Knowledge layers — authority order
A project has three knowledge layers, and they rank in a fixed authority order. Most doc-trust bugs come from not knowing which one wins when they disagree.
.claude/ (or the project's guidance layer) is GUIDANCE. Rules, skills, invariants, conventions — how to build this project. Intentional, hand-authored, prescriptive. It tells you what discipline to apply; it does not describe what the system currently does.
Code is TRUTH. It is what the system actually does, because it is the thing that runs. For any factual question about real behavior — the actual retry limit, the actual auth check, the actual schema — read code, not a description of code.
docs/ is a REFLECTION of code, plus transient intent. Reflection docs (architecture overviews, flow docs, a capabilities index) are a downstream description of code — a navigable map to find the right code fast, not an authority on what it does. Transient intent (brainstorms, plans) is forward-looking exploration consumed when the work ships, then archived. Neither is authoritative about current behavior.
The rule that follows from the ranking
Derive correctness from code plus the guidance layer. Verify any load-bearing claim against code. When a doc and the code disagree, the code wins — every time, no exceptions. This is not "prefer code"; it is code wins. Hedged language invites you to trust the doc anyway.
The reason: code is executed, so it can't lie for long; a doc is never executed, so it can be wrong indefinitely and look fine. docs/ is downstream of code, so it drifts, and drift is silent. Pointing authority at code is how you stop trusting the layer that rots.
Three consequences for how you work
Code → docs, never the reverse. When you change code that a reflection doc describes, update that doc in the same change, or stale-mark it with a "verify against code" note. Correctness flows one direction: code is the source, docs follow. Never edit a reflection doc to declare new behavior and expect code to catch up — that inverts the authority order and manufactures drift. (Specs and plans are transient intent, and may legitimately lead code; a reflection doc must never lead it.)
Reference stable anchors only. Point rules and skills at canonical indexes (a docs README, a capabilities index) and at folder conventions, never at a specific dated artifact. Discover the specific doc at runtime by searching the folder. A folder convention is permanent; a dated filename rots into a dangling reference the moment the doc archives or is superseded.
Archive is out of reach. Shipped and superseded docs move to the archive, which is kept for humans and Read-denied to the agent. Nothing is deleted — the history survives for people — but the agent can't read it, so an abandoned decision can't be mistaken for current authority. Never cite an archived decision as current.
Common failures to avoid
- Doc-as-authority. Reading a flow doc that says the retry limit is 3, "fixing" a call site back to 3 to match it, and shipping a regression because the code raised it to 5 a month ago. When a doc and the code disagree, the doc is the thing that's wrong.
- Hard-citing a dated file in a rule or skill. The doc archives, the path dies, the reference dangles — or worse, its absence reads as "this concern no longer applies." Cite the folder convention and discover the file at runtime.
- Deleting history instead of archiving. The why behind a reversed decision vanishes and the current direction looks arbitrary. Move to the archive, never delete.
- Stating the doctrine but not enforcing code → docs at change time. Every change then widens the gap between description and reality until the reflection layer is fiction. Update or stale-mark the doc in the same change.
1---2name: knowledge-layers3description: The authority order across a project's three knowledge layers — guidance (.claude/), code (truth), and docs/ (reflection + transient intent) — with code as the tiebreak when a doc and the code disagree. Load when reading or trusting a doc to make a code decision, when authoring rules or skills that reference docs, or whenever a load-bearing fact comes from a description rather than from the code itself.4---56# Knowledge layers — authority order78A project has three knowledge layers, and they rank in a fixed authority order. Most doc-trust bugs come from not knowing which one wins when they disagree.9101. **`.claude/` (or the project's guidance layer) is GUIDANCE.** Rules, skills, invariants, conventions — *how to build* this project. Intentional, hand-authored, prescriptive. It tells you what discipline to apply; it does not describe what the system currently does.11122. **Code is TRUTH.** It is what the system actually does, because it is the thing that runs. For any factual question about real behavior — the actual retry limit, the actual auth check, the actual schema — read code, not a description of code.13143. **`docs/` is a REFLECTION of code, plus transient intent.** *Reflection docs* (architecture overviews, flow docs, a capabilities index) are a downstream *description* of code — a navigable map to find the right code fast, not an authority on what it does. *Transient intent* (brainstorms, plans) is forward-looking exploration consumed when the work ships, then archived. Neither is authoritative about current behavior.1516## The rule that follows from the ranking1718**Derive correctness from code plus the guidance layer.** Verify any load-bearing claim against code. **When a doc and the code disagree, the code wins — every time, no exceptions.** This is not "prefer code"; it is code wins. Hedged language invites you to trust the doc anyway.1920The reason: code is executed, so it can't lie for long; a doc is never executed, so it can be wrong indefinitely and look fine. `docs/` is downstream of code, so it drifts, and drift is silent. Pointing authority at code is how you stop trusting the layer that rots.2122## Three consequences for how you work2324- **Code → docs, never the reverse.** When you change code that a reflection doc describes, update that doc *in the same change*, or stale-mark it with a *"verify against code"* note. Correctness flows one direction: code is the source, docs follow. Never edit a reflection doc to *declare* new behavior and expect code to catch up — that inverts the authority order and manufactures drift. (Specs and plans are transient intent, and may legitimately lead code; a *reflection* doc must never lead it.)2526- **Reference stable anchors only.** Point rules and skills at canonical indexes (a docs README, a capabilities index) and at folder conventions, never at a specific dated artifact. Discover the specific doc at runtime by searching the folder. A folder convention is permanent; a dated filename rots into a dangling reference the moment the doc archives or is superseded.2728- **Archive is out of reach.** Shipped and superseded docs move to the archive, which is kept for humans and Read-denied to the agent. Nothing is deleted — the history survives for people — but the agent can't read it, so an abandoned decision can't be mistaken for current authority. Never cite an archived decision as current.2930## Common failures to avoid3132- **Doc-as-authority.** Reading a flow doc that says the retry limit is 3, "fixing" a call site back to 3 to match it, and shipping a regression because the code raised it to 5 a month ago. When a doc and the code disagree, the doc is the thing that's wrong.33- **Hard-citing a dated file** in a rule or skill. The doc archives, the path dies, the reference dangles — or worse, its absence reads as "this concern no longer applies." Cite the folder convention and discover the file at runtime.34- **Deleting history instead of archiving.** The *why* behind a reversed decision vanishes and the current direction looks arbitrary. Move to the archive, never delete.35- **Stating the doctrine but not enforcing code → docs at change time.** Every change then widens the gap between description and reality until the reflection layer is fiction. Update or stale-mark the doc in the same change.
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