It Started With a Small Kindness
One day I asked a bot, 「Just fix the typo in the README.」 When I opened the result, the typo was fixed, and two config files had also been neatly tidied up. Instead of gratitude, I felt a cold sweat. From that day on, I started writing a 「do not touch」 list before handing over any task.
How to Do It
1. Open the `CLAUDE.md` file in your project folder. Create one if it does not exist.
2. Paste the following block at the very bottom.
Do not touch in this task
• Config files (.env, config)
• The scheduled task list
• Any folder I did not mention
3. Add 「Check the list above first, then begin」 to the first sentence of your request.
4. When the work is done, ask 「Show me only the names of changed files.」
5. Make one commit before starting, so you can roll back instantly if you do not like the result.
One Month of Notes
I kept a tally of 「unintended edits」 in a notepad. Before the list it averaged 4 a week, and after it, 1. My Windows main device and my Mac mini share the same `CLAUDE.md`, so the same boundaries held no matter where I gave the instruction. It is a small personal sample, so do not over-trust it, but the sense of safety was clearly bigger.
What I Learned
• The more specific a 「don't」 is, the better it is respected. Writing folder names helps.
• Keep the list under five lines. A long list gets blurry.
• It was not the bot's fault but a blank in my instructions. Once I filled the blank, the bot seemed more at ease too.