From 04a0c3799e004e0e108944ba6455a3c29edb8e9d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Pathirana Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:37:04 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] feat(claude): add reporting-order guidance to global CLAUDE.md Findings were being relayed in discovery order (mechanism first, significance last), which reads as more urgent or more relevant than it is. Add a "Reporting findings" section requiring verdict first, explicit significance classification, and mechanism/detail last or on request. --- private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md | 19 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+) diff --git a/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md b/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md index 3d344700..86423e2d 100644 --- a/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md +++ b/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md @@ -72,3 +72,22 @@ 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. From 47d139337c749080836e185ab6ab35d20dfa6660 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Pathirana Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:38:36 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] feat(claude): require requested output formats to persist across updates A format asked for once (table, list, diff, brevity level) was being honored for a single reply, then dropped on the next update on the same topic. Extend the reporting-order section: a requested format holds for the rest of that thread of work until told otherwise. --- private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md | 3 +++ 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+) diff --git a/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md b/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md index 86423e2d..137d09d4 100644 --- a/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md +++ b/private_dot_claude/CLAUDE.md @@ -91,3 +91,6 @@ need permission. 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.