What Claude Code loads

CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md and CLAUDE.local.md from the working directory up, subdirectory files on demand, @imports (4 hops), .claude/rules with `paths`, and AGENTS.md when no CLAUDE.md exists.

Modelled from https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory, checked 2026-10-03; checked against Claude Code 2.1.144. Status: GA.

Known gaps

• Assumes Claude Code is started at the repository root with the default `claude-md-or-agents-md` project-instructions setting.
• Reading AGENTS.md directly requires Claude Code v2.1.277 or later; earlier versions read CLAUDE.md only. The AGENTS.md fallback is modelled from the docs and not yet oracle-verified.
• User (~/.claude) and managed-policy files are outside the repository and are not shown unless --machine is used.

See it for your repository

Which files Claude Code loads for a given file, in precedence order, with token estimates:

Where Claude Code and the other agents disagree about the same directory: