Addy Osmani: Your coding agent configs rot — audit and prune them regularly
rseroter · x · 2026-09-03
Addy Osmani argues that coding agent configuration files (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, skills, hooks) have a half-life: models improve, harnesses gain capabilities, codebases change, while instructions written for older versions linger behind. Recent research also finds inconsistent value from personalized skills.
His routine: run Claude's /doctor every few weeks, review memory separately, and ask each instruction to earn its place again. He notes a common community pain point — keeping CLAUDE.md/AGENTS.md under the 200-line target is hard; files bloat over time, raising token costs and sometimes degrading agent behavior. Official guidance suggests periodically deleting these files and rebuilding only what matters.
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