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HomeDocsClaude Code CLI 5 Oct 2026
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How Claude remembers your project changedmemory

Nearest release: v2.1.290, published 4 hours before upstream edited the page. Shown because the two are within 24 hours of each other. Nothing here says the release caused the edit.

Upstream edited this page at 5 Oct 2026 22:35 UTC, give or take a minute or two: the time comes from Anthropic’s own sitemap rather than from a commit. This site recorded the change at 5 Oct 2026 22:37 UTC.

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140140All discovered files are concatenated into context rather than overriding each other. Across the directory tree, content is ordered from the filesystem root down to your working directory. For the `foo/bar/` example, `foo/CLAUDE.md` appears in context before `foo/bar/CLAUDE.md`, so instructions closer to where you launched Claude are read last. Within each directory, `CLAUDE.local.md` is appended after `CLAUDE.md`, so your personal notes are the last thing Claude reads at that level.
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142Claude also discovers `CLAUDE.md` and `CLAUDE.local.md` files in subdirectories under your current working directory. Instead of loading them at launch, they are included when Claude reads files in those subdirectories. For files inside a worktree under `.claude/worktrees/`, see [Isolate subagents with worktrees](/docs/en/worktrees#isolate-subagents-with-worktrees).
142Claude also discovers `CLAUDE.md` and `CLAUDE.local.md` files in subdirectories under your current working directory. Instead of loading them at launch, they are included when Claude reads files in those subdirectories. A subdirectory `CLAUDE.md` that Claude already read, wrote, or edited with the Read, Write, or Edit tool isn't loaded this way, because its contents are already in the conversation. For files inside a worktree under `.claude/worktrees/`, see [Isolate subagents with worktrees](/docs/en/worktrees#isolate-subagents-with-worktrees).
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144144If you work in a large monorepo where other teams' CLAUDE.md files get picked up, use [`claudeMdExcludes`](#exclude-specific-claude-md-files) to skip them. For the full layout of root and per-directory CLAUDE.md files and rules, see [Monorepos and large repos](/docs/en/large-codebases).
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556556## View and edit with `/memory`
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558The `/memory` command lists your CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md, and other memory file locations across user and project scopes, including user and project CLAUDE.md entries for files that don't exist yet. It also lets you toggle auto memory on or off and provides an option to open the auto memory folder. Select any file to open it in your editor; selecting one that doesn't exist yet creates it first. To check which `CLAUDE.md` and rules files loaded into the current session, run `/context`.
558The `/memory` command lists your CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md, and other memory file locations across user and project scopes, including user and project CLAUDE.md entries for files that don't exist yet. It also lets you toggle auto memory on or off and provides an option to open the auto memory folder. Select any file to open it in your editor; selecting one that doesn't exist yet creates it first. To check which `CLAUDE.md` and rules files loaded at launch, run `/context`.
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560560GUI editors such as VS Code open the file in a separate window, and you can keep using the session while it's open. Before v2.1.216, `/memory` waited for you to close the file before responding. Terminal editors such as Vim take over the terminal until you exit.
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572572To debug:
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574* Run `/context` and check the list under **Memory files** to verify your CLAUDE.md and CLAUDE.local.md files loaded. If a `CLAUDE.md` file is missing there, Claude can't see it. Use `/memory` to open and edit the files.
574* Run `/context` and check the list under **Memory files** to verify the CLAUDE.md and CLAUDE.local.md files that should load at launch. If one is missing there, Claude can't see it. Use `/memory` to open and edit the files.
575* A `CLAUDE.md` in a subdirectory of your working directory doesn't appear under **Memory files**, because it loads on demand rather than at launch. When it loads, a `Loaded` line with its path appears in the terminal. To test a new one, create it from your shell rather than asking Claude to write it, then ask Claude to read a file in that subdirectory.
575576* Check that the relevant CLAUDE.md is in a location that gets loaded for your session (see [Choose where to put CLAUDE.md files](#choose-where-to-put-claude-md-files)).
576577* Make instructions more specific. "Use 2-space indentation" works better than "format code nicely."
577578* Look for conflicting instructions across CLAUDE.md files. If two files give different guidance for the same behavior, Claude may pick one arbitrarily.
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