Feature Request: Auto-load CLAUDE.md from Additional Working Directories

Feature Request: Auto-load CLAUDE.md from Additional Working Directories

Problem

Currently, additionalDirectories in settings only grants file access permissions but does NOT include those directories in memory discovery. This breaks the expected workflow for shared parent-level configuration.

Current behavior:

• Memory discovery: cwd → parent → grandparent (upward only)
• Additional directories: file access only

Expected behavior:

• Additional directories should also be memory discovery roots
• CLAUDE.md files in additional directories should auto-load on new chats

Use Case

Multi-project workspace with shared AI configuration:

/mnt/c/ws/
  ├── ai-setup/.claude/CLAUDE.md    ← Shared persona, behavior, commands
  ├── project-a/                     ← Should auto-load parent config
  ├── project-b/                     ← Should auto-load parent config
  └── project-c/                     ← Should auto-load parent config

Goal: Define persona, communication style, and global behavior once in ai-setup/.claude/CLAUDE.md, auto-apply to all projects.

Current Workarounds

1. Manual reference: Add [Import](../ai-setup/.claude/CLAUDE.md) to each project's CLAUDE.md (tedious, defeats DRY)
2. Copy file: Place CLAUDE.md in /mnt/c/ws/ (pollutes parent directory, less modular)
3. Manual reminder: Tell Claude to read parent config each chat (defeats automation)

All workarounds are suboptimal for the shared config pattern.

Proposed Solution

When additionalDirectories contains a path with .claude/CLAUDE.md:

• Auto-discover and load that CLAUDE.md on startup
• Treat additional directories as memory discovery roots (like cwd)
• Merge with cwd-upward discovery (dedup if needed)

Alternatively:

• Add explicit memoryDiscoveryPaths setting separate from additionalDirectories

Impact

Enables proper shared configuration for teams/multi-project setups without manual intervention.