CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md and rules files outside your working folders can be withheld

What

Instruction files are files such as CLAUDE.md, CLAUDE.local.md, AGENTS.md and rules files that Claude Code loads to learn about your project. When file reads are restricted, or blockReadsOutsideWorkingDirectories is set, Claude Code now checks each one before loading it:

• A file covered by a Read deny rule, or one that resolves to a location outside your working folders, for example through a symbolic link (a shortcut to another place), is skipped. The log records why, starting with "Instruction file not loaded".
• Claude Code also times how long the auto-memory index takes to load.
• For hooks modules, $.fs.ancestors now accepts held and session options and treats AGENTS.md and .claude/AGENTS.md specially, applying the same outside-the-folder check.
• When a plugin withholds the result of a call, the error now says whether the call had "started" or "ran" before the plugin withheld its result, instead of just $.<name>: <reason>.

Why

A CLAUDE.md that is symlinked from elsewhere or covered by a deny rule can now silently stop loading when reads are restricted. If Claude seems to ignore your instructions, check the log for "Instruction file not loaded". Plugin authors using hooks modules see the new AGENTS.md handling and clearer withheld-result errors.