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title: CLAUDE.md is RAM, not disk | daily.dev
description: CLAUDE.md should be treated as working memory (RAM) rather than persistent documentation (disk). The key insight is keeping it lean and focused, avoiding the...
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# CLAUDE.md is RAM, not disk

**[FREEK.DEV](https://daily.dev/sources/freek)** · 1 min read · 12 upvotes · 1 comments

## Summary

CLAUDE.md should be treated as working memory (RAM) rather than persistent documentation (disk). The key insight is keeping it lean and focused, avoiding the common pitfall of letting it grow into an unreadable 300-line file that loses its effectiveness as context for Claude Code.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://freek.dev/3158-claudemd-is-ram-not-disk>

## Questions this post answers

### Should I keep adding notes to my CLAUDE.md file over time?

No, CLAUDE.md works best as lean working memory rather than an ever-growing documentation dump. Treating it like RAM instead of disk means keeping only what the assistant actively needs for the current task, avoiding the common failure mode of a bloated 300-line file that becomes unreadable and less useful.

_daily.dev surfaces practical takes like this for developers refining their Claude Code workflows._

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@bits\_and\_bytes** · 1 upvotes

> some chats its not even following user inputs. forget about the .md

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---

Tags: [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#prompt-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-engineering), [#claude-code](https://daily.dev/tags/claude-code)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/claude-md-is-ram-not-disk-177hduoqk)

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