebase. They describe its architecture, storage, integrations, plans, debates, compliance checks, and dashboard.

Use them when developing or reviewing Tessera's SQLite storage, graph scanner, MCP server, debate system, plans, handoffs, dashboard, CLI, or skills.

They give coding agents the project-specific rules and design decisions needed to work consistently in Tessera.

How dr-code/tessera configures Claude Code

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to dr-code/tessera. 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/dr-code/tessera/main/CLAUDE.md

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/dr-code/tessera

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/dr-code/tessera/claude-md/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/instructions/dr-code/tessera/claude-md)

Your own site

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

Per session 1,853 This file is loaded in full into every session.

When invoked 1,853 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	$0.01853	$0.01853
Opus 5.5	$0.00741	$0.00741
Sonnet 5.5	$0.00371	$0.00371
Haiku 4.5	$0.00185	$0.00185

Measured 1mo ago against content hash aaedc992f40b, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

tessera 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 1mo 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 · 163 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 163 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Tessera — CLAUDE.md

Project Overview

Tessera is an open-source Python MCP server + CLI giving Claude Code persistent codebase memory via SQLite. No license gating.

Architecture

src/tessera/core/ — SQLite DB, migrations, feature flags
src/tessera/graph/ — scanner, symbol parser, builder, scorer
src/tessera/mcp/ — MCP server (stdio), 11 tools (+ plan_save), turn state
src/tessera/debate/ — engine, codex wrapper, claude wrapper, DLP sanitizer, XML payload
src/tessera/plans/ — plan archive (DB + disk); save_raw_plan for non-debate plans
src/tessera/compliance/ — git diff vs plan targets
src/tessera/handoff/ — session handoff generator
src/tessera/dashboard/ — Flask dashboard, localhost:5050
src/tessera/cli.py — Click CLI entry point
skills/ — 14 Superpowers skills (adapted with Tessera graph context)
hooks/hooks.json — Plannotator ExitPlanMode hooks (visual plan review)

Key Decisions (locked)

Storage: SQLite with WAL mode, not JSON files
MCP transport: stdio only (dashboard is a separate HTTP process)
Debate: GPT (Codex CLI subprocess) → Claude critique → GPT respond → Claude synthesize
Feature flags: TESSERA_ENABLE_DEBATE, TESSERA_ENABLE_DASHBOARD, TESSERA_ENABLE_COMPLIANCE
Core install (no debate deps): zero remote calls, no API keys needed
Methodology: Superpowers skills bundled in skills/ (adapted from obra/superpowers); Plannotator hooks in hooks/hooks.json
plan_save MCP tool: saves raw markdown plans + parses - [ ] items into plan_checklist table; does NOT require debate workflow

Superpowers Workflow

Standard Superpowers + Plannotator flow is documented in ~/.claude/templates/project-claude.md and appears in every project's CLAUDE.md. See that template for the canonical reference.

Skills with Tessera-specific additions:

Skill	Tessera adaptation
`brainstorming`	Phase 0: graph context; Phase 4.5: codex debate (auto-triggers for complex designs)
`writing-plans`	Phase 0: graph context; Phase 5.5: codex plan review (auto-triggers); end: `plan_save`
`subagent-driven-development`	Subagent prompts include graph discipline
`executing-plans`	Phase 0: graph context; end: `tessera-verify`
`test-driven-development`	RED: `graph_read` existing test patterns
`systematic-debugging`	Phase 1: `graph_impact` blast radius
`verification-before-completion`	`tessera-verify` as final gate
`finishing-a-development-branch`	Phase 0: `tessera-verify` compliance gate
`requesting-code-review`	Tessera `code-review` skill as primary entry
Others	Passthrough from obra/superpowers

Read the full file on GitHub · 163 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.

1mo ago First seen · 163 lines · 1,853 tokens per session scan A aaedc992f40b

Subscribe to this mod's changes

tessera CLAUDE.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository dr-code/tessera (1 stars, last pushed 15d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,853 tokens to every session, about $0.0074 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.

Memory and context

vscode buildNext.instructions.md

Working notes and architecture documentation for the new esbuild-based build system in build/next. Use when making changes to the new build pipeline (transpile/bundle commands, NLS plugin, source-map handling, resource copying, or self-hosting watch tasks).

microsoft/vscode · 9,715 tokens

tessera: Instructions file for Claude Code

Borrowing it

Wrote this? Show the measurements

What it costs to keep this loaded

Grade A, and why

Nothing flagged

How it starts

Tessera — CLAUDE.md

Project Overview

Architecture

Key Decisions (locked)

Superpowers Workflow

What this file has done since we first saw it

Other instructions, from other repositories

vscode buildNext.instructions.md

next.js AGENTS.md

vscode oss-third-party-notices.instructions.md

langchain AGENTS.md

vscode copilot-instructions.md

vscode model-prompts.instructions.md