diff --git a/cmd/mxcli/cmd_brain_test.go b/cmd/mxcli/cmd_brain_test.go
index a112929967..9331df42e8 100644
--- a/cmd/mxcli/cmd_brain_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mxcli/cmd_brain_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -207,3 +208,27 @@ func TestChangedShardsMapsPathsToShards(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func day() time.Time { return time.Date(2026, 9, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC) }
+
+// The store's project.md is documented as loaded every session, and its cap —
+// the tightest in the store — is justified by exactly that. Routing to it
+// through the skill alone does not make it true: a skill is triggered by
+// symptom, so a session that never hits the symptom never reads the project's
+// decisions. The generated CLAUDE.md is the only thing that makes the claim
+// mechanical, which is why it is asserted here rather than left to review.
+func TestGeneratedClaudeMDRoutesToTheBrainAtSessionStart(t *testing.T) {
+	md := generateClaudeMD("Demo", "Demo.mpr")
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		"docs/brain/project.md",       // the unconditional read
+		"docs/brain/modules/<Module>", // the on-demand shards
+		"brain plan",                  // how to pick work up
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(md, want) {
+			t.Errorf("generated CLAUDE.md does not mention %q — project.md is then loaded only when a symptom happens to trigger the skill, and the cap that assumes otherwise is unfounded", want)
+		}
+	}
+	// It has to come before the bulk of the file, or "read this first" is a
+	// claim the document's own ordering contradicts.
+	if i := strings.Index(md, "docs/brain/project.md"); i < 0 || i > len(md)/3 {
+		t.Errorf("the brain section is at byte %d of %d; it is meant to be read first", i, len(md))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mxcli/init_claudemd.go b/cmd/mxcli/init_claudemd.go
index 5cce90c5f8..5acd0fe10e 100644
--- a/cmd/mxcli/init_claudemd.go
+++ b/cmd/mxcli/init_claudemd.go
@@ -60,6 +60,25 @@ func generateClaudeMD(projectName, mprFile string) string {
 	w("This is a Mendix project configured for AI-assisted development using mxcli and MDL (Mendix Definition Language).\n\n")
 
 	// ── Communication Style ────────────────────────────────────────
+	// The brain's project.md is described as "loaded every session", and this
+	// is the only thing that makes that true. Routing to it through the skill
+	// alone does not: a skill is triggered by symptom, so a session that never
+	// hits the symptom never learns the project's own decisions — and the
+	// tightest cap in the store was justified by an unconditional load that
+	// nothing actually performed.
+	w("## Project Brain — read this first\n\n")
+	w("If " + bt + "docs/brain/" + bt + " exists, read " + bt + "docs/brain/project.md" + bt + " before doing anything\n")
+	w("else. It holds the decisions this project has already made — things no command can\n")
+	w("tell you, and that are cheap to contradict by accident.\n\n")
+	w("Then, depending on what you are doing:\n\n")
+	w("- **Building in a module** — also read " + bt + "docs/brain/modules/<Module>.md" + bt + " for the\n")
+	w("  modules you are about to touch. Not the whole directory; only those.\n")
+	w("- **Planning, or picking work up** — run " + bt + "./mxcli brain plan -p " + mprPath + bt + ".\n")
+	w("  It reports what is built from the model itself, so it cannot be out of date.\n\n")
+	w("Record what you learn with " + bt + "./mxcli brain capture" + bt + ". Read\n")
+	w(bt + ".ai-context/skills/project-brain/SKILL.md" + bt + " for what belongs there and what does not —\n")
+	w("the short version is that anything mxcli can answer must never be written down.\n\n")
+
 	w("## Communication Style\n\n")
 	w("When discussing changes with the user:\n\n")
 	w("- **Never show raw MDL scripts in chat.** Instead, describe changes in plain language as a numbered list.\n")