> and it's pretty easy for Claude Code at least to ignore the prompts, commands, Markdown files, README, architecture docs, etc.

I would agree with that!

I've been experimenting with having Claude re-write those documents itself. It can take simple directives and turn them into hierarchical Markdown lists that have multiple bullet points. It's annoying and overly verbose for humans to read, but the repetition and structure seems to help the LLM.

I also interrupt it and tell it to refer back to CLAUDE.md if it gets too off track.

Like I said, though, I'm not really an LLM power user. I'd be interested to hear tips from others with more time on these tools.