3 Files Every AI-Assisted Project Needs Before You Write a Line of Code

Most developers think of project setup as: install dependencies, configure TypeScript, set up linting.

That is the wrong order. The AI-native setup order is different, and skipping it means your AI assistant works against your project instead of with it.

Here are the three files that should exist before you write a line of application code.

File 1: CLAUDE.md (the instruction layer)

CLAUDE.md is a markdown file at your project root that Claude Code loads as a system prompt prefix on every session. Think of it as the briefing document your AI assistant reads before touching your codebase.