void-claude-md

Keep it near 60 lines with only universal, load-bearing content: build/test/dev commands, a one-sentence architecture orientation, and invariants with no mechanical enforcer. Defer detail to referenced docs and verify every command runs from a clean checkout.

Exclude code style and formatting rules (use a linter), code snippets (use file:line references), every-time certainties (use hooks), deterministic config like permissions (use settings.json), and deep process docs (defer to referenced files).

Walk every line asking "would removing this cause an error?" and cut anything that fails. Move style rules to linters, certainties to hooks, snippets to file:line references, and occasional detail to deferred docs with a pointer.

CLAUDE.md is injected as context the model weighs, not a contract it must obey, so long files dilute attention and bury key rules. The fix is fewer, sharper, runnable lines plus mechanical enforcement through hooks and settings.

Any rule that must hold 100% of the time belongs in a hook, because instructions are obeyed probabilistically while hooks fire deterministically on every tool call. CLAUDE.md should only carry invariants that have no mechanical enforcer.