Keep root CLAUDE.md under 200 lines and push path-specific guidance into subdirectory CLAUDE.md files
Claude·medium signal
Subdirectory CLAUDE.md files load on-demand only when Claude reads a file beneath that folder, so deep module conventions never inflate context during unrelated work. Reserve the root file for build commands and team-wide conventions (target <200 lines) and let nested files carry the specifics. This turns the CLAUDE.md hierarchy into a lazy-loaded context tree instead of one fat always-on prompt.