Claude Code guidance may belong in rules, not skills
Claude Code’s .claude setup changed quickly from late 2025 onward. Skills launched in version 2.0.20 in October 2025, and .claude/rules/ was added in version 2.0.64 in December 2025.
In version 2.1.0 in January 2026, skills gained separate context handling and started appearing in the by , which made them take over some jobs that custom used to handle. In version 2.1.84 in March 2026, rules and skills began accepting path settings in through a YAML list of globs.
Because these changes are recent, asking Claude whether something should be a skill or a rule can produce a confident answer based on outdated knowledge. The practical point is that many instructions may fit better as rules, while skills are better for specific procedures or tool knowledge that should be pulled in only when needed.
Key points
- Claude Code added skills in October 2025 and rules in December 2025.
- By January 2026, skills could use separate context and appeared in the by .
- By March 2026, both rules and skills could use path settings.
- Always-on guidance may belong in rules instead of skills.
- Claude may give outdated advice if its knowledge predates these changes.