Give Claude your company memory

Only what Claude can't guess and what matters in almost every task. For the bakery that is:

• what the business sells and who buys;
• the facts every page needs (hours, address, phone);
• how you write;
• how you want Claude to work with you.

Your own business? Write the same four things down in plain sentences. Five to ten lines is plenty.

Open your business folder in the Code tab (Manual mode, as in lesson 2) and send this:

Create a file called CLAUDE.md with exactly these lines:

# Northside Bakery
We sell sourdough bread and pastries to neighbors and office workers, mostly in the mornings.
Open 7 am to 3 pm. Address: 214 Elm Street. Phone: (555) 014-2290.
Orders are for pickup only. We never offer delivery.
Tone: warm, short sentences, no hype.
How to work with me: show me a short plan before any big change, and never move or delete files without asking.

Using your own business? Fill in the brackets in this version and send it instead:

Create a file called CLAUDE.md with exactly these lines:

# [Business name]
We sell [what] to [who], mostly [when or where].
Open [hours]. Address: [address]. Phone: [phone].
We never [one thing customers ask for that you don't do].
Tone: [three words], short sentences, no hype.
How to work with me: show me a short plan before any big change, and never move or delete files without asking.

The test only counts in a new session, because that is when Claude reads CLAUDE.md again. Start a new session: click + New in the sidebar, or press Ctrl + N on Windows or Cmd + N on a Mac, and choose the same northside-bakery folder.

Without telling Claude anything about the bakery, ask:

What does my business do, when are we open, and how should you write for us?

The file grows when Claude gets something wrong that it should always know. Practice once, and say the rule is permanent:

From now on, every page and post must say "Order by phone for pickup". This is a permanent rule: add it to CLAUDE.md.

Claude reads this rule in every session and follows it almost always, but Anthropic calls these files context, not enforced rules. For anything that must be right, like prices, still check the page yourself.