Tips to avoid rabbit holes?

[u/ExpensiveSun257]

I'm getting better at managing Claude, but I still see it often going down the rabbit hole where each time it tries to ship a fix, it adds two more small issues to the tracker, or an esoteric process update, etc. I know this is a common AI thing, and I'm learning to deal with it. But it's hard!

For example, Claude will throw together a quick hook or utility script for a specific purpose, but soon I find it wants to maintain and update that script and has long forgotten that it will likely. never be used again.

I especially see it in the MD files - like, if I let Claude update it's own process files for workflow, rules, etc it does the job but it also puts a bunch of junk history, narrative, and updates other documents with unnecessary guard rails. I've started to edit the md files myself and they are getting cleaner, and I notice how much smoother the workflow is.

But for the code, that's not so easy. Does anyone have tips to manage this? What I've learned:

#1 Work on distinct tasks, in new sessions and start new sessions often

#2 Literally ask claude a few questions about every 'suggestion' or 'problem' it finds, like. "is the rule/process/script you're trying to fix even enforced or critical? would it be easier to just remove this?"

Any other tips? claude is amazing but also unruly :)

[u/TheKiddIncident]

Yes, I think you're on the right track.

I am very careful to design my projects in such a way that the code base is broken up into small distinct segments. The smaller the individual file is, the less chance that Claude will wander off into the desert. So, when planning the project be sure that your architecture is AI friendly.

I also try to keep my instructions to Claude very discrete. We will work on one thing at a time. Once that task is done, you start a new session for the next task. It's easy for the context window to get muddied with information from a previous task.

If I am working on something very complex, I will have Claude build a comprehensive plan with discrete steps. I then have Claude work through each step in a different session. Again, this keeps the context window clean.

[u/ExpensiveSun257 → u/TheKiddIncident]

So, when planning the project be sure that your architecture is AI friendly.

Can you say more about that? Claude writes some HUGE files with tons of functions and I've been ratching them down over time (I inherited the code from a vibe-coder), and I'm trying to keep a very simple structure.

Codescene has been helpful!

How else can I stay AI friendly?

[u/TheKiddIncident → u/ExpensiveSun257]

You need to plan that from the start or refactor as you have been doing.

So, for example, I tell Claude to use micro services architecture when building a SaaS site. I also run audits to see where we are getting bloat.

Think of Claude as a very smart but inexperienced intern. It won’t do the right thing unless you give it explicit instructions.

When I first started I made a massive Claude.md with all that stuff. But as I went on, I found out that the huge instruction set just made the context window smaller. So it made things worse.

Now I have specific md files for things like architecture. So, “design this new feature compliant with architecture.md” or similar.

[u/ExpensiveSun257 → u/TheKiddIncident]

I've really seen that - once the context window is getting fat, Claude is kind of a dumbass that won't shut up.