Claude Code Memory: Stop Re-Explaining Your Business
Claude Code forgets everything between sessions. One file, CLAUDE.md, gives it your business facts, your rules and the next job every time.
Does Claude Code remember your business between sessions? No. Close the window and everything is gone, so every session starts blank. The fix is one file called CLAUDE.md that sits in your project folder. Claude Code reads it automatically at the start of every session, so it knows your facts, your rules and what’s next before it touches anything.
Why Claude Code forgets everything between sessions
Have you ever typed “like I said yesterday” to Claude Code? This one’s for you. It didn’t hear you yesterday. Not really.
Claude Code doesn’t remember anything between sessions. You close the window and it’s gone. The next morning it’s a brand new employee on day one.
The business name is gone. So is the phone number you corrected twice, and the rule you gave it about never making up a founding year. This isn’t a bug. It’s how Claude Code works: every session starts blank.
What re-explaining costs you
What does that cost you? Do the math. Say you spend half an hour a day explaining things again. That’s about 130 hours a year, or three working weeks of repeating yourself.
Lost time isn’t the worst part. When Claude Code doesn’t know your facts, it fills the gaps, and it does it confidently. I’ve watched it put “licensed and insured” on a business website when nobody told it to. On a client site, that’s a false claim with your name on it.
A confident guess is worse than a blank.
The fix: a handbook file called CLAUDE.md
A real business gives a new hire a handbook. In Claude Code, the handbook is one file called CLAUDE.md. It sits in your project folder, and Claude reads it automatically at the start of every session, before it touches anything.
What goes in your CLAUDE.md
Three things go in:
- The facts. The business name, address and phone (your NAP), the services and the towns you cover. These come from the business, never from Claude.
- The rules. Every time you correct Claude Code, that correction becomes a rule. Never invent the street address. The phone number goes at the top on mobile. Whatever you had to say twice goes in.
- Where you are. What’s done and what’s next. Tomorrow it knows the job, not just the business.
What stays out of CLAUDE.md
Your chat history stays out. Passwords and API keys never go in.
Mine has grown into a whole folder now: one page per rule, with a table of contents Claude reads first. You don’t need that on day one. One file is plenty.
How I start a Claude Code session now
Here’s my Monday. I open Claude Code and type one line:
Pick up where we left off.
It reads the notebook. It knows the client, the rules and the next job.
What happens when it gets something wrong? I say: “That’s a correction. Write it as a rule.” The rule goes in the notebook, so I never correct the same thing twice.
How to write your first CLAUDE.md today
Open Claude Code in your project folder and type this:
Interview me about this business, then write a CLAUDE.md with the facts, the rules, and what’s next.
Answer its questions. It takes about 20 minutes, and you only do it once.
Common questions
Does Claude Code remember previous sessions?
No. Claude Code doesn’t remember anything between sessions, so every session starts blank. A CLAUDE.md file in your project folder fixes that, because Claude reads it automatically at the start of every session.
What should go in a CLAUDE.md file?
Three things: the facts, the rules and where you are. The facts are the business name, address, phone, services and towns covered, and they come from the business, never from Claude. The rules are your past corrections, and where you are means what’s done and what’s next.
How long does it take to set up CLAUDE.md?
About 20 minutes, and you only do it once. Ask Claude Code to interview you about the business, answer its questions, and let it write the file.
Memory is one piece of how I build. The others are picking a site that’s worth building, getting Google to trust it, and making sure every lead actually reaches you. The rest of the series is in my Claude Code tutorials. If you want the whole method in one place, get the free video and the Claude Code Microsite Blueprint.