CLAUDE.md + Memory Audit Skill

This repo restructures courses/ often (subject-first renames, archive moves, supersessions). Every restructure risks leaving CLAUDE.md or a memory citing a path that no longer exists. This skill catches that drift on a periodic scan rather than trying to check every commit (the most-skipped kind of rule).

Scope

The canonical instruction + memory surface:

• CLAUDE.md (repo root) — the single project instruction file.
• MEMORY.md — the memory index loaded each session (at ~/.claude/projects/C--GitHub-shidler/memory/MEMORY.md).
• The memory fact files — feedback_*.md, project_*.md, etc. in the same dir.

The four checks (run all, in order)

1. Stale references (highest value here)

Extract every path CLAUDE.md and MEMORY.md cite (backtick-quoted paths, links, table "Path" columns) and confirm each resolves in the live tree:

# pull backtick-quoted paths from CLAUDE.md, test each
grep -oE '`[^`]+`' CLAUDE.md | tr -d '`' | grep -E '/|\.md|\.json|\.xlsx|\.py' | sort -u \
  | while read p; do [ -e "$p" ] || echo "MISSING: $p"; done

Do the same for MEMORY.md and for any path a fact file names in its body. Flag each miss with the citing file:line and the likely correct path (grep the tree for the basename — a restructure usually moved it, didn't delete it).

2. Cross-file contradictions

Compare claims that appear in more than one place — CLAUDE.md vs. a memory, or two CLAUDE.md sections. Common drift: a stage count, a weight table, a "current vs. archived" status, a naming convention. Quote both sides with file:line. (Example class: CLAUDE.md's "Active Courses" table vs. a project_* memory's description of the same course.)

3. Duplication + bloat

Facts stated in full in two places should live in one home with a pointer from the other (single-sourcing). Flag: a fact duplicated between CLAUDE.md and a memory; a memory that just restates code/git history (which the memory rules say not to store); a CLAUDE.md section that has grown past its usefulness.

4. Structural hygiene

• Broken index links — a MEMORY.md line pointing at a memory file that doesn't exist (run /memory-hygiene's validator if present, or grep the linked filenames).
• Orphan memories — a fact file not referenced in MEMORY.md.
• Dangling [[refs]] — a [[name]] in a memory body with no matching file (may be a deliberate forward-ref — flag, don't auto-fix).

Output

You are read-only by default — report and offer fixes; don't rewrite without approval. Group findings by severity:

CLAUDE.md + memory audit — <date>

ERRORS (broken references / contradictions)
- CLAUDE.md:NN — cites `path/that/moved.md`; now at `new/path.md`. Fix: update the citation.

WARNINGS (duplication / bloat / orphans)
- MEMORY.md — `feedback_foo.md` orphaned (not indexed). Fix: add index line or rotate.

HYGIENE (minor)
- feedback_bar.md — dangling [[baz]] (likely forward-ref; leave unless typo).

End with one terminal line:
CLAUDE.md audit: <N> stale refs / <N> contradictions / <N> dup-or-bloat / <N> hygiene. <recommendation>.

Route anything you don't fix this session into a short follow-up note in the audit output so it isn't lost. Fold in npm run docs:validate or an equivalent link-checker if one exists in the repo.

Why a ritual, not a per-change rule

Drift is better prevented by single-sourcing each fact (one home + pointers) and caught by this periodic scan. Run it monthly or right after a courses/ restructure — not on every edit.