diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index d9ee76b..bcbc3d1 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -10,16 +10,17 @@ The signature property of the project is that **memory is stored compressed**. E
 
 ## Non-negotiable rules
 
-1. **All persisted prose must pass through `packages/compress` before hitting storage.** Writing raw prose to SQLite is a defect. If you add a new write path, it must use `MemoryStore`, which enforces this.
-2. **Never compress technical tokens.** Code blocks, inline code, URLs, file paths, shell commands, version numbers, dates, numeric literals, and quoted identifiers are preserved byte-for-byte. The tokenizer in `packages/compress/src/tokenize.ts` is the single authority.
-3. **Round-trip tests must pass.** Any change to the compressor, the lexicon, or the tokenizer requires `pnpm --filter @colony/compress test` green, including the technical-token preservation suite.
-4. **Progressive disclosure in MCP.** `search` and `timeline` return compact results (IDs + snippets). Full observation bodies are only returned by `get_observations(ids[])`. Do not bloat the compact shapes.
-5. **Hot-path hooks are fast.** Hook handlers in `packages/hooks` must complete under 150 ms p95. Summarization, embedding, and indexing are handed off to the worker. No network calls in hooks.
-6. **Privacy is enforced at the write boundary.** Content inside `<private>…</private>` tags is stripped. Paths matching `settings.excludePatterns` are never read. Neither appears in logs.
-7. **Local by default.** Default embedding provider is local (Transformers.js). Remote providers are opt-in via settings. Do not add default network calls.
-8. **No silent failures.** Hook and worker errors are logged as structured JSON; user-visible commands surface failures with a non-zero exit code and a short message.
-9. **No daemon on the write path.** Hooks write observations synchronously through `MemoryStore.addObservation` — never across a network or HTTP boundary. Hooks may *detach-spawn* the worker to kick off background embedding, but they must never wait on it. If the worker is down, writes still succeed; only the semantic-search side is degraded (BM25 keeps working).
-10. **Never edit on the local base branch.** Treat the local `main` checkout as read-only. Every task — even a typo or one-line fix — runs on a dedicated `agent/*` branch inside a worktree. Do not run `git checkout main` / `git switch main` to start work, do not `git commit` on the primary working tree, and do not push to `main` directly. This matches what codex does via Guardex and keeps parallel lanes safe.
+1. **Use relative paths before absolute paths.** For file reads, edits, searches, and command arguments inside this repository, use paths relative to the current worktree first, such as `CLAUDE.md` or `packages/storage/src/index.ts`. Use absolute paths only when crossing repo/worktree boundaries or when a tool explicitly requires them.
+2. **All persisted prose must pass through `packages/compress` before hitting storage.** Writing raw prose to SQLite is a defect. If you add a new write path, it must use `MemoryStore`, which enforces this.
+3. **Never compress technical tokens.** Code blocks, inline code, URLs, file paths, shell commands, version numbers, dates, numeric literals, and quoted identifiers are preserved byte-for-byte. The tokenizer in `packages/compress/src/tokenize.ts` is the single authority.
+4. **Round-trip tests must pass.** Any change to the compressor, the lexicon, or the tokenizer requires `pnpm --filter @colony/compress test` green, including the technical-token preservation suite.
+5. **Progressive disclosure in MCP.** `search` and `timeline` return compact results (IDs + snippets). Full observation bodies are only returned by `get_observations(ids[])`. Do not bloat the compact shapes.
+6. **Hot-path hooks are fast.** Hook handlers in `packages/hooks` must complete under 150 ms p95. Summarization, embedding, and indexing are handed off to the worker. No network calls in hooks.
+7. **Privacy is enforced at the write boundary.** Content inside `<private>…</private>` tags is stripped. Paths matching `settings.excludePatterns` are never read. Neither appears in logs.
+8. **Local by default.** Default embedding provider is local (Transformers.js). Remote providers are opt-in via settings. Do not add default network calls.
+9. **No silent failures.** Hook and worker errors are logged as structured JSON; user-visible commands surface failures with a non-zero exit code and a short message.
+10. **No daemon on the write path.** Hooks write observations synchronously through `MemoryStore.addObservation` — never across a network or HTTP boundary. Hooks may *detach-spawn* the worker to kick off background embedding, but they must never wait on it. If the worker is down, writes still succeed; only the semantic-search side is degraded (BM25 keeps working).
+11. **Never edit on the local base branch.** Treat the local `main` checkout as read-only. Every task — even a typo or one-line fix — runs on a dedicated `agent/*` branch inside a worktree. Do not run `git checkout main` / `git switch main` to start work, do not `git commit` on the primary working tree, and do not push to `main` directly. This matches what codex does via Guardex and keeps parallel lanes safe.
 
 ## Worktree discipline