Bug: Claude suggests wrong global config directory (~/.config/claude-code/ instead of ~/.claude/)

Bug: Claude suggests wrong global config directory (~/.config/claude-code/ instead of ~/.claude/)

Summary

When Claude Code agents are asked where to create global configuration files (commands, settings, etc.), they suggest ~/.config/claude-code/ instead of the documented location ~/.claude/.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Ask Claude: "Create a global command that would work across all projects"
2. Claude suggests placing files in ~/.config/claude-code/commands/
3. Files placed there don't work because Claude Code doesn't load from that location

Expected Behavior

Claude should suggest ~/.claude/ as the global configuration directory, per the official documentation:
https://code.claude.com/docs/en/settings

The docs clearly state:

• Global settings: ~/.claude/settings.json
• Custom agents: ~/.claude/agents/
• Global memory: ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
• Project commands work from: ~/.claude/commands/

Actual Behavior

Claude defaults to XDG Base Directory conventions and suggests ~/.config/claude-code/ as the global location, which:

1. Doesn't match Claude Code's actual directory structure
2. Isn't documented anywhere in official docs
3. Causes commands/configs placed there to not work

Real-World Impact

In our conversation:

1. A previous Claude session created ~/.config/claude-code/commands/generic-pr.md
2. The command didn't work because it wasn't in ~/.claude/commands/
3. After moving to ~/.claude/commands/, it worked immediately
4. When asked where to put global config, Claude still suggested ~/.config/claude-code/

Root Cause

The agent appears to reason from first principles about Unix conventions (~/.config/ per XDG) rather than being aware of Claude Code's specific conventions (~/.claude/).

Suggested Fix

Claude Code agents should have explicit knowledge that:

• Global configuration location: ~/.claude/
• Global commands: ~/.claude/commands/
• Project-level commands: .claude/commands/ (in project root)
• ~/.config/claude-code/ is NOT a valid location

Environment

• OS: macOS (Darwin 24.6.0)
• Claude Code version: 2.0.28
• Model: Claude Sonnet 4.5

Additional Context

This creates a self-perpetuating issue: Claude sessions create files in the wrong location, future Claude sessions find those files and assume the location is correct, reinforcing the wrong pattern.