CLAUDE.md Setup for Coaches: The One File Claude Always Reads

There's one file Claude reads every single time you open it. It's called CLAUDE.md, and it's the command center of your coach brain. A good CLAUDE.md setup answers two questions. How do you want Claude to work for you? And which file should it open for which job?

Write those two answers down once, and you stop explaining yourself to Claude every time you sit down to work.

What a CLAUDE.md file does

Your coach brain is 10 files Claude reads before it writes a single word for your business. CLAUDE.md is file one.

Claude reads it every single time you open a conversation, without you even asking. The other nine files get opened when a job calls for them. This one gets read first, every time.

That's why I call it your command center. When I recap the 10 files, I describe CLAUDE.md as your rules and your map for running things. The rules tell Claude how to work for you. The map tells Claude where to look.

The rest of the brain comes in two parts. The first six files are about you and your brand. The last four are about how your business runs. CLAUDE.md sits on top of all of them and points Claude to the right one.

Why Claude needs this file first

Claude has no idea who you are when you open it. It doesn't know your story, how you talk, who your dream client is or what you sell. So it asks general questions and then it guesses. And when AI guesses, you get generic everything.

Your CLAUDE.md file is the first thing Claude learns about you in every conversation. Before it writes a post, an email or a lead magnet, it already knows your rules and where your other files live. That's how the rest of your coach brain gets used on every job instead of sitting in a folder.

Question 1: How do you want Claude to work for you?

The first half of your CLAUDE.md file is your rules. These are your Claude Code instructions for how the work gets done, written in your own words.

Here's one of mine. "If you find a problem you can fix, fix it, then tell me what you fixed."

I wrote that rule once, and I've never had to say it again.

Read that rule closely and you'll see it does two jobs. It tells Claude to fix the problem when it can. And it tells Claude to tell me what it fixed. So the work keeps moving, and I still see every change that got made.

Good Claude rules are short and written the way you'd say them out loud. Each one covers something you'd otherwise have to repeat in every chat.

Your first rule comes from the question I asked at the end of the video. What's the one thing you're tired of explaining to AI over and over again? Whatever you answered is your first rule.

Question 2: Which file should Claude open for which job?

The second half of your CLAUDE.md file is the map. It tells Claude which file to open before each kind of work.

Here's how the map lines up with the other nine files in a coach brain.

When Claude writes anything in your voice, it opens Tone.md. That's how you talk, the words you always use and the words you'd never say.

When it needs your story or your point of view, it opens Coach.md. That's your story, not your bio. It also holds what you believe about your niche that other coaches would push back on.

When it writes for your dream client or talks about what you sell, it opens Avatar.md. That file holds your ideal client and your offer in one place.

When it makes anything visual, it scans Design.md, the short version of your Design System. That's why my carousels, my opt-in pages and my emails all look like they came from the same business.

When it builds a page, it opens Business.md for your legal business name, the domain your funnels live on, your privacy page, your disclaimers and your terms.

When it builds a button, it pulls the link from Links.md.

When it works inside your CRM, it opens Systems.md. That covers whether texting is turned on, which calendar people book on and what hours your automations are allowed to send.

And before it builds a new lead magnet, it checks Lead Magnets.md, the running log of every lead magnet you've built. So Claude never builds the same thing twice inside your CRM.

The map is what lets Claude open the right file for the job in front of it. A post pulls from your voice and your dream client. A page pulls from your facts and your links. Your CLAUDE.md file is where Claude learns which is which.

What to keep out of your CLAUDE.md file

Your CLAUDE.md file works best when it stays a command center. It holds your rules and your map. The details live in the other nine files.

So your story goes in Coach.md. Your voice goes in Tone.md. Your links go in Links.md. Your CLAUDE.md file just tells Claude where to find each one. That keeps every fact in one place, and Claude always knows which file to trust.

And one thing never goes in any of these files. You never put a password or a login in your coach brain. Not one. Not in CLAUDE.md, and not in any of the other nine.

How to do your CLAUDE.md setup this week

Start with one folder. Everything in my coach brain lives in one folder on my desktop called Coach Brain. I open Claude in that folder every time I work. Your CLAUDE.md file goes right inside it, next to the other nine files.

Then answer question one. Write your rules in plain sentences, one rule per line. Start with the thing you're tired of explaining to AI. Add my rule if you like it. "If you find a problem you can fix, fix it, then tell me what you fixed."

Then answer question two. List each file in your coach brain and the job it's for. One line per file is plenty.

Then use it. Every time you catch yourself typing the same instruction twice, that's a new rule. Write it into your CLAUDE.md file once, and you won't have to type it again.

You don't have to figure out the questions on your own. The Coach Brain Builder walks you through installing Claude Code if you don't have it yet and setting up your Coach Brain folder. Then Claude interviews you one question at a time and writes all 10 files, CLAUDE.md included. It even checks your brain at the end and tells you when you're ready to automate.

You build it in about 45 minutes, and it's yours. Your rules, your voice and your business stay in your own folder.

One file that every system reads first

I shipped a coaching program on DVD to people in 26 countries. I later built a software company to $60,000 per month in recurring revenue. Today, more than 140 coaches run their business on Thrive Engine. Every automated system they run, from their daily content to their lead follow-up, runs from a coach brain like the one you're building.

In that brain, CLAUDE.md is file one. It's the file Claude reads before it does anything else. Get your CLAUDE.md setup right with those two answers, and every job Claude does after that starts with your rules and the right file.

The full video is on my YouTube channel, Brian Devlin. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/@briandevlinmedia