Task 3.1: Configure CLAUDE.md files with appropriate hierarchy, scoping, and modular organization

• AAsk the new team member to copy the senior developer's file into their own ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

  Incorrect

  Personal copies drift apart and every future teammate has to repeat the step; nothing comes from the repository.

• BAsk IT to deploy the file as the managed policy CLAUDE.md on every developer machine

  Incorrect

  A managed policy file applies to every repository on the machine and needs IT to maintain it; project standards belong in the project.

• CMove the standards into the project's CLAUDE.md (./CLAUDE.md or ./.claude/CLAUDE.md) and commit it

  Correct

  Project instructions are shared through version control; user-level CLAUDE.md is personal and never reaches teammates.

• DPut the standards in the README so that Claude reads them when it explores the repository

  Incorrect

  Claude Code does not load the README as standing instructions; team instructions belong in the project CLAUDE.md.

~/.claude/CLAUDE.md applies only to that user. Team-wide project instructions go in the project CLAUDE.md, committed, so every clone loads them.

• APut all three standards files' content into the root CLAUDE.md under a heading for each package

  Incorrect

  Every session then carries every standard, and Claude has to infer which section applies to the code it is changing.

• BCopy the relevant standards text into each package's CLAUDE.md and update the copies when a standard changes

  Incorrect

  Copies drift as the standards evolve, which imports avoid by reading the shared file.

• CTurn each standards file into a skill so that Claude loads it when it decides the standard is relevant

  Incorrect

  The maintainers want these standards in force for every change in the package, which is what the package's CLAUDE.md provides.

• DIn each package's CLAUDE.md, @import only the shared standards files that apply to that package

  Correct

  @path imports pull referenced files into context with the CLAUDE.md that names them, so each package includes what its maintainers choose.

Keep CLAUDE.md modular with @path imports: each package's file imports the specific shared standards that apply, so the text lives in one place and each package gets only what it needs.

• AAsk Claude to save the build and test commands to auto memory as it discovers them

  Incorrect

  Auto memory is Claude's own notes for you on your machine, not a shared file the team can refine and commit.

• BWrite topic files in .claude/rules/ by hand before creating any CLAUDE.md

  Incorrect

  Writing everything by hand is the slow path, and it starts from nothing rather than from what the codebase shows.

• CRun /memory and select the project CLAUDE.md entry, which creates the file

  Incorrect

  Selecting a missing file creates it empty; it does not draft any content from the codebase.

• DRun /init so that Claude analyzes the codebase and drafts one

  Correct

  /init generates a starter CLAUDE.md with the build commands, test instructions and conventions Claude discovers.

Run /init to generate a starting CLAUDE.md from the codebase, then refine it with what Claude would not discover on its own, and commit it so the team shares it.

• AOnly the root file loads, because it is the project file

  Incorrect

  Files in the directory hierarchy above and at the working directory load at launch.

• BOnly the inner file loads, because it is closer to the working directory

  Incorrect

  Files do not override each other; both are in context.

• CBoth load and are concatenated, root first and the inner file last

  Correct

  Discovered CLAUDE.md files are combined, ordered from the root down to the working directory.

• DNeither loads until you import one from the other

  Incorrect

  No import is needed for files in the directory hierarchy.

Claude Code loads CLAUDE.md files from the working directory and its ancestors and concatenates them, so instructions closer to where you launched are read last. Conflicting files leave Claude to pick one.

• AImports only work in the root CLAUDE.md

  Incorrect

  Any CLAUDE.md can import files.

• BImports must use absolute paths in every case

  Incorrect

  Relative and absolute paths are both allowed.

• CImported files must be listed in settings.json first

  Incorrect

  No settings entry is required for imports.

• DRelative imports start from the importing file

  Correct

  The path is resolved against packages/api/, not the repository root.

@path imports accept relative and absolute paths; relative paths resolve from the file that contains the import, and imports can nest up to four hops.

• AEach user's ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, set up during onboarding

  Incorrect

  Users can edit or remove their own files.

• BA pinned message in the security team's chat channel

  Incorrect

  Chat messages never reach Claude Code sessions.

• CA managed policy CLAUDE.md that IT deploys everywhere

  Correct

  Managed policy files apply to all users on the machine and cannot be excluded.

• DA project CLAUDE.md committed to every repository

  Incorrect

  Repositories without the file, or new ones, would be missed.

Organization-wide instructions belong in the managed policy CLAUDE.md (or managed settings), which loads for everyone and cannot be excluded.

• ASet CLAUDE_CODE_ADDITIONAL_DIRECTORIES_CLAUDE_MD=1 when launching, so that memory files in added directories load

  Correct

  By default --add-dir grants access but loads no CLAUDE.md from the added directory; the variable turns that loading on.

• BList ../shared-lib under permissions.additionalDirectories in settings.json

  Incorrect

  That setting grants file access only; it loads no CLAUDE.md, rules or skills from the directory.

• CRename the library's file to CLAUDE.local.md so that it counts as personal instructions

  Incorrect

  CLAUDE.local.md loads from the session's own directory hierarchy; renaming the file in an added directory changes nothing.

• DRun /memory and add the library's CLAUDE.md to the list

  Incorrect

  /memory lists and opens the memory files of your own scopes; it has no way to add another directory's file.

--add-dir gives Claude access to directories outside the working directory, but their CLAUDE.md files do not load unless CLAUDE_CODE_ADDITIONAL_DIRECTORIES_CLAUDE_MD is set. With it, CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md, .claude/rules/*.md and CLAUDE.local.md load from the added directory.