Stop Bloating Your Claude.md: Progressive Disclosure for AI Coding Tools (alexop.dev)

In a recent discussion about optimizing AI coding tools, a developer revealed the limitations of Claude, an AI coding assistant, particularly regarding memory and context retention. Claude operates with a stateless model, meaning it lacks the ability to remember past conversations, which leads to repetitive mistakes unless strategies are implemented. The developer criticized the common practice of bloating documentation files like CLAUDE.md with excessive rules and historical context, which detracts from Claude's efficiency by consuming valuable context space. To enhance Claude's functionality, the developer proposed a method of "progressive disclosure," where only essential universal context is stored in the CLAUDE.md file, keeping it concise (under 60 lines). Instead of listing every coding rule or gotcha, they advocate for integrating automated tools like ESLint to enforce coding standards directly, thereby allowing the AI to focus on higher-level programming decisions. Furthermore, situational gotchas and specific domain knowledge are captured in separate documentation files, which Claude can reference when needed. This approach not only optimizes Claude's performance but also creates a dynamic learning system that adapts by curating a knowledge base to tackle future challenges effectively.