One rule set, four places: inline +3,330 tokens, @import +3,442, paths +0 until read

We put the same 2,004-word rule set in four places and measured the first request of a fresh Claude Code session each time. Inline in CLAUDE.md: +3,330 tokens. Pulled in with @import: +3,442. As a file in .claude/rules/ with no paths: +3,438. As a .claude/rules/ file with paths: ["src/api/**"]: +0, and it stayed at zero until Claude read a file...