Claude Memory Setup Checklist

The setup sequence

1. Name the scope. Decide whether the memory belongs globally, inside a Claude Project, inside a shared repository, or only on your machine.
2. Write the durable rule once. Put shared repo facts in CLAUDE.md, personal repo facts in CLAUDE.local.md, and path-specific guidance in .claude/rules/.
3. Let learned local facts stay local. Use auto memory for recurring local learnings, then audit it with /memory.
4. Promote what becomes official. If an auto memory becomes a team rule, move it into a source-controlled instruction file or docs page.

App and Project memory

Use Claude app memory for stable personal work context and collaboration preferences. Inspect it in Settings > Capabilities before sensitive work, and use incognito when a chat should not contribute to memory or chat history.

Use Claude Projects when context should stay separated by client, team, or initiative. Project memory summaries are separate from non-project memory, and moving a chat into or out of a Project changes which summary it belongs to.

Claude Code memory

For Claude Code, begin with a compact CLAUDE.md. Include commands, layout, coding standards, and review expectations that should load every session. Put private local details in CLAUDE.local.md, and use rules for path-specific guidance.

Then let auto memory carry learned notes that are useful later but not yet team policy. Because auto memory is plain Markdown, you can read, edit, and delete it when behavior drifts.

Free setup tools

Use the CLAUDE.md Generator to draft a starter file, the Memory File Designer to choose a scaffold, and the Context Budget Estimator to keep always-loaded context under control.

The tools are browser-only. They do not send your project details anywhere, and they are best treated as setup aids rather than authority over your real repo.