The system reminder explicitly tells it that the CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md content is optional. I believe this is a big part of why CC doesn't heed the instructions alot of the time:
IMPORTANT: this context may or may not be relevant to your tasks. You should not respond to this context unless it is highly relevant to your task.
IMPORTANT: this context may or may not be relevant to your tasks. You should not respond to this context unless it is highly relevant to your task.
https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/18560