Propose excluding Claude instruction templates from nested memory - #822

Scope

Exclude automatic loading of the example and scaffold instruction templates through three documented project claudeMdExcludes globs. Blueprint and root instructions remain eligible to load. This is a draft proposal for the command center; native /context acceptance remains pending.

• Base commit: d9eb68750311d5f888adec140723da174f9fe10c.
• Lane: lane:foundation.
• Owned paths: .claude/settings.json, the new decision and receipt, and the evidence registry. The settings file adds only the exclusion property; existing permissions, hooks, models and values compare equal to the base.
• A complete, cached file scan of 95 open PRs found no overlapping .claude/settings.json edit. The client-config map covers enumerated adoption templates/additions, and this project setting is outside those inputs.

SOTA sources

• Claude memory documentation, read 2026-10-06: globs match absolute paths, leading **/ is supported, project settings are allowed, and arrays merge across layers. Its AGENTS loading rules apply exclusions to AGENTS/imports, supporting the scaffold import-target exclusion.
• anthropics/claude-code@fbe20e00e2851fc01506f54f98a8f0b875af3847 (v2.1.292), CHANGELOG.md:2784: historical symlink-exclusion repair. Installed Claude 2.1.292 help exposes the settings-layer entry points. This is not a memory-engine implementation review.
• native-agent-stack@d9eb68750311d5f888adec140723da174f9fe10c:adoption/new-wsl/client-config-map.json:3 and tools/adoption/new_wsl_client_config.py:130-147: the closed-world template inputs, reviewed before the project proposal.
• Dated peer C6 observation, IMPROVEMENT-MANIFEST.md:136-142, supports the template-loading problem; it is historical evidence and is not reproduced by this PR.

Evidence-class table

Local commands run

CI=true rtk proxy nice -n 19 ionice -c3 python3 -B -m unittest \
  tests.test_secret_path_guard.SecretPathGuardTests.test_project_settings_register_hook_and_deny_rules \
  tests.test_secret_path_guard.SecretPathGuardTests.test_every_anchored_read_deny_has_a_context_mode_twin \
  tests.test_install_claude_profile.SecretGuardProfileTests \
  tests.test_install_claude_profile.CommittedSettingsFallbackGuardTests \
  tests.test_install_claude_profile.PortableTopRuleTests
# exit 0; 25 tests, no skips
rtk proxy nice -n 19 ionice -c3 python3 scripts/component_matrix.py --write
rtk proxy nice -n 19 ionice -c3 python3 scripts/new_host_grand_list.py --write
rtk proxy nice -n 19 ionice -c3 python3 scripts/validate.py
# exits 0; generators produce no tracked difference; validation passes
rtk proxy git diff --check d9eb68750311d5f888adec140723da174f9fe10c HEAD
# exit 0

The receipt preserves a failed HTTP 403 documentation fetch and its successful native-fetch recovery. These checks are repository integration and source review, not upstream tests or runtime acceptance. Registry-only commit is last.

Decision record

docs/decisions/2026-10-06-claude-template-memory-exclusions.md proposes the scope, alternatives, limits and owner acceptance. After its decision, the command center reads an ordinary example and scaffold source in a fresh Claude session, retains /context showing no template nested memory, then reads a blueprint and verifies domain/root/user instructions still load. A same-scope baseline can establish the trigger. Exact suffix globs can match similarly structured external paths; merged exclusion arrays require effective-scope review.

Host evidence

No evidence/hosts/ changes or host apply. The command center owns application and native read-back. Rollback is a reviewed removal of the three project exclusions, followed by a fresh session; this lane starts no Claude inference or edits installed instructions.

Checklist

• No GitHub Actions changes.
• No secrets printed or committed; no required secret added.
• No paid hosting or billing surface introduced.
• Peer-owned paths and worktrees preserved.