CLAUDE.md template too large (168 lines) — should support progressive disclosure pattern

[wtthornton]

Problem

The v2.3.0 CLAUDE.md template generates a 168-line file. Anthropic's 2026 guidance recommends keeping CLAUDE.md under ~150-200 lines for optimal instruction adherence, with task-specific details extracted to .claude/rules/ files using path-scoped frontmatter.

The current template puts the full TAPPS pipeline (tool obligations, 5-stage pipeline, consequences table, memory system, quality gate behavior, CI integration, agent teams) all in the root CLAUDE.md. ~105 lines of this content only applies when working on Python or infra files.

Suggested Approach

Generate a compact CLAUDE.md (~60-70 lines) with a pointer to a scoped rules file:

CLAUDE.md (root, universal):

# TAPPS Quality Pipeline

This project uses TappsMCP (v2.3.0) for dev-time code quality enforcement.
Full pipeline details are in `.claude/rules/tapps-pipeline.md` (auto-loaded for Python and infra files).

**Key obligations:** `tapps_session_start()` first, `tapps_quick_check()` after Python edits,
`tapps_validate_changed()` before completion, `tapps_checklist()` as final step.

.claude/rules/tapps-pipeline.md (path-scoped, auto-loaded):

---
paths:
  - "**/*.py"
  - "Dockerfile*"
  - "docker-compose*.yml"
  - "pyproject.toml"
---
# Full pipeline details here...

This follows the progressive disclosure pattern recommended by Anthropic and the Claude Code community — universal rules in CLAUDE.md, domain-specific rules in scoped files.

Benefits

• CLAUDE.md stays under the recommended ceiling
• TAPPS pipeline guidance only loads when working on relevant files (saves context tokens)
• Frontend-only work sessions don't get TAPPS pipeline instructions
• Easier to customize — projects override the rules file, not the root CLAUDE.md