Consolidate Rules, Skills, and Learnings

Standalone Codex mode

Audit ${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/AGENTS.md, native ${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/agents/, native ${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/rules/, and the managed skills in the real cc-settings checkout named by ${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/.cc-settings-version repo_path. Validate that path is a git checkout of darkroomengineering/cc-settings before treating it as source. The installed plugin/cache and darkroom/source runtime copy may be read to diagnose drift, but must never be edited as though either were the git source.

Claude auto-memory and CLAUDE.md cleanup are unavailable in standalone Codex. Skip those counts and phases rather than redirecting them into ~/.claude. Verify native agent/rule references and managed source skill triggers, then ask before deleting anything.

The remaining path examples describe Claude Code.

Phase 1: Audit

Count everything

echo "Rules:" && ls ~/.claude/rules/*.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l
echo "Skills:" && ls -d ~/.claude/skills/*/SKILL.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l
echo "Auto-memory entries:" && find ~/.claude/projects/*/memory -name "*.md" -not -name "MEMORY.md" 2>/dev/null | wc -l
echo "CLAUDE.md lines:" && wc -l ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md 2>/dev/null
echo "AGENTS.md lines:" && wc -l ~/.claude/AGENTS.md 2>/dev/null

Check for contradictions

Read all rules and flag:

• Opposites ("always X" in one, "never X" in another)
• Significant overlap (two rules covering the same concern)
• References to outdated tools, patterns, or dependencies
• Vague rules that aren't actionable

Check skill triggers

Read all skill descriptions and flag:

• Overlapping trigger phrases between skills
• Skills that never get invoked (ask the user)
• Outdated instructions

Phase 2: Merge and Deduplicate

Rules

• Merge rules covering the same concern
• Remove rules that duplicate AGENTS.md guardrails
• Remove rules for problems that no longer occur
• Tighten vague rules into specific instructions

Skills

• Merge skills with overlapping triggers
• Remove unused skills
• Update outdated instructions
• Ensure distinct, non-overlapping trigger phrases

Auto-memory

• Review entries under ~/.claude/projects/<hash>/memory/
• Remove entries about long-fixed bugs
• Remove entries about deprecated patterns
• Consolidate similar entries into one

Phase 3: Simplify CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md should be a routing table:

• Points to AGENTS.md for standards
• Points to rules for specific concerns
• Points to skills for specific workflows
• Minimal inline content

If it exceeds ~100 lines of content, extract inline sections into rules or skills.

Phase 4: Verify

1. Start a fresh Claude Code session
2. Test that key skills still trigger
3. Verify no regressions in agent behavior
4. Ask the user about rules you're unsure about

Output Format

## Consolidation Report

### Changes Made
- Merged: [list]
- Removed: [list]
- Updated: [list]

### Current State
- Rules: N (was M)
- Skills: N (was M)
- Learnings: N (was M)
- CLAUDE.md: N lines (was M)

### Flagged for User Review
- [Item]: [Why it needs human judgment]

### Recommendations
- [Further cleanup suggestions]

Remember

• Ask before deleting — the user may have reasons you don't see
• Fix contradictions first — they cause the most confusion
• Overlapping triggers cause skill mis-invocation
• 10 sharp rules beat 30 vague ones