One giant instruction note for everything? You're paying a hidden tax every single time.
If you mostly use chat-style AI and you're just starting to follow agent skills, this is the mistake that quietly eats your time. You read a long update, still don't know if it helps you, then copy the loudest setup anyway.
I used to think one massive top-folder note was safer. Lowkey, it's like making the AI read house rules for the kitchen, garage, bedroom, and roof just to change one lightbulb: 1 note trying to do 4 jobs.
Plot twist ๐ the official guide says the assistant reads from the front door of your project down to the exact folder you're working in, so the note closest to the task matters most [S001]. A community example backed the same move: stack smaller folder notes instead of forcing every task through 1 master note [S005].
That's why 2 small notes can beat 1 giant one so fast: less random clutter, fewer wrong reminders, less money burned on extra words. I only checked 2 public sources here, not every tool or setup, so test it on your own project first.
A new AI update is worth your time only if it changes your next decision. Save this for your next setup, or send it to the friend who keeps stuffing everything into one top folder. What rule would you move closer to the actual task? ๐