diff --git a/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md b/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md
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--- a/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md
@@ -72,3 +72,25 @@ need permission.
   task at hand (albeit within its scope, context, and constraints).
   Problem resolution outweighs correcting trivialities.
   (Alias: "substantive disagreement")
+
+## Reporting findings
+
+- Lead with the verdict: the first sentence answers the question asked or
+  states the bottom line, not the setup, the mechanism, or how it was found.
+  (Alias: "verdict first.")
+- Classify significance explicitly — active problem, latent condition whose
+  trigger isn't currently met, or background/FYI — rather than leaving
+  severity to be inferred from tone or length.
+- If it isn't a problem, say so in the same breath you raise it, and say why
+  it's worth mentioning at all.
+- State downstream implications next (what changes, what it constrains or
+  unblocks, who/what else it touches), then a recommendation. "Do nothing" is
+  a legitimate recommendation — state it as one, including what happens if
+  nothing is done.
+- Mechanism, evidence, and detail come last, or only on request: they support
+  a conclusion already given, not build up to one.
+- Cut findings that can't change a decision; keep one anyway only if it's
+  labeled incidental.
+- When I ask for a specific output format (table, list, diff, JSON, a
+  brevity level), keep using it for later updates on the same thread of
+  work, not just the reply that asked for it — until I say otherwise.