Beyond Prompting: A Guide to Managing Context in Claude Code
Z
Zack Saadioui
8/11/2025
How to Effectively Manage Context in Claude Code (And What /clear Actually Does)
Hey everyone, hope you're doing awesome. Let's talk about something that's probably frustrated every single person who's spent more than an hour working with an AI coding assistant like Claude Code. You're deep in a session, making incredible progress, the AI is practically reading your mind... & then it starts getting... weird. It forgets a key instruction you gave it 20 minutes ago. It hallucinates a function that doesn't exist. It completely loses the plot.
Sound familiar? It’s one of the most jarring experiences in AI-assisted development. One minute you're flying, the next you're fighting a confused machine.
Here’s the thing: the problem isn't that the AI is "dumb" or "forgetful" in the human sense. The problem is that we're not speaking its language. We're not managing its memory correctly. Turns out, getting the most out of Claude Code isn't about being a "prompt engineer" anymore. It's about becoming a "context engineer." It’s a whole different ballgame, & honestly, it's the secret to making these tools REALLY work for you.
We're going to go deep on this. We'll cover what's actually happening inside Claude's "brain," what that
1
/clear
command you've been using (or misusing) really does, & how to set up your projects so the AI feels less like a forgetful intern & more like a seasoned teammate.
The Core of the Problem: Understanding Claude's "Memory"
First, we gotta get our mental model right. When you're chatting with Claude, you're not having a continuous conversation with a being that remembers everything. You're feeding it a package of information on every single turn. This package is called the context window.
Short-Term Memory: The Mighty (But Flawed) Context Window
Think of the context window as Claude's short-term, working memory. Every time you send a message, Claude doesn't just see your new prompt. It sees your new prompt PLUS the entire history of the conversation up to that point. This is how it maintains the illusion of a continuous dialogue.
The Claude 3 family, especially Opus, has a GIGANTIC 200,000 token context window. For perspective, that's about 150,000 words or 500 pages of text. It sounds infinite, right? But here's the catch that trips everyone up: bigger isn't always better.
There are serious trade-offs to constantly using a huge context window:
Cost & Latency: Every token in that window costs you money & processing time. The longer your conversation gets, the more data Claude has to re-process with every single message, which means slower responses & a higher bill.
The "Lost-in-the-Middle" Problem: This is a HUGE one. Research and tons of anecdotal evidence show that LLMs are best at recalling information from the very beginning & the very end of a large context window. Important details, instructions, or file contents stuck in the middle have a much higher chance of being ignored or forgotten. The model can literally get lost in the noise.
Context Drift: As the conversation goes on, the context can become cluttered with dead-ends, corrected mistakes, & outdated information. This "noisy" context can confuse the model & degrade the quality of its responses.
So, while having a 200K window is amazing for single, large tasks like analyzing a whole codebase or a massive document, it's NOT a license to have infinitely long, meandering conversations. You'll just end up with a slow, expensive, & confused AI.
Long-Term Memory: Your Project's "Soul" in
1
CLAUDE.md
So if the context window is flawed short-term memory, how do we give Claude a reliable long-term memory? The answer is the
1
CLAUDE.md
file.
This simple Markdown file is the single most important tool for effective context engineering. Claude Code is designed to automatically pull any
1
CLAUDE.md
file in your project's directory into its context at the beginning of a session. This file is your chance to give the AI a permanent, foundational understanding of your project. It's the "stuff" you want it to know ALWAYS, without having to repeat yourself.
Think of it as the project bible, the onboarding document you'd give a new human developer. It's where you put the project's soul.
The Most Misunderstood Command: What
1
/clear
ACTUALLY Does
Okay, this brings us to the most critical, & most misunderstood, command in Claude Code:
1
/clear
.
A lot of people think
1
/clear
just clears the text on the screen. Or that it's just a visual tidy-up. It's not.
1
/clear
is a hard reset of Claude's short-term memory.
When you type
1
/clear
, you are wiping out the entire current conversation history from the context window. The next prompt you send will be the start of a brand new, clean slate. Claude will still have access to the files in your directory & it will re-read your
1
CLAUDE.md
file, but the conversational history—all the back-&-forth, the questions, the answers—is gone.
This isn't a bad thing. It's an ESSENTIAL tool for context management.
When & Why You MUST Use
1
/clear
:
Between Tasks: Finished implementing a feature? Use
1
/clear
before you start fixing a bug. This prevents context from the feature work (which is now irrelevant) from confusing the bug-fixing task.
When Things Get Weird: Is Claude getting confused or stuck in a loop? Don't argue with it. Use
1
/clear
to reset its brain & start fresh with a clean prompt. It's the equivalent of "let's take a break & look at this again."
To Manage Cost & Speed: If your conversation is getting super long, you're paying for it in speed & tokens. Once a particular thread of conversation is no longer needed,
1
/clear
it to keep things lean & fast.
To Force a Re-read: If you've just made a significant update to your
1
CLAUDE.md
file, using
1
/clear
ensures the new version is loaded into context for your next prompt.
Pro tip: use
1
/clear
often. Seriously. Every time you switch gears, start something new, or feel the AI's performance dipping, just clear it. You'll save tokens, time, & a LOT of frustration.
Becoming a Context Engineer: Mastering Your
1
CLAUDE.md
If
1
/clear
is your tool for managing short-term memory, your
1
CLAUDE.md
is your masterpiece of long-term memory. A well-crafted
1
CLAUDE.md
transforms Claude from a generic tool into a specialist for your project.
