Claude Code Guide

Make Claude Code behave

By Dan Donovan, @askdandonovan

A 60-line rules file, built from Andrej Karpathy's complaints about AI coding agents. Add it once and Claude stops making silent assumptions, overcomplicating everything, and editing code you never asked it to touch.

3 Steps
~2 min Setup time
4 Habits fixed
$0 Extra cost

What this actually is. Andrej Karpathy, a founding member of OpenAI, pointed out the things AI coding agents do that drive him insane: they assume instead of asking, they overcomplicate everything, they change code you never touched, and they call a job done without checking it. Someone turned those complaints into a short set of rules. You add it to Claude Code, and it reads them at the start of every session. That's the whole thing.

The honest version: you'll see people quote big accuracy numbers, like "65% to 94%." That figure isn't in the file and I can't verify it, so I won't repeat it. What's true is simpler. The rules make Claude noticeably more disciplined. That's enough of a reason to add them.
What changes after you add it
Asks before assuming
When it's unsure, it stops and asks instead of guessing and running off in the wrong direction.
Keeps it simple
Writes the least code that solves the problem. No bloat, no abstractions you didn't ask for.
Surgical edits only
Touches only what you asked for. Stops "improving" code and comments you never mentioned.
Defines done, then checks
Turns a vague task into clear success criteria and verifies its own work before calling it finished.
Before you start: you need Claude Code installed and signed in (it needs a paid Claude plan, Pro or Max). If you already use it, skip ahead to Step 1.
1

Point Claude Code at the rules

Open Claude Code, then type the command below and hit enter. This tells Claude Code where these rules live so it can install them.

In Claude Code 
/plugin marketplace add multica-ai/andrej-karpathy-skills
Note: type this inside a running Claude Code session, not in a plain terminal. The slash command only works once Claude is open.
2

Install the rules

One more command. This loads the Karpathy rules into Claude Code.

In Claude Code 
/plugin install andrej-karpathy-skills@karpathy-skills
3

Restart so it loads

Type /exit to close Claude Code, then start it again with claude. From now on it reads these rules at the start of every session. You don't have to do anything else.

Terminal 
claude
That's the setup done. Three commands and a restart. The next section is how to actually feel the difference.
›

Try it on your next task

The change is in how it behaves, not what it says. Give it one of these and watch what it does differently.

Watch it ask first 
Add user login to my app.

Deliberately vague. Before, it would invent a whole auth system. Now it should ask what you actually want first.

Watch it stay small 
Fix this bug. Change as little as possible and explain what you touched.
Watch it define "done" 
Before you build this, tell me what done looks like and how you will check it.
No magic, nothing running in the background. This is just a text file Claude reads when it starts. You can open it and read every line yourself. If it ever gets in the way on a tiny task, you can tell Claude to ignore it for that one job. You stay in control.