---
title: "How does Claude Code remember project instructions across a session?"  
description: "How does Claude Code remember project instructions across a session?"  
author: "Yash Srivastava"  
published: 2026-06-23  
updated: 2026-06-24  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/116867/how-does-claude-code-remember-project-instructions-across-a-session  
category: "technology"  
tags: ["claude ai", "claude code", "ai agent", "llm"]  
reading_time: 3 minutes  

---

# How does Claude Code remember project instructions across a session?

## Answers

### Answer by Anubhav Sharma

[Claude Code documentation](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) explains that Claude Code uses a combination of **persistent instruction files** and **conversation context** to remember project-specific guidance during a session.

Here's how it works:

### 1. `CLAUDE.md` files (Project Memory)

Claude Code automatically looks for `CLAUDE.md` files in your project directory. These files act as persistent instructions that are loaded into the model's context.

Typical contents include:

- Coding standards and style guides
- Build and test commands
- Project architecture notes
- Team conventions
- Preferred workflows

For example:

```plaintext
# CLAUDE.md

## Commands
- npm test
- npm run lint

## Conventions
- Use TypeScript strict mode.
- Prefer functional React components.

## Architecture
- API routes live under src/api.
- Shared utilities are in src/lib.
```

As long as you're working inside that repository, Claude Code continues using these instructions across prompts in the same session.

### 2. Conversation Context

Within a session, Claude Code also remembers information that has already appeared in the conversation, such as:

- Previous code changes
- Decisions you made
- Temporary instructions you gave
- Files it recently inspected

This memory is bounded by the model's context window. If the session becomes very long, older details may eventually be compressed or dropped.

### 3. Hierarchical Instruction Loading

Claude Code can load instructions from multiple locations, typically with more local instructions overriding broader ones. For example:

```plaintext
~/CLAUDE.md           ← personal defaults
project/CLAUDE.md     ← repository instructions
project/subdir/CLAUDE.md ← feature-specific instructions
```

When working in a subdirectory, Claude Code combines the applicable instruction files to build its understanding of the project.

### 4. Session vs Persistent Memory

It's important to distinguish between two kinds of memory:

| Type | Persists After Restart? | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Conversation context | No | Remembers current session details |
| `CLAUDE.md` files | Yes | Stores project instructions permanently |

If you close Claude Code and reopen it later, the conversation history is gone, but the `CLAUDE.md` files are loaded again, so project instructions remain available.

### 5. Best Practice

Many teams treat `CLAUDE.md` like a repository configuration file:

```plaintext
repo/
├── CLAUDE.md
├── README.md
├── package.json
└── src/
```

This makes project conventions explicit, version-controlled, and automatically available to Claude Code whenever someone works in that repository.

In short, Claude Code doesn't have unlimited long-term memory of your project. It "remembers" instructions primarily by **reloading** `CLAUDE.md` **files into the context and maintaining conversational state during the active session**.


---

Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/116867/how-does-claude-code-remember-project-instructions-across-a-session

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