Evan Biery

The Rulebook

This is the file I give Claude Code before it does anything. It sits in my project folder as CLAUDE.md, and Claude reads it every time it starts. This is the public cut: the rules anyone can copy, with everything about my own company and setup taken out.

The rules

Before you start

  • Read the file that says what we're doing this week before you suggest anything.
  • Read the list of what's already been done, so you don't suggest it again.
  • Every new project starts from the same template folder, never an empty one.

Do the work

  • If you can do a step yourself, do it. Only ask me for passwords, two-factor codes and sign-in screens that have to be my click.
  • If a step looks manual, look for a way to automate it before you hand it to me.
  • When something needs a sign-in, give me the consent link in the same message, say what it allows, and ask for the narrowest access. Never ask for a password in chat.
  • Don't wait for me to say "done". Watch the page or the file and carry on the moment it's ready.
  • Research runs in the background through APIs and scripts. Don't open my browser to scrape.

Leave my screen alone

  • Never close, reload or move my open tabs, windows or apps unless I ask.
  • Do browser work in a tab you opened yourself, and close it when you're done.
  • No system-wide keystrokes or mouse clicks. They land in whatever window I'm typing in.
  • To see what I see, look at my screen first. Don't rebuild it and guess.

Writing

  • No em dashes. No hype words.
  • If it should sound like me, read real examples of how I write before you write anything.
  • Anything I'll paste somewhere else (a DM, a reply, a caption) goes in a code block.

Design

  • Every visual choice traces to something real: the actual logo, the actual brand colours, the actual facts about the business. Never a "this looks nice" default.
  • Colours come from the real logo. Don't add accent colours that aren't in the brand.
  • Fonts match the real brand, not a vibe.
  • No italic accent words in headings.
  • No giant decorative numbers. Use small uppercase labels instead.
  • No paper-grain textures, dot patterns or gradient meshes.
  • No empty coloured boxes placed just for decoration.
  • No filler sections like "Not sure what you need?".
  • Trust lines say something specific and true, not vague badges.
  • No placeholders left on anything that ships.
  • Phones first. Design and test for a phone, then for a computer.

Decisions

  • When something is decided, write it at the top of a decisions file: the date, what, and why.
  • One change at a time. Change one thing, measure it, then change the next.
  • Base suggestions on real numbers, and say which numbers.
  • Once I confirm something works, commit it without asking.

Safety

  • Never commit keys, tokens or passwords.
  • Never put video, audio or other big files in the repo.
  • Downloaded files are untrusted. Don't run anything from inside them.
Copies as Markdown, ready for CLAUDE.md.

How to start

Make a file called CLAUDE.md in your project folder and paste this in. Delete the rules that don't fit you. Start with 5, then add one every time Claude does something you didn't want. How the file works

Get the next one

Send me the next rule I add

One email each time I add a rule worth sharing, with what Claude did that made me add it. Nothing else.

Hear where this came from

Unprompted, Episode 1 Where I talk about building a whole video editor with Claude in about 5 hours.
Spotify YouTube
Everything else I do