notation-audit

Notation Audit

Inspect the health of the user's Claude Code memory across all tiers, report problems, then offer targeted fixes. This is the diagnostic counterpart to /notation:notate (which captures new learnings); use it to clean up what is already there.

What the tiers are

• Global rules - ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md: lean, loads every session. Only high-frequency, cross-project rules belong inline.
• Topical notes - ~/.claude/notes/*.md: situational, loaded on demand, each registered by a line in the "Topical Notes Index" at the bottom of CLAUDE.md.
• Project memory - ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/memory/: one fact per frontmatter file, indexed by MEMORY.md.
• Project docs / CLAUDE.md - ./.claude/docs/, ./CLAUDE.md: project-tracked guides and team conventions.

How to run an audit

1. Read ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md and Glob ~/.claude/notes/*.md. For the current project, locate the memory dir via ls -d ~/.claude/projects/*/memory 2>/dev/null and read its MEMORY.md.
2. Walk the checklist in references/audit-checklist.md and collect findings.
3. Report findings grouped by severity (move / fix / tidy), each with the file path and a one-line rationale.
4. Offer to apply fixes. Apply only what the user approves. Before editing ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, back it up: cp ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.bak.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).

What to look for (summary)

• CLAUDE.md bloat: inline entries that are tool/platform/API-specific and belong in notes/. These are the highest-value moves - they shrink the every-session prompt.
• Orphaned index lines: a Topical Notes Index entry whose notes/<topic>.md file does not exist, or a note file with no index line.
• Oversized notes: a single note that has grown large enough to split by sub-topic.
• Memory without a pointer: a frontmatter memory file with no matching line in MEMORY.md (or a MEMORY.md line pointing at a missing file).
• Cross-tier duplication: the same fact living in two tiers.
• Backup clutter: stale ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.bak.* snapshots the user may want to prune.

Full detail and the routing rubric used to decide where a stray entry should move: references/audit-checklist.md and references/routing-rubric.md.

Style

• Use plain hyphens (-) only. No em-dashes or en-dashes.
• Never edit ~/.claude/settings.json.
• Be concise; reference files by absolute path.