"CLAUDE.md = "project brain" Skills = "reusable capabilities" The way I think about CLAUDE.md and Skill is this distinction. Think of CLAUDE.md as "Everything Claude needs to know about this particular project." If, when thinking about a particular detail, you start your thought with "In this project..." or "For this project..." then this information belongs in CLAUDE.md."
"This is actually one of the most important architectural decisions when working with Claude Code at scale. The distinction between what goes into CLAUDE.md versus Skills determines how effectively Claude can operate within your project structure and reuse capabilities across different projects."
CLAUDE.md and Skills serve distinct purposes in Claude Code architecture. CLAUDE.md functions as the project brain, containing all project-specific information and context that Claude needs to understand the particular project. Skills represent reusable capabilities that can be applied across multiple projects. The distinction is determined by whether information is project-specific or universally applicable. CLAUDE.md is typically located at the project root and uses markdown formatting. Information belongs in CLAUDE.md when thoughts about details begin with phrases like "In this project" or "For this project." This separation enables better organization and scalability when working with Claude Code at larger scales.
#claude-code-architecture #claudemd-configuration #skills-management #project-organization #reusable-capabilities
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