Guidelines for structuring the Desk when making changes to core behaviors. Invoke when adding new capabilities, restructuring documentation, or optimizing context loading.
Purpose: Guide decision-making when adding or changing Reeve's core functionality to maintain optimal signal-to-noise ratio across all contexts.
Load only what's needed, when it's needed.
From Claude Code best practices: "Bloated CLAUDE.md files cause Claude to ignore your actual instructions!"
Understanding what gets loaded when:
| Location | When Loaded | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| CLAUDE.md | Always (every session) | Identity, core directives, workflow overview |
Auto-memory (~/.claude/projects/.../memory/) | Always (injected into system prompt) | Learnings, patterns, accumulated knowledge |
Skills (.claude/skills/) | On-demand (when invoked) | Workflows AND reference material |
Knowledge files (Goals/, etc.) | On-demand (when read) | User context, preferences, guidelines |
YES → CLAUDE.md
NO → Continue to question 2
YES → Auto-memory (~/.claude/projects/.../memory/MEMORY.md)
NO → Continue to question 3
YES → .claude/skills/SKILL-NAME/SKILL.md
/morning-briefing, /git-workflow)description field for when to invokeNote: Skills can be either procedural workflows (user-invocable: true) OR reference documentation (user-invocable: false). Use reference skills for detailed technical docs that shouldn't load every session.
NO → Continue to question 4
YES → Knowledge files (Goals/, Responsibilities/, Preferences/, Diary/)
Goals/Responsibilities/Preferences/Diary/NO → Consider if this is truly needed
| Location | Target Size | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| CLAUDE.md | 250-300 lines | Always-loaded; keep lean |
| Single skill | 50-200 lines | Loaded on-demand; can be detailed |
| Goals/Goals.md | 30-150 lines | High-level objectives only |
| Responsibilities/*.md | 20-150 lines each | Action-oriented; link to details |
CLAUDE.md:
## Your Workflow for Each Pulse
When you wake up:
1. Understand the context (why, when, calendar, goals)
2. Check the Desk (read relevant files)
3. Take action (notify, schedule, update)
4. Set up future wake-ups (aperiodic pulses or Diary)
For detailed workflow steps, invoke `/pulse-workflow` skill
.claude/skills/pulse-workflow/SKILL.md:
# Detailed Pulse Workflow
## 1. Understand the Context
- Why did I wake up? (check pulse prompt)
- What time is it? (check system time)
- [... detailed checklist ...]
## 2. Check the Desk
- Read Goals/Goals.md for current priorities
- [... 20 more lines of detailed steps ...]
When a workflow:
Create a skill:
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