A vault CLAUDE.md is different from a code project CLAUDE.md. Instead of describing a codebase, you're describing your life context. It loads into context every session, so keep it focused on what Claude needs every single time. Drop anything session-specific into your prompts instead.
Here's a template you can copy and adapt:
# About Me
I'm a product manager at a SaaS company. I own the onboarding roadmap and run weekly planning with three engineers. I write in a direct, low-jargon style.
# Current Projects
- Onboarding redesign: projects/onboarding-v2.md
- Q2 roadmap review: projects/q2-roadmap.md
- Weekly journal habit: journal/
# Vault Structure
- journal/: daily notes, one file per day (YYYY-MM-DD.md)
- projects/: one note per active project
- people/: contact notes and meeting history
- resources/: books, articles, reference material
- archive/: completed projects and old notes
# How I Want You to Behave
- Ask before creating notes outside established folders
- Never delete files without explicit confirmation
- Prefer editing existing notes over creating new ones
- Use [[wikilinks]] when referencing other vault notes
# Maintenance Rules
- When adding files to a folder, update that folder's index.md
- Keep the Current Projects section above up to date
If your CLAUDE.md grows past characters, it starts eating into working context on every request. The kepano/obsidian-skills repo includes examples of Obsidian-specific behavior rules worth borrowing.