CLAUDE.md for Beginners: How I Stop Repeating Myself

What is CLAUDE.md, and how do you use it as a beginner? It’s a markdown file in your project folder that Claude Code uses to load project instructions. Put the business facts, a few rules and where you left off in it. Then you stop explaining the same things every time you open a new session.

Why you keep repeating yourself in Claude Code

If you’ve used Claude Code for a while, you probably know this one. You spend a couple of hours on a website. It looks the way you want. It’s going pretty well.

Then you come back the next day and open a new session. What happens? Claude asks questions you’ve already answered. Or worse, it does things differently than you told it to yesterday.

There’s a pretty simple way to avoid a lot of this. I call it a notebook: a collection of instructions, business information and rules that Claude Code can reference whenever we’re working on a project. I covered why Claude forgets in Claude Code memory. This post is the beginner’s how-to for the file itself.

Set your ground rules before you build

When I start building a website, one of the first things I do is set some ground rules. I build most of my websites with Astro. I have certain ways I like pages structured. I have specific things I want done for SEO. And I have rules about how Claude Code handles business information.

One of those rules: Claude isn’t allowed to make up facts about a business. Say I’m building a website for a plumber and I haven’t given it the phone number. I don’t want Claude inventing one just because it thinks there should be a phone number on that page. Same with business hours, addresses, licenses or anything else. That information has to come from the actual business.

Now imagine explaining all those rules every time you open Claude Code. It would get old pretty quickly. So I keep the important information in files Claude can reference.

How to create your CLAUDE.md file

Where do you start? Keep it really simple. Inside your project folder, create a file called CLAUDE.md. It’s a markdown file, and Claude Code uses it to load project instructions.

Don’t let the file extension confuse you. It’s basically a text file, and you can have Claude create it for you. If you’re brand new to the tool, start with how to use Claude Code.

What to put in CLAUDE.md

What goes in the file? Two things to start.

The facts. The basic information about the project: what the website is about, who the business is, what services it provides and what locations you’re targeting.

The rules. Here are a few examples:

• Don’t invent business information.
• Don’t create additional pages unless we’ve agreed they’re needed.
• Make sure the website works properly on mobile devices.
• If you’re going to make a significant change to the structure of the website, explain what you’re planning to do first.

As you build more websites, you’ll develop your own rules based on how you like to work.

Turn every mistake into a rule

This is where the file really becomes useful. Claude is going to make mistakes. I’ve learned that from building a lot of these sites.

Sometimes it changes something you didn’t ask it to change. Sometimes it creates duplicate information. Sometimes it fixes one problem and accidentally creates another.

I don’t want to deal with that same problem on the next website. So when I run into something worth remembering, I turn it into a rule in my notebook. The next time Claude starts a project, it has that instruction.

Save where you left off before you close

There’s another part that’s just as important: keeping track of where you left off.

Say I’m working on a website for an electrician. I’ve finished the home page, we’ve created a couple of service pages, and we’re still working on the contact form. I’m done for the evening. Before I close everything down, I tell Claude something like this:

Update the project notes with what we’ve completed, what’s still outstanding and what we need to work on next.

Now we’re not depending on Claude to somehow remember every conversation. We’re saving that information.

Keep those notes organized. I don’t want five different files with conflicting information about the same business. I want one reliable place for the business facts, and I want Claude to know where to find them. The point is to make things easier, not to create another mess.

Pick up the next morning with one line

When I come back to the project the next morning, I open Claude Code and say something like:

Read the project instructions, review where we left off and let’s continue working on the website.

Because we saved that information, Claude has something to work from. It knows what we’ve completed, what we’re still working on and what rules we’ve set for the project.

Does CLAUDE.md make Claude Code perfect?

No, of course not. You still need to check what it’s doing. You still need to make sure the information it’s using is accurate.

What it does is cut out a lot of the back and forth. If you’re building a website for yourself, repeating a few instructions might not be the end of the world. Building for clients, or a bunch of your own microsites? You want a process that’s repeatable. You don’t want to reinvent everything each time you start a new project.

Over time I’ve developed my own set of instructions and rules, based on the websites I’ve built, the problems I’ve run into and what I’ve learned about SEO. I keep refining it as I go. The more I build, the more useful that notebook becomes.

Common questions

What is a CLAUDE.md file?

It’s a markdown file inside your project folder that Claude Code uses to load project instructions. Don’t let the file extension confuse you: it’s basically a text file, and you can have Claude create it for you.

What should a beginner put in CLAUDE.md?

Start with the basic project information: what the website is about, who the business is, what services it provides and what locations you’re targeting. Then add a few simple rules, such as don’t invent business information. Get into the habit of keeping track of what you’ve completed.

Does CLAUDE.md stop Claude Code from making mistakes?

No. You still need to check what it’s doing and make sure the information it’s using is accurate. When it makes a mistake worth remembering, turn it into a rule so Claude has that instruction on the next project.

If you’re just getting started, create your CLAUDE.md from the beginning. You don’t need anything complicated, and you can always expand as you learn. The rest of the series is in my Claude Code tutorials. If you want to see how I put all of this together, including how I organize my projects, structure the websites and research keywords, get the free video and the Claude Code Microsite Blueprint.