{"version":"2.1.314","anchor":"architecturemd-treated-as-a-protected-instruction-style-fil","canonical_anchor":"architecturemd-treated-as-a-protected-instruction-style-fil","heading":"ARCHITECTURE.md is now treated as an instruction file","tier":"notice","area":"Memory","scope":"individual","heads_up":true,"url":"https:\/\/changelogs.core-directive.com\/v\/2.1.314\/e\/architecturemd-treated-as-a-protected-instruction-style-fil","release_url":"https:\/\/changelogs.core-directive.com\/v\/2.1.314","markdown":"### ARCHITECTURE.md is now treated as an instruction file\n\nARCHITECTURE.md is now handled like CLAUDE.md as an instruction file, and project root detection accepts a wider list of file names\n\n**Unclear.** What Claude Code does with files on this list, such as reading them as instructions or protecting them from edits, is not stated.\n\n**What**\n\nInstruction files are files such as `CLAUDE.md` that hold standing instructions for Claude. Claude Code now treats `ARCHITECTURE.md` as one of them.\n\n- `architecture.md` is now in the same name list as `claude.md`, `claude.local.md` and `project-instructions.md`, and a second name check also matches it.\n\n- The instruction-file check classifies `ARCHITECTURE.md` as an `instruction_file`. The match ignores upper and lower case and strips trailing dots, spaces and `:` suffixes.\n\n- Detecting the root folder of a project now also accepts any name from a new list, not only `CLAUDE.md` and `CLAUDE.local.md`.\n\n**Why**\n\nEdits to `ARCHITECTURE.md` may now be guarded the same way as edits to other instruction files, so you may see extra permission prompts when Claude changes it. A folder may also be recognised as a project root in more cases than before.\n\n- Area: Memory\n- Tier: You'll notice\n- Useful: 3\/5\n- Signal: 2\/5\n- Scope: individual\n- Heads-up: yes"}