Ozempic for Claude

I've been pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI-assisted development, and recently, I hit a wall. A very large, very frustrating wall. My partner in code, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, started to struggle. Tasks that should have been simple became Herculean efforts, context windows overflowed with failed attempts, and my "Baby Steps™" philosophy was turning into a frustrating crawl. The culprit? My files were getting too fat.

The Problem with THICC Files

When a file balloons in size, it's not just a problem for human readability; it's a major roadblock for AI. I was feeding Claude massive files, and it was, for lack of a better term, getting indigestion. It would chew through my context window, trying and failing to make sense of thousands of lines of code at once. This made simple edits nearly impossible and maintaining my project's Memory Bank a nightmare. The very tool meant to enhance my productivity was getting bogged down by digital bloat.

A Forcible Diet: The 500-Line Limit

It was time for an intervention. Using Cline's .clinerules feature, which you can read more about in the official documentation, I introduced a strict new rule to my workflow. You can see the exact rule in this GitHub Gist.

It's like putting my codebase on Ozempic—a way to force it to shed unnecessary weight and get back to a healthy, manageable size.

This isn't just about imposing an arbitrary limit. It's about fundamentally changing how I, and by extension, the AI, approach code. Working primarily in Go, this new constraint leans into the language's strengths. Go's package structure and the ability to have multiple files contribute to a single package make it perfect for this kind of modularity.

The impact on my workflow has been immediate and profound:

  • Forced Modularity: The AI can no longer create monolithic, "THICC" functions. It's forced to break down complex logic into smaller, more focused pieces.
  • Separation of Concerns: Each file now has a clearer, more defined purpose. This makes the codebase easier to navigate and understand.
  • Expressive File Naming: Instead of a single, massive main.go, I now have a collection of thematically named files (blog_handlers.go, blog_data.go, etc.), which tells a story about the application's architecture.

What's Next: More Rules, More Rigor

This 500-line limit is just the beginning. While the rule itself is simple, it represents a shift towards a more disciplined, rule-driven development process. I envision a future where I have a comprehensive set of .clinerules that enforce best practices, including a strong emphasis on Test-Driven Development (TDD).

By setting these constraints, I'm not limiting what the AI can do; I'm guiding it to produce better, more maintainable code. It's a partnership, and like any good partnership, it thrives on clear communication and healthy boundaries. This is just the first step in building a more robust framework for collaboration with my AI assistant, ensuring that we can continue to take those "Baby Steps™" together, efficiently and effectively.