CLAUDE.md Templates

# Project: [name]

## What This Is (Read This First)
[One sentence. What does it do? Who is it for?]

## Where I Left Off
[Update this every session. Your future self has zero context.]
- Last thing I was working on:
- What's blocking me:
- What I planned to do next:

## Rules (Non-Negotiable)
- Don't refactor what works. Fix what's broken.
- No new dependencies without checking if vanilla JS can do it.
- Commit before experimenting. Always have a rollback.
- If a task takes more than 2 hours, break it down first.

## Architecture (The Parts That Matter)
[Only list what someone needs to know to not break things]
- Entry point:
- Data flow:
- Build command:
- Deploy command:

## Patterns I Use
[Your preferences, not "best practices"]
- [e.g., Functional over OOP, localStorage over database, etc.]

## Known Landmines
[Things that look fine but will blow up if touched wrong]
- [e.g., "Don't change the auth flow without reading the Stripe webhook handler first"]

## Current Session Goals
[ ] Goal 1
[ ] Goal 2
[ ] Goal 3

# Project: [name]

## Scope Fence
This project does: [exactly these things]
This project does NOT do: [these tempting things]
If I want to add something not on the "does" list, I write it in Shiny Objects below and keep working.

## Shiny Objects (Park, Don't Chase)
[Ideas that came up mid-session. Review weekly, not now.]
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## Today's Contract
Before I start, I commit to:
- [ ] Task 1 (estimate: X min)
- [ ] Task 2 (estimate: X min)
- [ ] STOP after these are done. Ship it.

If I finish early: commit, push, close the laptop.
If I'm not done after 3 hours: commit what works, note what's left, stop.

## Rules
- No "quick refactors" that aren't in Today's Contract.
- No researching alternative approaches mid-implementation.
- If something is 80% good enough, it ships.
- Write the test BEFORE the feature, not after the rabbit hole.

## Architecture
[Keep this minimal. You don't need to document what you won't forget.]

## Done Log
[What actually got shipped, not what got started]
- [date]: [thing]

# Debug Session: [what's broken]

## The Problem (Be Specific)
Expected: [what should happen]
Actual: [what actually happens]
Reproducible: [always / sometimes / once]

## What I Already Tried
[Write these down BEFORE trying more things. ADHD brains re-try the same fix.]
1. [thing] - result: [what happened]
2. [thing] - result: [what happened]

## Hypotheses (Ranked)
[List before investigating. Investigate top-down, not by excitement level.]
1. Most likely: [hypothesis]
2. Second: [hypothesis]
3. Long shot: [hypothesis]

## Rules
- Test ONE hypothesis at a time.
- Revert after each failed attempt. No stacking changes.
- If I've spent 45 minutes on one hypothesis, move to the next.
- No "while I'm here" fixes. Only fix the bug.

## Evidence Log
[Time-stamped observations. Your working memory will lie to you.]
- [time]: [observation]

## Resolution
What fixed it:
Root cause:
How to prevent it next time:

# Learning: [technology/framework]

## The Goal (Not "learn X")
I'm learning [X] so I can build [specific thing].
When I can [concrete milestone], I know enough to start.

## What I Know So Far
[Update as you go. Seeing progress prevents the "I'll never get this" spiral.]
- [concept] - got it
- [concept] - roughly understand
- [concept] - confused, need to revisit

## Questions That Came Up
[Don't research immediately. Batch for end of session.]
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## Build Milestones (Not Tutorial Steps)
[ ] Milestone 1: [smallest possible working thing]
[ ] Milestone 2: [add one feature]
[ ] Milestone 3: [the thing I actually wanted to build]

## Rules
- No more than 30 min of reading/watching before writing code.
- Build something broken, then fix it. Don't wait until you "understand enough."
- Skip sections that aren't relevant to my goal. I can come back.
- If a tutorial takes more than 2 hours, I'm in tutorial hell. Build instead.

## Wins
[Track these. ADHD brains under-register progress.]
- [date]: [thing I built/understood]

# [Repo Name] - My Working Notes

## Context Recovery
[Fill this in before Slack/meetings/lunch. You WILL forget.]
- Current branch:
- Current task/ticket:
- What I was doing:
- The decision I was about to make:
- Files I have open:

## Team Conventions (Don't Violate These)
[Copy from team docs. Having them here saves you the lookup.]
- Branch naming:
- Commit message format:
- PR process:
- Code style rules that differ from my instincts:

## My PR Checklist
[ADHD developers ship fast but miss details. Check BEFORE requesting review.]
- [ ] Tests pass locally
- [ ] No console.logs or debugger statements
- [ ] Commit messages follow team format
- [ ] PR description explains WHY, not just what
- [ ] Self-reviewed the diff (read it like a reviewer would)
- [ ] No scope creep (only changes related to the ticket)

## Interrupt Recovery Protocol
If someone interrupts me:
1. Write current thought in Context Recovery above (10 sec)
2. Handle the interruption
3. Read Context Recovery when I come back

## Notes (Things I Keep Forgetting)
[The deployment process, the test database URL, that one env var]
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