Client Brain Templates

Companion code for Igal Stolpner's Search Engine Land article: "The AI bottleneck isn't intelligence. It's context."

[Final URL: https://searchengineland.com/[final-URL]]

These templates implement the client Brain pattern described in the article — a per-client knowledge structure that gives AI tools the account context they need before starting work.

Files

• claude.md — Router file template. Two versions: minimal (load everything in brain/soul/) and selective (route by task type). Place at the root of your client project.

• log-decision-skill.md — Claude Cowork skill template for event-triggered Memory writes. Triggers when the user wants to record a decision, rejection, blocker, or correction. Enforces required source/reason fields to prevent fabrication.

• brain-load-check.sh — Session-start shell hook for Claude Code that verifies the Brain folder is present and warns when Soul files haven't been updated in 90+ days.

• settings.example.json — Example Claude Code settings.json showing how to wire brain-load-check.sh into the SessionStart lifecycle.

Quick start

1. Read the article (link above).
2. Create a brain/soul/ folder in your client project with the five files described in the article (company-profile.md, style-guide.md, audience.md, keyword-map.md, never-do.md).
3. Copy claude.md to your project root. Start with the minimal version, switch to selective loading when Memory grows past ~30K tokens.
4. (Optional) Add the session-start hook for Brain presence checks.

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Webify — SEO agency exploring AI-native workflows for client work.