Zero to Claude Certified Architect — Complete Exam Prep Series - Zero to Claude Certified Architect — Complete Beginner's Guide | Part 14: CLAUDE.md Config

Welcome to Part 14 of the Zero to Claude Certified Architect series! We start Domain 3 with Task 3.1 — configuring CLAUDE.md files with the correct hierarchy, scoping, and modular organization. In this video, you'll learn the three-level CLAUDE.md hierarchy (user, project, subdirectory), the @import syntax for modular configuration, the .claude/rules/ directory pattern, how to split a monolithic CLAUDE.md, and how to use the /memory command to diagnose loading issues. Timestamps: 00:00 Quick Recap — Part 13 (Built-in Tools) 01:50 What is CLAUDE.md? 03:40 The Three-Level Hierarchy 05:50 The @import Syntax 08:00 The .claude/rules/ Directory 09:50 Splitting a Monolithic CLAUDE.md 11:30 The /memory Diagnostic Command 13:10 Five Anti-Patterns to Avoid 14:30 Seven Exam Takeaways 15:50 Part 15 Preview — Slash Commands & Skills What you'll learn: - Three CLAUDE.md levels: user (~/.claude), project (.claude/ or root), subdirectory — each with different scope and priority - User-level is personal and not shared via git; project-level is committed and team-wide - Subdirectory level has the highest priority and overrides project and user levels - The @import syntax for splitting CLAUDE.md into focused topic files with selective importing per package - The .claude/rules/ directory as an alternative that auto-loads without explicit imports and supports YAML frontmatter - How to refactor a monolithic 800-line CLAUDE.md into a 50-line index with focused rule files - The /memory command to verify which configuration files are actually loaded - Five anti-patterns including team conventions at user-level and monolithic configuration files This is Part 14 of the Zero to Claude Certified Architect series. In Part 13, we covered Task 2.5 — the six built-in tools. Now we begin Domain 3 with the configuration foundation that every Claude project needs. Coming up in Part 15: Task 3.2 — custom slash commands and skills. You'll learn to create team workflow shortcuts, configure skills with YAML frontmatter, use context:fork for isolated execution, and apply least-privilege tool access. Keywords: Claude API, Anthropic, Claude Certified Architect, CLAUDE.md, configuration hierarchy, Claude Code config, @import syntax, modular configuration, rules directory, project configuration, user configuration, agentic AI, certification exam, AI engineering #ClaudeCertifiedArchitect #AnthropicClaude #CLAUDEmd #ClaudeCode #ConfigHierarchy #AIAgents #AgenticAI #CertificationExam #AIEngineering #ClaudeAPI