The Meridian Platform team uses Claude Code for refactoring across a pnpm monorepo. They keep a root CLAUDE.md with house rules and a second CLAUDE.md inside packages/billing setting out currency rounding and money formatting conventions for that package. During a refactoring session an engineer works solely in packages/web, and the transcript shows the root conventions being applied while nothing from the billing memory file appears anywhere in context. What explains that behaviour?
- AThe root CLAUDE.md takes precedence over any nested memory file, so a nested file is consulted only in repositories where no root level memory file exists at all.
- BNested memory files are inert unless the root CLAUDE.md names them with an import line, and the root file in this repository declares no import for the billing package.
- CA CLAUDE.md held in a subdirectory is pulled into context on demand when Claude Code works with files in that subtree, so a session confined to packages/web does not trigger the billing file. Correct
- DClaude Code loads a single memory file per session, chosen from the working directory at launch, and discards every other CLAUDE.md it later encounters in the repository.
Why A is wrong: Precedence between scopes is a real concept, which makes this tempting, but precedence decides how conflicting guidance is weighed rather than whether a nested file is eligible to load. A root file does not suppress nested memory files.
Why B is wrong: Importing a file by path is a genuine way to pull it in, so this sounds mechanical and correct. It is wrong because a subdirectory CLAUDE.md is eligible on its own merits when work reaches that subtree, with no import required.
Why C is correct: Correct. Nested memory is scoped to its own part of the tree and is loaded when that part of the tree is actually touched, which is exactly why a session limited to another package sees no sign of it.
Why D is wrong: The single file model matches how many tools handle configuration, so it is a reasonable guess. It is wrong because several memory files at different scopes can be in play in one session rather than one winning outright.