Claude Code has a new memory feature - a persistent memory.md file where Claude saves notes across sessions.

Useful idea. One problem: Claude isn't always good at knowing when to use it.

Today, Claude auto-saved a bunch of notes to memory.md after a working session. I asked what it saved and why. Turns out everything it wrote down already existed in my claude.md and skill files. Same information, duplicated in a different format.

Claude deleted the files when I pointed this out. But, Claude wouldn't have caught this issue on its own.

This is why understanding your own setup matters. If I didn't know what was in my claude.md and skill files, I wouldn't have noticed the duplication. Redundant context would have quietly built up, eating my context window by autoloading the same information from multiple sources every session.

The more context systems Claude can utilize (claude.md, skills, memory.md, project files & more) the more you need to actually know what's in them. Your context setup is only as good as your ability to audit it.