Manage modular rules for the project. Rules are markdown files in .claude/rules/ that provide context-specific instructions to Claude.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when... Use alternative when...

Need to create/edit modular rules in .claude/rules/ Use /blueprint:claude-md for single-file project instructions

Want to list all project and user-level rules Use /blueprint:generate-rules to auto-generate from PRDs

Need to add path-specific rules for certain file types Just need to view CLAUDE.md structure

Managing user-level rules (~/.claude/rules/) Need to sync rules with existing CLAUDE.md

Rules Hierarchy (precedence low → high)

Level Location Scope

User-level ~/.claude/rules/*.md

Personal rules across all projects

Project rules .claude/rules/*.md (no paths ) All files in this project

Path-specific rules .claude/rules/*.md (with paths ) Only matched files

Project rules override user-level rules. Path-specific rules load conditionally when working on matching files.

Steps:

Check blueprint status:

• Read docs/blueprint/manifest.json

• Check if modular rules are enabled

• If not enabled, offer to enable: Use AskUserQuestion: question: "Modular rules are not enabled. Would you like to enable them?" options:

  • "Yes, create .claude/rules/ structure" → enable and continue
  • "No, use single CLAUDE.md" → exit

Determine action (use AskUserQuestion):

question: "What would you like to do with modular rules?" options:

• "List existing rules" → show project and user-level rules

• "Add a new rule" → create new rule file

• "Edit existing rule" → modify rule

• "Generate rules from PRDs" → auto-generate from requirements

• "Manage user-level rules" → personal rules in ~/.claude/rules/

• "Sync rules with CLAUDE.md" → bidirectional sync

• "Validate rules" → check for issues

List existing rules:

• Scan .claude/rules/ recursively for .md files

• Scan ~/.claude/rules/ for user-level rules

• Parse frontmatter for paths field (if scoped)

• Display: 📜 Modular Rules

User-Level Rules (~/.claude/rules/ — personal, all projects):

• preferences.md - Personal coding style
• workflow.md - Personal workflow habits

Project Global Rules (apply to all files):

• development.md - TDD workflow and conventions
• testing.md - Test requirements

Path-Specific Rules (apply to specific paths):

• frontend/react.md - paths: ["src/components/**/*.{ts,tsx}"]
• backend/api.md - paths: ["src/api/**/*.ts"]

Total: 6 rules (2 user-level, 2 global, 2 path-specific)

Add a new rule (use AskUserQuestion):

question: "What type of rule would you like to create?" options:

• "Development workflow" → development.md template
• "Testing requirements" → testing.md template
• "Code style/conventions" → code-style.md template
• "Architecture patterns" → architecture.md template
• "Language-specific" → prompt for language
• "Framework-specific" → prompt for framework
• "Custom" → blank template with guidance

Then ask:

question: "Should this rule apply to all files or specific paths?" options:

• "All files (global)" → no paths frontmatter

• "Specific file patterns" → prompt for glob patterns

Rule file templates:

Global rule template:

{Rule Name}

Overview

{Brief description of when this rule applies}

Requirements

• {Requirement 1}
• {Requirement 2}

Examples

{Code examples if applicable}

Scoped rule template (with paths frontmatter):

paths:

• "src/components/**/*.{ts,tsx}"

{Rule Name}

Overview

{Brief description - applies only to matched paths}

Requirements

• {Requirement 1}
• {Requirement 2}

Brace expansion is supported: *.{ts,tsx} matches both .ts and .tsx files. Glob patterns follow standard syntax: ** for recursive, * for single level.

Generate rules from PRDs:

• Read all PRDs in docs/prds/

• Extract key requirements and constraints

• Group by domain (testing, architecture, coding standards)

• Generate rule files:

• rules/from-prd-testing.md

• Test requirements from PRDs

• rules/from-prd-architecture.md

• Architecture decisions

• rules/from-prd-conventions.md

• Coding conventions

Sync rules with CLAUDE.md:

• Parse existing CLAUDE.md sections

• Compare with rules in .claude/rules/

• Offer sync options: question: "How would you like to sync?" options:

  • "CLAUDE.md → rules (split into modular files)"
  • "Rules → CLAUDE.md (consolidate)"
  • "Merge both (combine unique content)"

Validate rules:

• Check for syntax errors in frontmatter

• Validate glob patterns in paths field

• Check for conflicting rules

• Warn about overly broad or narrow scopes

• Report: ✅ Rule Validation

Checked: 4 rules Valid: 4 Warnings: 1

• frontend/react.md: paths pattern may be too broad

No errors found.

Update manifest:

• Add created/modified rules to generated_artifacts.rules

• Update updated_at timestamp

Report:

✅ Rule management complete!

{Action summary}

Current rules: {count} files

• Global: {count}
• Scoped: {count}

Run /blueprint-status to see full configuration.

Prompt for next action (use AskUserQuestion):

question: "Rules updated. What would you like to do next?" options:

• label: "Update CLAUDE.md (Recommended)" description: "Regenerate overview to reflect rule changes"
• label: "Add another rule" description: "Create additional domain-specific rules"
• label: "Check blueprint status" description: "Run /blueprint:status to see full configuration"
• label: "I'm done for now" description: "Exit - rules are active immediately"

Based on selection:

• "Update CLAUDE.md" → Run /blueprint:claude-md

• "Add another rule" → Restart at step 4 (Add a new rule)

• "Check blueprint status" → Run /blueprint:status

• "I'm done" → Exit

Common Rule Patterns:

Rule Type Suggested Path Scope Pattern

React components rules/frontend/react.md

["**/*.{tsx,jsx}"]

API handlers rules/backend/api.md

["src/{api,routes}/**/*"]

Database models rules/backend/models.md

["src/{models,db}/**/*"]

Test files rules/testing.md

["**/.{test,spec}."]

Documentation rules/docs.md

["/*.md", "docs//*"]

Config files rules/config.md

[".config.{js,ts,mjs}", ".env"]