Less is more: Why iOS teams should keep CLAUDE.md under 60 lines

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A software developer working on an iOS client project found that a 400-line CLAUDE.md configuration file for Claude Code was counterproductive, as rules buried deep in the document were effectively ignored by the AI model. After trimming the file to 60 lines over two weeks, the team saw fewer violations of the rules that genuinely mattered. The core insight is that Claude Code reads the entire file on every interaction, meaning each added line dilutes the attention given to every other line. The author recommends including only non-obvious conventions, invisible constraints like App Store requirements, and repo-specific workflow quirks — while excluding anything already enforced by linters, type systems, or visible in the codebase itself. The piece concludes that a shorter, more deliberate CLAUDE.md is harder to write but significantly more effective than treating it like a comprehensive README.

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