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claude-md-rules-circular-symlink ​

Circular symlink detected in import path

Error Configurable

Rule Details ​

Symbolic links can create cycles where a symlink points to a path that eventually resolves back to itself. When Claude Code attempts to resolve @import directives, a circular symlink would cause infinite recursion. This rule checks each imported file to determine if it is a symlink and, if so, follows the symlink chain up to the configured maximum depth (default: 100). If the chain revisits a path or exceeds the depth limit, a circular symlink is reported.

Incorrect ​

An import that resolves to a circular symlink

markdown
# CLAUDE.md

@import .claude/rules/shared.md

# Where shared.md is a symlink:
# shared.md -> ../other/rules.md -> ../../.claude/rules/shared.md

Correct ​

An import that resolves to a regular file or a non-circular symlink

markdown
# CLAUDE.md

@import .claude/rules/coding-standards.md

How To Fix ​

Remove or recreate the symlink so it points to the correct target without creating a cycle. Use ls -la to inspect the symlink chain and readlink -f to see the final resolved path. Replace the circular symlink with a regular file or a symlink that terminates at a real file.

Options ​

Default options:

json
{
  "maxSymlinkDepth": 100
}

Reduce the symlink depth limit to detect cycles faster:

json
{
  "maxSymlinkDepth": 50
}

When Not To Use It ​

Disable this rule only if your project does not use symlinks for any imported files.

Resources ​

Version ​

Available since: v0.2.0