claude-md-pointer-checklisted

Use before creating a CLAUDE.md, or before an edit that adds or rewrites a whole section of one — not for typo- or line-level fixes. Detects when a sibling AGENTS.md or README.md already covers the planned content, rewrites the CLAUDE.md as a pointer + Claude-only delta instead of a duplicate, and flags unactionable phrasing found in the sibling on the way through.
damson/hard-won-skills · ★ 1 · AI & Automation · score 67

Install: claude install-skill damson/hard-won-skills

# CLAUDE.md pointer check CLAUDE.md should rarely hold canonical content. Correct shapes: | Context | Correct CLAUDE.md | |---|---| | Sibling `AGENTS.md` exists | One-line pointer: `See [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) — the same instructions apply to Claude.` | | Project `README.md` covers commands + architecture | Pointer to README + only Claude-specific behavioral directives (self-modification rules, evaluator quirks, agent-only conventions) | | Greenfield, no siblings | Write CLAUDE.md normally | ## Procedure ### 1. Identify siblings In the same directory: - `AGENTS.md` (canonical agent-instructions file) - `README.md` (human-facing project docs, only relevant at project root) If neither exists, this skill does not apply — write CLAUDE.md normally and exit. **Resolve symlinks before comparing.** In many repos the sibling `AGENTS.md` is a symlink *to* the CLAUDE.md you are editing (`readlink AGENTS.md`). If it resolves to the same file, CLAUDE.md is already the canonical copy — comparing it against itself would mark every section a duplicate and rewrite the canonical file into a pointer at its own symlink. Skip to step 4. ### 2. Compare planned content to siblings For each section of the planned CLAUDE.md, apply the deletion test: **would dropping this section lose any fact or command a sibling does not already state?** Same *topic* is not overlap; same *information* is. A section that adds even one repo-specific rule to a topic the README covers is a keeper — trimmed to th