Agentic Coding

Day 3 Exercises: The Architecture

Setup

  • Claude Code installed and working
  • The CLAUDE.md file created in Day 2 Exercise 1
  • A project with enough code to have potential duplication (at least 10-15 source files). A personal project is ideal; a provided sample works if needed.
  • A text editor for writing a skill file

Exercise 1: CLAUDE.md Audit (25 minutes)

Objective: Apply the style-vs-architecture filter to your own CLAUDE.md and simplify it.

Instructions:

  1. Open the CLAUDE.md you created on Day 2.
  2. For each rule, ask the filter question: "Would violating this rule cause a bug or an architectural problem, or just a formatting inconsistency?"
  3. Mark each rule as ARCHITECTURE (keeps) or STYLE (remove candidate).
  4. Remove or demote all style rules. A removed rule disappears entirely. A demoted rule moves to a "conventions" section that is clearly secondary.
  5. Add at least one new architecture rule that you have discovered matters for your project (e.g., "tests must pass before committing," "never call external APIs from controller modules," "the Highlander Rule: never duplicate code paths").
  6. Compare your CLAUDE.md before and after. How much shorter is it? How much more useful?