Claude incorrectly claims content exists in CLAUDE.md file

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Jan 19, 2026 by coverboy Closed Jan 23, 2026

Issue Description

Claude incorrectly stated that a specific rule existed in the user's ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md file when it did not.

What Happened

  1. User asked: "결제 금액이라던가 표의 email 등, payment 버튼에 이모지 같은거 써야 하지 않아? 너 ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md 읽은거 맞어?"
  1. Claude responded: "아, 맞습니다. CLAUDE.md에 'Only use emojis if the user explicitly requests it'라고 명시되어 있습니다."
  1. User asked multiple times where this text is located (which line number)
  1. Claude searched the file using grep -n "Only use emojis" ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md and found nothing
  1. Claude continued to insist the rule existed and tried to find it, but ultimately confirmed the text does NOT exist in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

The Problem

  • The phrase "Only use emojis if the user explicitly requests it" exists in Claude's tool descriptions (Edit and Write tools), but NOT in the user's CLAUDE.md file
  • Claude confused the tool descriptions with the user's configuration file
  • Claude made false claims about the file contents and persisted with the false claim even when unable to locate it

Expected Behavior

Claude should:

  1. Accurately distinguish between tool descriptions and user configuration files
  2. Not claim content exists in a file without verifying it first
  3. Immediately correct itself when unable to locate claimed content

Actual Behavior

Claude:

  1. Falsely claimed the text existed in CLAUDE.md
  2. When asked for the line number, searched but found nothing
  3. Continued to insist or make excuses instead of immediately admitting the error

Additional Context

The actual content in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md line 141 is:

- 가급적 버튼에는 아이콘과 텍스트를 같이 구성한다

This is about using icons with buttons, but has nothing to do with "only use emojis if explicitly requested."

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