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Step 8 of 10 · about 20 minutes

Pick your rules and give them to Claude

By the endYour rules file is in your project folder, and Claude can tell you what is in it.

Your computer:

Claude starts every session fresh. It doesn't remember that you want plain words, backups after every change, or everything kept in the project folder. A rules file fixes that. It is a plain text file in your project folder named CLAUDE.md, and Claude reads it at the start of every session in that folder.

The rules in this guide prevent common trouble: work lost in a temporary folder, backups that quietly stop, commands that are never run. Each rule prevents one of those.

Pick your rules

  1. Open the rule picker in your browser.
  2. Click a pack at the top. Total beginner is the right start for most people. It turns on every rule and picks the plain-words options.
  3. Read down the list. Each rule has a switch on the left. Turn off any you don't want. The two safety rules at the top are best left on.
  4. Some rules have a drop-down for a choice, like how often to back up. Pick what you like.
  5. To change a rule's wording, click Edit, change it, then Save.
  6. Under Your own rules, type anything you always want Claude to do, then click Add this rule.
  7. Click Show my rules file to read the result.

Your choices are remembered in this browser, so you can come back and change them.

Give them to Claude

The message and the rules go to Claude together, in one message. The order matters, because the clipboard holds one thing at a time.

On a Mac
  1. Click Copy on the message below, go to your project's session in the Code tab, and paste it into the message box. Don't send it yet.
  2. Hold Shift and press Return. That makes a new line without sending.
  3. Go back to the rule picker in your browser and click Copy there.
  4. Back in the Claude app, click at the end of your message and press Command + V. Your rules appear under the message.
  5. Press Return to send. Answer the Allow question with yes.
On a Windows PC
  1. Click Copy on the message below, go to your project's session in the Code tab, and paste it into the message box. Don't send it yet.
  2. Hold Shift and press Enter. That makes a new line without sending.
  3. Go back to the rule picker in your browser and click Copy there.
  4. Back in the Claude app, click at the end of your message and press Ctrl + V. Your rules appear under the message.
  5. Press Enter to send. Answer the Allow question with yes.

If Copy on the rule picker doesn't work, click Download CLAUDE.md instead. Then open your Downloads folder (in Finder on a Mac, in File Explorer on a PC) and drag CLAUDE.md into your project folder (Developer or Projects, then your app). Tell Claude: "I put CLAUDE.md in the project folder. Read it and list my rules."

Check that Claude reads it

Rules only count once Claude has loaded them. Start a fresh session (click New session or the + in the sidebar, with the same folder) and ask:

Claude lists your rules. Another way: type /context in the message box and look under Memory files, where your file is named.

Changing rules later

Go back to the rule picker, change what you want, copy again, and send the same message. Or tell Claude in a session: "Add this rule to CLAUDE.md: ...". It edits the file after an Allow question.

Last checked October 28, 2026