How to write a CLAUDE.md file for a small business, even if you don't code

Monday, 8:15, the same speech again

You open Claude Code in your shop's folder and type the first request of the week. Before it can start, you explain the usual things.

Prices on the website include sales tax. The business name is all lowercase. The invoices folder is off limits. No exclamation marks in customer emails.

You said all of this on Friday. And on Wednesday.

It's like training a new temp every single morning.

Why it forgets your rules

Each new session starts fresh. That surprises most people. The chat on Friday is gone by Monday.

So the usual advice is to paste your rules at the top of every session. It works for a while. Then a long session gets summed up to make room, and the message with your rules goes with it.

Your first message of the morning is the wrong home for a lasting rule. A file is the right one. The memory page in the official docs explains how that file loads, and why the main CLAUDE.md is read again from disk even after a long session is summed up.

A note on the fridge

When a family goes away, they leave a note on the fridge for the pet sitter. Feed the cat at seven. The dog gets half a scoop. The cat is not allowed outside.

CLAUDE.md is that note. Claude Code reads it every time it walks into your folder.

For a small shop, the book's template has six short parts. What this folder is. Who the customers are. Words and spelling. Never touch. How to work with me. Where to find things. One line in it does a lot of work: "If what you see here doesn't match this description, stop and tell me before doing anything."

The test for each line is simple. Only write something you've had to explain at least twice. Keep the whole file under 200 lines. A long procedure, like how to check a quote, belongs in a skill instead.

And remember what a note can't do. If the cat must never go outside, you don't just write it on the fridge. You lock the cat flap. "Don't open invoices" in CLAUDE.md is a request. A deny rule in your settings file is the lock.

A short example for a two-person shop

Here is a trimmed version of the book's template, filled in for a small flower shop. Open Claude Code in your business folder, type /init to get a starter draft, then merge in lines like these and swap in your own details.

# CLAUDE.md: Bloom & Stem working folder

## What this folder is
- Working files for Bloom & Stem, a two-person flower shop,
  online and one store.
- website/ is the site, prices/ holds price lists,
  drafts/ holds posts and emails before I send them.
- If what you see here doesn't match this description,
  stop and tell me before doing anything.

## Who the customers are
- Local customers, mostly gifts and events.
- They read on phones. Keep sentences short.

## Words and spelling
- The business name is written exactly: Bloom & Stem.
- Prices in US dollars, with two decimals.
- No exclamation marks in customer-facing text.

## Never touch
- invoices/ and anything with customer names or payment details.
- Don't send, publish or delete anything without asking first.

## How to work with me
- Before a big job, tell me your plan in 3 lines and wait.
- When you finish, say what you changed and where.
- Never invent prices, reviews or numbers.
  If a number isn't in a file, say so.

That is about 25 lines, far under the 200-line limit the docs suggest. Add a line only when you catch yourself explaining something twice.

Write lines Claude can check

The memory page gives one rule that does more than any template: write instructions concrete enough to check. Its own examples are about code, but the idea carries over to a shop.

The same page gives two more tips. Group lines under short headings, since sorted sections are easier to follow than long paragraphs. And remove contradictions, because when two lines disagree, Claude may pick either one. To find them, run /doctor prompt-audit in a session. It lists outdated or clashing lines and proposes fixes, and it changes nothing until you say so. It needs a recent version of Claude Code, so it may look different on your screen.

Check the top line before you trust it

On October 13, 2026, I had Claude check the instruction files across my project folders. Six folders had a CLAUDE.md that described a different project. I had copied a template from one to the next and never rewritten the part that names the project.

The damage was real. In one website's folder, the file banned icon libraries, while the site's own code used them in more than 200 files. Every session there began with a rule that fought the project. Even the folder where I write books had a file describing my web agency's site.

Now I run a three-line check in every folder. Which business do these instructions describe? What does this folder actually contain? Do the two match? If the third answer is no, I fix the file before anything else.

Where the book takes your CLAUDE.md further

This is the problem Claude Code for Non-Programmers was written for. The book is independent and is not affiliated with Anthropic.

CLAUDE.md: The Instruction Sheet gives you the full template for a two-person shop, a private local file, a rule that loads only for your blog folder, and the sanity check I now paste into every folder.

Memory That Survives covers the other half: the notes Claude writes itself about what it learned, like a supplier change last week.

Skills: Teaching It a Job Once is where long procedures go once they outgrow the fridge note.

Permissions and Modes turns your "never touch" lines into real locks. The settings page is the official reference for where those files live.