Simple explanation
Welcome to Day 8. Week 2 begins. Last week you learned how to build. This week you learn how to build smarter. The memory problem Every time you start a new Claude Code session — it forgets everything. Your site's colors. Your preferred writing style. The rules you set last time. The mistakes you corrected yesterday. Gone. Every single session starts from zero. So you spend the first five minutes of every session re-explaining the same things: "My site uses a warm cream background." "Always use the existing font — do not introduce new ones." "Never change the navigation bar." Over and over. Every day. Unless you create a CLAUDE.md file. What is CLAUDE.md? CLAUDE.md is a simple text file that sits inside your project folder. Claude Code reads it automatically at the start of every single session — before it does anything else. Whatever you write in that file becomes Claude Code's permanent memory for your project. Your colors. Your rules. Your preferences. Your style. All of it — loaded automatically. Every time. Without you having to say a word.
What to do
How to create your CLAUDE.md Open Claude Code in your project folder. Type this exact prompt: "Create a CLAUDE.md file in my project root. Include these sections: Project Overview, Design Rules, What Not To Change, and My Preferences. Leave each section with placeholder text I can edit." Claude Code will create the file. Open it and fill in your actual details. What goes in each section — right now: Project Overview — one sentence about what your site is and who it is for. Example: "This is a learning platform for non-technical founders building apps with AI." Design Rules — your visual style in plain English. Example: "Warm cream background. Dark charcoal text. Orange-brown accent color. Clean and minimal. Spacious padding. No gradients. No heavy drop shadows." What Not To Change — the things Claude must never touch. Example: "Never change the navigation bar. Never change the footer. Never introduce new fonts. Never change the homepage hero section without being explicitly asked." My Preferences — how you like Claude Code to work. Example: "Always create a plan before making changes to more than one file. Always make one change at a time. Always tell me which files you changed." Today's result: Claude Code now has a permanent memory of your project. Tomorrow's session starts smarter than today's.
Copy-paste prompt
Create a CLAUDE.md file in my project root. Include these four sections with placeholder text I can edit: 1) Project Overview — what this site is and who it is for. 2) Design Rules — colors, fonts, and visual style. 3) What Not To Change — parts of the site that are complete and must not be modified. 4) My Preferences — how I want you to work with me. Format it cleanly so it is easy to read and edit.
Course note
Key takeaway
CLAUDE.md is a file in your project folder that Claude Code reads automatically at the start of every session. Write your rules, style, and preferences in it once — and Claude Code follows them forever.