[BUG] Path-scoped rules in .claude/rules/ load into context globally regardless of paths: frontmatter

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Rules placed in .claude/rules/ with paths: frontmatter are loaded into the conversation context at session start, even when the working directory doesn't match the specified paths.

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior:
Rules with paths: frontmatter should only load into context when working with files matching those paths.

Actual behavior:
All .md files in .claude/rules/ are loaded into context at session start, regardless of paths: configuration.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a path-scoped rule file:

.claude/rules/solutions/standards.md

1. Add frontmatter:

---
paths:

• "solutions/**/*"

---

# Solutions Standards
[content...]

1. Start a new Claude Code session in the project root
2. Observe that the rule content appears in the loaded context

Environment:

• Claude Code CLI
• macOS

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.0.76

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Cursor

Additional Information

Impact:
Projects with multiple directory-specific rules experience significant context bloat. In my case, 28 rules load at session start when only ~5 should be global.

Workaround:
None found. Removing alwaysApply: false (which isn't documented anyway) had no