Universal CLAUDE.md reduces Claude output tokens by 63% in benchmarks
A developer has released a universal CLAUDE.md file that significantly reduces token usage in Claude responses while maintaining technical accuracy. The tool was built entirely with Claude's assistance during a single session where Claude researched Reddit threads, GitHub issues, and prompt engineering research.
What it fixes
- "You're absolutely right!" and "Great question!" on every response
- "I hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything!" closings
- Em dashes, smart quotes, Unicode chars that silently break parsers
- Restating your question before answering it
- Unsolicited suggestions and over-engineered code
- "As an AI..." framing
- Hallucination guard - if you correct Claude on something, it treats that as ground truth for the rest of the session and never re-asserts the wrong answer
Benchmark results
The developer tested the same 5 prompts with and without the file:
- Explain async/await: 180 words → 65 words (64% reduction)
- Code review: 120 words → 30 words (75% reduction)
- What is REST API: 110 words → 55 words (50% reduction)
- Hallucination test: 55 words → 20 words (64% reduction)
- Total: 465 words → 170 words (63% reduction)
The developer notes that answers maintain the same technical accuracy - just without the fluff.
Implementation and profiles
The solution requires just one file dropped in your project root with no code changes. It includes three profiles for different use cases:
- CLAUDE.coding.md - for dev projects and code review
- CLAUDE.agents.md - for automation pipelines and bots
- CLAUDE.analysis.md - for data and research work
The tool is built on real GitHub issues (including #3382 with 350+ upvotes) and community research. The repository is open to PRs and profile contributions, with the developer encouraging users to open issues for any annoying behaviors they want fixed.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
Agent Smith: One Command To Scaffold MCP Servers, Skills, And A Ticket-To-PR Pipeline For Claude Code
Agent Smith scans your repo, detects exact stack (Go/Echo, React/Zustand, golang-jwt, pgx, etc.), sets up MCP servers, hooks, and skills tailored to your setup, and provides an autonomous ticket-to-PR pipeline.
Claude for Design Work: How to Stop Repeating the Same Taste Arguments Every Session
A developer running client work through Claude describes the core problem: Claude has no memory of rejected design decisions, leading to generic outputs and inconsistent brand identity.
Sylve: A FreeBSD Management Plane for Virtualization, Containers, and Storage
Sylve is a BSD-2 licensed management plane for FreeBSD that provides unified control over Bhyve VMs, FreeBSD Jails, ZFS storage, and networking. It uses a RAFT consensus model for clustering and includes Samba share management with ZFS snapshot automation.
Local Trello-Style Project Manager for OpenClaw Agents
A developer built a local Trello-like project management tool that runs on the same machine as their OpenClaw agent, storing cards as markdown files with YAML frontmatter. The system uses Node.js/Express for the API, React for the UI, and allows the AI agent to read/write files directly on the filesystem.