There are two paths, depending on where you use Claude. In the terminal (Claude Code), rules and skills can belong to a single project or apply to all of them. In the browser or the app (claude.ai), each project has its own instructions, files and memory, and skills apply to the whole account. Do the part for your path and then go through the checklist. Once a month is enough.
Important: one side can't see the other. Skills and rules you set up in the terminal don't show up on claude.ai, and the ones on claude.ai don't show up in the terminal. If you use both, maintain both.
Before deleting any rule or skill, make a copy. If things get worse, just roll back.
The 3 commands from the video
Open Claude Code inside each project's folder and type them exactly as shown, with the slash in front. It shows what applies to that project: what belongs only to it and what comes from your global setup.
/doctorRuns a check-up of your setup: installation, version, duplicated or bloated CLAUDE.md, skills and connections you no longer use, and slow hooks. It shows what it found and suggests fixes./skill-doctorShows the skills you have, which ones you haven't used in a while and how much space each one takes up in Claude./memoryOpens this project's CLAUDE.md, your global CLAUDE.md and the memories Claude saved while you worked, so you can read and edit them.Bonus: /skills lists the skills active in this project, and /context shows how much of Claude's space each thing is using.
~/.claude/What lives here applies to all projects: the global CLAUDE.md and the skills folder..claude/What lives inside the project folder applies only to it, together with the CLAUDE.md at the project root.Maintenance on claude.ai
There are no slash commands here. You check everything through the screens.
1In each project, open it and read the instructions. Cut what's repeated, outdated or contradicting itself.2Still inside the project, look at the files. Remove outdated documents: they keep getting read in every chat.3Check the project memory, which is separate from the general memory. Delete what's wrong or no longer applies.4In Settings > Capabilities, scroll down to Skills. They apply to the whole account, not per project: turn off the ones you don't use.5Still in Settings, open the general memory and your preferences. They go into every chat, so only keep what applies to everything.The cleanup, item by item
The rule is simple: every instruction has to earn its place.
1For each rule (CLAUDE.md or project instructions), ask: does Claude still need this?2If I delete it, do I still get the same result? If so, delete it.3Look for rules that fight each other, like "be concise" and "be more detailed". Keep just one.4Look for the same rule written twice, in different places. Merge them into one.5Remove what Claude figures out on its own by reading the project, like folder lists and tech stacks.6A rule that only applies to one specific task becomes a skill, instead of sitting in the instructions all the time.7Turn off the skills and connections you no longer use.8Read the memories and delete the ones that are wrong or outdated.9Test a task you do all the time and check whether the result stayed the same or got better.Prompt to review your rules
In the terminal, paste it into Claude Code inside the project. In the browser or the app, open a chat inside the project, paste the prompt and paste the project instructions along with it. It only suggests, it won't delete anything without your approval.
I want to do maintenance on my Claude setup. Read my instructions: in Claude Code, this project's CLAUDE.md, the global one (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md), the skills and the saved memories. On claude.ai, the project instructions I pasted below and what you know from this project's memory. For each rule or instruction, tell me: - whether it's still needed or whether you'd already do it on your own; - whether it repeats another rule; - whether it contradicts another rule; - whether it's something you figure out on your own by reading the project; - whether it only applies to one specific task and should become a skill. Then give me: 1. A list of what to DELETE, with the reason for each item. 2. A list of what to MERGE or REWRITE, with the new version. 3. A list of what should become a SKILL. 4. The skills and memories that look stale or outdated. 5. The final, trimmed-down version of the instructions. IMPORTANT: - Don't delete or change any file now. Just show the proposal. - Keep the rules that explain a reason or prevent a mistake that already happened. - Only apply the changes after I approve.
Use Claude normally for a few days. If it goes back to doing something annoying, before creating a new rule, check whether there's already a similar one that just needs rewriting.