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MEMORYNeill's Vibe · Field Notes

“We use X. Never Y. Deploy like Z.” Again.

Standing instructions belong on disk, not in your re-briefing every morning.

✓ what worked
01 · the learning

What I set out to add

I was re-explaining the same project context at the start of every session — the stack, the conventions, the do-nots. The fix was a memory file (CLAUDE.md): the standing instructions written down once, that the AI reads on arrival. It's the constitution, not the daily standup.

02 · the test

The thing I actually tried

I tested writing the project's real rules into a CLAUDE.md and watching the AI pick them up cold, without me saying a word.

CLAUDE.mdMEMORY-FILE-CHECKLIST.md
03 · the frustrations

Where it bit

"We use X. Never Y. Deploy like Z." The same thing I said yesterday, and the day before.
04 · the verdict

What worked, what didn't

✓ worked

The on-disk constitution. The AI arrived already knowing the stack and the conventions.

✗ didn't

Re-briefing from scratch each session — and note: a written rule still needs a hook to ENFORCE it (that scar got its own field note).

the durable rule

Say it once, to the file. The constitution loads on arrival; you stop being the briefing.

🔒 this became a classT4·F35 — The Constitution the AI Reads members