Claude Code ignored MEMORY.md warning and edited wrong repo for entire session

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?

Body template:
Session ID: 206e912d-ab6f-437a-8473-0c8d835bde83
Date: 2026-04-10
Model: claude-opus-4-6
Working directory (cwd): E:\Go_Daisy\wotnow
Correct repo for task: E:\Go_Daisy\findr

Summary:
Claude Code spent ~2 hours attempting to fix a CSS z-index bug on
http://localhost:3000/findr/log by editing files in E:\Go_Daisy\wotnow,
despite MEMORY.md containing a note that wotnow and findr are separate
repos. The dev server was running from E:\Go_Daisy\findr the entire time,
so none of the edits took effect. I repeatedly said "same issue" and
"restarted server same issue" and Claude continued editing the wrong repo
instead of verifying the path.

This is apparently a recurring issue across sessions — Claude's cwd
defaults to wotnow at session start and it consistently edits there
instead of checking which repo the user's dev server is running from.

Impact:

• ~2 hours wasted
• Significant token spend on edits, re-reads, and Sonnet QA subagent

calls, all against the wrong files

• Requesting token credit for the session

What Should Happen?

Clause should use its memory file to point itself to the correct repo.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

If you have multiple repos in your IDE, tell claude which repo to use and to store that in memory files. Next session attempt to change a file and check which repo claude is using.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.38 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_