--- title: Claude Code memory Claude md | daily.dev description: Claude Code's CLAUDE.md file solves the 'cold start' problem where every new session re-scans the entire project, wasting tokens and time. The file acts as... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-memory-claude-md-7d8pv6oh1 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Claude Code memory Claude md | daily.dev og:description: Claude Code's CLAUDE.md file solves the 'cold start' problem where every new session re-scans the entire project, wasting tokens and time. The file acts as... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-memory-claude-md-7d8pv6oh1 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/7D8pV6Oh1.png og:image:alt: Claude Code memory Claude md og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Claude Code memory Claude md **[Telusko](https://daily.dev/sources/telusko)** · 26 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Claude Code's CLAUDE.md file solves the 'cold start' problem where every new session re-scans the entire project, wasting tokens and time. The file acts as persistent memory loaded at session start, containing project context, architecture, coding style, commands, and rules. It can exist at multiple levels: organization, machine-global (~/.claude/), project root (committed to git), project-local (.local.md, git-ignored), and per-subfolder. Subfolder files take highest priority in conflicts. The /init command auto-generates the file by scanning the project. Beyond CLAUDE.md (human-authored), Claude Code also maintains an 'automemory' that stores discovered commands, patterns, and edge cases from interactions. Sensitive files like .env should be excluded via the deny list in settings.json rather than .claudeignore. Keeping each CLAUDE.md under 200 lines is recommended to avoid bloating the context window. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [You need to stop ignoring CLAUDE.md files](https://daily.dev/posts/you-need-to-stop-ignoring-claude-md-files-f9kyn0fuk) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Claude Code kept asking the same questions until I showed it this one markdown file](https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-kept-asking-the-same-questions-until-i-showed-it-this-one-markdown-file-hxzgsjl8u) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Most Claude Code users miss this one setting, and it changed my workflow](https://daily.dev/posts/most-claude-code-users-miss-this-one-setting-and-it-changed-my-workflow-un1t35ufh) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#prompt-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-engineering), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code), [#ai-assisted-development](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-assisted-development), [#context-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/context-engineering) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-memory-claude-md-7d8pv6oh1) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Claude Code memory Claude md","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-memory-claude-md-7d8pv6oh1","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-memory-claude-md-7d8pv6oh1"},"datePublished":"2026-06-05T17:06:15.329Z","dateModified":"2026-06-05T17:06:35.317Z","description":"Claude Code's CLAUDE.md file solves the 'cold start' problem where every new session re-scans the entire project, wasting tokens and time. The file acts as...","image":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bMe8hokixKE/sddefault.jpg","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bMe8hokixKE/sddefault.jpg","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Telusko","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Telusko","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--xVEBUipN--/f_auto/v1728072944/logos/telusko","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/telusko"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/claude-code-memory-claude-md-7d8pv6oh1","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"prompt-engineering,claude-code,ai-assisted-development,context-engineering","timeRequired":"PT26M","video":{"@type":"VideoObject","name":"Claude Code memory Claude md","description":"Claude Code's CLAUDE.md file solves the 'cold start' problem where every new session re-scans the entire project, wasting tokens and time. The file acts as...","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bMe8hokixKE/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-06-05T17:06:15.329Z","duration":"PT26M","url":"https://api.daily.dev/r/7D8pV6Oh1","embedUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMe8hokixKE"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Telusko","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/telusko"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Claude Code memory Claude md"}]} ```