[BUG] Claude doesn't follow instructions in ./claude/instructions/*.md

Status Fixed / completed

Maintainer reply ✓ Yes — bcherny

Activity 4 comments · opened Aug 16, 2025 · closed Aug 16, 2025

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (bcherny, collaborator) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Environment

Platform (select one):
[X ] Anthropic API
[ ] AWS Bedrock
[ ] Google Vertex AI
[ ] Other:
Claude CLI version: Claude Code v1.0.77
Operating System: Windows10
Terminal: powershell

Bug Description

Created instructions telling claude to communicate impersonally with minimal verbage.
Start claude. Claude communicates as if the instructions does not exist.

communication.md
conversation.md

Steps to Reproduce

Add instructions mds telling it not to talk a certain way when performing tasks.
Restart claude.
Give claude a task to perform.

Expected Behavior

"CHECKING: ...", no step by step explanations

Actual Behavior

"Now I need to ...", "Great!", "Let me..."

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 1 year ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

bcherny collaborator · 1 year ago

Hey there! /instructions isn't a thing. You want CLAUDE.md or .claude/output-styles/*.md. See https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/output-styles

github-actions[bot] · 1 year ago

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.

Showing cached comments. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