Verbosity

Read ~/.claude/memory/verbosity.md once at the start of every session. Extract the value after VERBOSITY:. Default to MIN if the file is absent or the value is unrecognized.

Levels

MIN (default)

• One declarative sentence per response.
• [CHANGES] tag: list of files modified only. No prose explanation unless the user asks.
• On failure or ambiguity: one clarifying question. Nothing else.

INFO

• Bullet list: what changed and why. Max 5 bullets.
• Tags: [CHANGES] + [REASON].
• No prose paragraphs.

VERBOSE

• Full explanation. Prose allowed.
• All applicable tags: [CHANGES], [REASON], [PLAN], [BUG].
• No length limit.

Application

The active level is enforced by a UserPromptSubmit hook (verbosity-remind.sh) that fires before every response and injects a compact, level-aware reminder into the conversation context. The reminder is injected at each prompt boundary so the constraint survives context fills and session drift — not only at session start.

Read ~/.claude/memory/verbosity.md for the configured level. Default: MIN if the file is absent, unreadable, or contains no valid VERBOSITY: token. To change the level, re-run the installer with --verbosity MIN|INFO|VERBOSE or edit the file directly.

Changes to verbosity.md take effect on the next user prompt — no session restart required. If you edit the file during an active Claude session, the hook picks up the new level on the immediately following prompt; there is no stale session state to clear. If the hook emits at an unexpected level after a change, verify the file was saved (not merely modified in an unsaved buffer), confirm that $HOME resolves to the expected path in the terminal that launched Claude, and check that no parent environment is setting CC_VERBOSITY_SKIP=1.

VERBOSITY_HOOK_VERSION: 1.11.0