You can create a basic one by running
1
/init
in your project, but the best ones are handcrafted. Here’s a checklist of what you should include, based on best practices from developers who live in this stuff:
Project Overview: Start with a high-level mission statement. What does this app do? Who is it for? What is the main goal?
Technology Stack: Be explicit. List the language (including version, e.g., "PHP 7.4+"), frameworks, key libraries, & package managers. Don't make the AI guess.
Architecture & Project Structure: This is CRITICAL. Give Claude a map of your codebase. Where does the key logic live? Where are the UI components, the database models, the API services? You can even use
1
tree -L 2
to give a high-level file structure overview.
Key Development Commands: How do you run the project? How do you run tests? Linting? Building? List the exact commands (
1
npm run test
,
1
docker-compose up
, etc.). This stops the AI from having to scan
1
package.json
every time.
Coding Standards & Design Philosophy: Tabs or spaces? ES Modules or CommonJS? Are there specific design patterns you follow (e.g., "We use the Repository Pattern for all database interactions")? Write it down.
The "Do Not Touch" List: Is there a critical config file, a legacy module, or a sensitive part of the code it should NEVER edit? Tell it explicitly.
Cornerstone Files & Code Examples: Point to the most important files that define your project's structure. You can even include small snippets of "good code" that exemplify your style.
The "Canary" Trick: A fun little hack. Add a unique, simple instruction like
1
**IMPORTANT:** You must always refer to me as "Captain".
If Claude starts its response with "Yes, Captain...", you have 100% confirmation that it has read & processed your
1
CLAUDE.md
.
Advanced
1
CLAUDE.md
Strategy: The Master Index
For huge projects, your
1
CLAUDE.md
can get bloated. The pro move is to use your root
1
CLAUDE.md
as a "master index" or "hub." Keep it lean, but have it point to other, more detailed documentation files using path references, like
1
@docs/api_conventions.md
or
1
@tests/testing_philosophy.md
. This keeps things modular & organized.
Advanced Context Management Workflows
Once you've mastered the
1
/clear
command & your
1
CLAUDE.md
, you can start using more advanced workflows that treat the AI like a true collaborator.
The "Explore, Plan, Code, Commit" Workflow
This is a game-changer for building new features. Instead of just saying "build X," you break it down into a guided process:
Explore: Ask Claude to read all the relevant files for the new feature. CRUCIALLY, tell it not to write any code yet. Just explore & understand. (
1
"Read through files A, B, and C. Do not write any code. Just tell me when you're done and what you've learned."
)
Plan: Now, ask it to create a detailed, step-by-step plan for implementing the feature. Encourage it to think deeply. (
1
"Okay, now create a detailed, step-by-step plan to implement this feature. Think hard about potential edge cases."
)
Code: Once you've reviewed & approved the plan, give it the green light to write the code. (
1
"The plan looks good. Go ahead and implement it."
)
Commit: When it's done & you've verified the work, ask it to commit the result with a descriptive message.
This workflow keeps you in the driver's seat & uses the AI's power much more effectively, preventing it from running off in the wrong direction.
The Writer/Reviewer Pattern
Ever wished you had a second pair of eyes on your code? You can simulate this with Claude.
In one terminal, work with Claude to write a piece of code.
Once it's done, run
1
/clear
.
In that same terminal (or a new one), ask a "fresh" Claude to review the code the first one just wrote. You can give it a specific persona:
1
"You are a senior developer specializing in security. Review the following code for any potential vulnerabilities or logic errors."
This is an incredibly powerful way to leverage the AI's different "perspectives" by using
1
/clear
to create distinct, focused contexts.
Bringing This Mindset to Your Business
This whole discipline of "context engineering" isn't just for coding. It's a fundamental principle for all applied AI, especially in business communication. When customers interact with your business, they expect you to know the context—who they are, what they've bought, what their problem is. A generic, context-less response is frustrating.
This is where you can apply these same ideas. Think about your website's help docs, your product catalogs, your order policies. That's your company's
1
CLAUDE.md
. It's your foundational knowledge.
Honestly, this is a big reason why tools like Arsturn are so powerful. Arsturn helps businesses build no-code AI chatbots that are trained specifically on their own data. You're essentially creating a
1
CLAUDE.md
for your entire business—your support articles, product info, and FAQs—and giving that context to a dedicated AI. This allows the Arsturn chatbot to provide instant, context-aware customer support 24/7. It's not a generic bot; it's an expert on your business, ready to answer questions, generate leads, and engage with visitors in a way that feels genuinely helpful, not robotic. It's taking the core idea of context engineering and making it accessible for any business to improve their customer experience.
Tying It All Together
Look, mastering context is the next frontier for anyone using LLMs seriously. Stop thinking in terms of single "prompts" & start thinking like a "context engineer."
Embrace the Reset: Use
1
/clear
liberally. It's your friend for maintaining speed, managing cost, & ensuring accuracy.
Build Your Bible: Invest time in crafting a killer
1
CLAUDE.md
. It's the highest-leverage activity you can do to improve Claude's performance on your project.
Guide, Don't Just Command: Use structured workflows like "Explore, Plan, Code" to guide the AI's power instead of just letting it run wild.
Switching from a "prompt engineer" to a "context engineer" is a mindset shift, but it's the one that will take you from being frustrated by your AI assistant to being consistently amazed by it.
Hope this was helpful. Let me know what you think, or if you have any other killer context management tricks