[DOCS] CLAUDE.md line limit mistranslated as ~500 in all non-English locales (should be 200)
Documentation Type
Incorrect/outdated documentation
Documentation Location
https://code.claude.com/docs/de/features-overview
Section/Topic
"Understand how features load" section → CLAUDE.md tab → line limit recommendation
Current Documentation
The English version correctly states:
Keep CLAUDE.md under 200 lines. Move reference material to skills, which load on-demand.
However, all non-English translations incorrectly state ~500 lines instead of 200:
Korean (ko):
CLAUDE.md를 약 500줄 이하로 유지하세요. 참조 자료를 skill로 이동하면 온디맨드로 로드됩니다.
French (fr):
Gardez CLAUDE.md sous environ 500 lignes. Déplacez le matériel de référence vers les skills, qui se chargent à la demande.
German (de):
Halten Sie CLAUDE.md unter ~500 Zeilen. Verschieben Sie Referenzmaterial zu Skills, die On-Demand geladen werden.
This same issue also appears on the costs page (/docs/{lang}/costs).
What's Wrong or Missing?
The CLAUDE.md line limit recommendation is mistranslated across all non-English locales. The English source says "200 lines" but every translation says "~500 lines" — a 2.5× discrepancy.
Affected pages (confirmed):
- /docs/{lang}/features-overview — "Understand how features load" section
- /docs/{lang}/costs — context management section
Affected languages: All non-English locales (KO, FR, DE, JA, ZH, ES, etc.) — confirmed that every available translation uses ~500 instead of 200.
This is not a minor typo — 500 vs 200 is a meaningful difference that directly impacts user behavior. Users following the translated docs may create CLAUDE.md files 2.5× larger than intended, wasting context window tokens and reducing Claude's effectiveness.
Additional finding: In the "Compare similar features" section → CLAUDE.md vs Skills tab, all locales correctly state:
"Rule of thumb: Keep CLAUDE.md under 200 lines. If it's growing, move reference content to skills or split into .claude/rules/ files."
This confirms 200 is the intended value and the ~500 figure in other sections is a translation error, not a deliberate change.
Suggested Improvement
Replace ~500 with 200 in all non-English translations of the following pages:
- /docs/{lang}/features-overview — "Understand how features load" section, CLAUDE.md tab
- /docs/{lang}/costs — context management section
Example corrections (same pattern applies to all non-English locales):
Korean:
- Before: "CLAUDE.md를 약 500줄 이하로 유지하세요."
- After: "CLAUDE.md를 200줄 이하로 유지하세요."
French:
- Before: "Gardez CLAUDE.md sous environ 500 lignes."
- After: "Gardez CLAUDE.md sous 200 lignes."
German:
- Before: "Halten Sie CLAUDE.md unter ~500 Zeilen."
- After: "Halten Sie CLAUDE.md unter 200 Zeilen."
All other non-English locales (JA, ZH, ES, etc.) have the same issue and should be corrected accordingly.
Impact
Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand
Additional Context
<img width="1050" height="460" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/14ccbc78-8204-4ebf-848e-409203bc1bc4" />
<img width="986" height="427" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9de176c3-4535-4a87-b405-4efe2f6a3961" />
<img width="1005" height="528" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/561b2e6e-7fe4-40f8-a6e0-fcb2b797547d" />
<img width="982" height="491" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ee954bf9-19c1-4c05-a6c3-db23286a2af0" />
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