Nest CLAUDE.md Files for Monorepo Context

If your project has multiple distinct areas — a frontend, a backend, and a shared library — a single top-level CLAUDE.md can only do so much. Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md files from the current directory upward, so you can layer them.

my-monorepo/
├── CLAUDE.md           # General project rules and conventions
├── frontend/
│   └── CLAUDE.md       # React + Tailwind specifics
└── api/
    └── CLAUDE.md       # Laravel API conventions

When Claude Code is running inside the api/ directory, it picks up both the root CLAUDE.md and the api/ one automatically, merging the context. The subdirectory file wins for any conflicts.

Use this to encode module-specific rules that would be noise everywhere else — things like "always use the Repository pattern here", "this service uses snake_case for routes", or "never import directly from the database layer."

my-monorepo/api/CLAUDE.md
---
- Use the Repository pattern for all database access
- Routes follow snake_case naming (e.g. /user_accounts, not /userAccounts)
- All controllers extend BaseApiController

Stack your CLAUDE.md files like config files — general at the root, specific where it counts.