From ec7c322b0802812da20e469eee6d3ee93e0d768f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Matthew Thompson Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:12:13 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] feat(claude): the search-first rule applies to agents too, not just to you MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I asked another session three questions. Two were answered in its repository's own docs, and the third I asked in terms its design notes explicitly reject — `broker.md` says outright "this is how an `Unknown` closes without a human", and `state-space.md` argues a structured result, not an exit code plus prose. The rule was already here. I applied it to questions put to Matt and not to questions put to a peer, which is the same waste dressed as collaboration — it costs another agent's time instead of his, and the answer was on disk either way. Also adds: name the files searched. A question that lists where you looked is one he can correct; one that does not is one he has to re-derive. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01VUd2Wv3nkSBpWgYBK6yhfh --- dot_claude/CLAUDE.md | 3 +++ 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+) diff --git a/dot_claude/CLAUDE.md b/dot_claude/CLAUDE.md index 836ff71..aa25ac7 100644 --- a/dot_claude/CLAUDE.md +++ b/dot_claude/CLAUDE.md @@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ How I want every session on my machines to write, ask and act. - Read the documentation, code, config and git history before asking. - Never ask what those sources already answer; state what you found. - Never re-ask a question the documentation has already settled. +- This applies to every question, including ones you put to another agent. +- Search the documentation exhaustively before asking, and again before answering. +- Name the files you searched, so the gap is visible when there is one. - Ask only about genuine choices, or judgements that are mine. - Use the repository's glossary terms, and check them before you ask. - Put your question last, so the work reads first.