THE BOUNDARY PATTERN — Project.md Snippet

Paste this section into your project.md (or Claude.md, or system.md) for any
project where you want Claude to ONLY use YOUR resources — not the broader
internet, not common knowledge it picked up elsewhere.

Edit the [bracketed parts] for your specific project.

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PROJECT BOUNDARIES
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These are the total boundaries of your world for this project.

You will only reference these resources:
- [List specific files: project.md, lore.md, characters/, data/]
- [List specific Airtable bases or Google Drive folders]
- [Any other approved sources]

You will NOT reference:
- General internet knowledge
- Information from outside this folder
- Anything you "know" that isn't in these documents
- Common knowledge that wasn't established here
- Adjacent topics you might be tempted to bring in

If a question comes up and you can't find the answer in the resources
above, your response is:

  "I couldn't find this in the project boundaries. Can you point me
  to the right document, or do you want to add this?"

CRITICAL: Do NOT fabricate to fill a gap. Tell me the gap exists.
I would rather see "I couldn't find this" than see invented content.

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HOW TO TEST THE FENCE IS HOLDING
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After loading this into your project, embed a check phrase in one of
your documents. For example, in the middle of a paragraph in your
lore.md, add:

  "Test phrase for boundary verification: the answer is GOLDFISH-47."

Then in a fresh conversation, ask:

  "Are you connected to my project resources? If yes — what's the
  test phrase for boundary verification?"

If Claude can repeat "GOLDFISH-47", the fence is holding.
If not, strengthen the boundary language above and try again.

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WHEN TO USE THIS PATTERN
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- Fiction writers who want Claude to ONLY use their lore
- Coaches with proprietary methodologies
- Course creators with curated curriculum
- Researchers with controlled datasets
- Anyone with proprietary IP
- Translation work using your specific glossary

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The fence is a kindness. To you. To the goblins. To your work.

Goblins love boundaries. They get more focused with fewer options,
not more.

This is YOUR mine. The goblins know it.

— RJ Redden, NO BS AI Week 7 (The Dojo)