Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Daily picks

articles scored

#1 GOLDGuideDev.to Claude

The CLAUDE.md rules that actually change Claude's behavior

CLAUDE.md files work better as hard rules ("never do X") instead of soft guidelines ("prefer to do X"), because Claude will skip soft suggestions when tasks feel urgent
The most effective rules are binary and specific—"TypeScript only, never .js files" works way better than "prefer TypeScript when possible"
Three game-changing rules: (1) only modify files directly needed for the task, don't refactor random stuff; (2) never claim work is done without showing actual test output; (3) don't ask for permission or clarification unless genuinely stuck
Keep CLAUDE.md short (under 50 lines) because it loads into every message and burns tokens—only include rules you'd actually enforce
Add a status file (like tasks/current-task.md) that persists across context resets so Claude doesn't lose track of what it was doing

#2 SILVERTutorialReddit r/ClaudeCode

Someone built a Reddit search tool (called reddit-mcp-buddy) that works with Claude Code, letting you ask AI questions like "what do developers complain about with this library?" and get real Reddit discussions instead of searching manually—it's got 470 stars and 76K downloads.
The main uses are: researching libraries before you pick one, finding solutions to weird bugs people actually encountered, checking out complaints about competing products, and staying updated on trends—all without leaving your coding window.
It's better than a regular web search because Claude gets clean, structured data from Reddit (not messy HTML), results get cached so repeated questions don't cost API calls, and it's focused on just Reddit instead of giving you a browser to figure out yourself.

#3 BRONZEGuideDev.to Claude

Claude Code looks for a `.claude/` folder in your project where you set up permissions, modes, and integrations — `settings.json` is the main config file that controls whether Claude asks permission before running commands and lets you connect external tools like databases.
You can also add a `settings.local.json` for personal overrides (keep it out of git), a `skills/` folder for custom abilities, plus a `CLAUDE.md` file for rules and a `.claudeignore` file to keep sensitive files out of Claude's context.