# How to Use the ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always Flag for Persistent Activation > Enable persistent ADHD-friendly formatting in Claude Code by creating the ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always flag. Activate ADHD-friendly rules automatically on every session startup. - Repository: [Ayoub Ghriss/i-have-adhd](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd) - Tags: how-to-guide - Published: 2026-07-30 --- **Creating an empty file at `~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` automatically enables ADHD-friendly formatting rules on every Claude Code session startup without requiring manual activation commands.** The `ayghri/i-have-adhd` repository provides a Claude Code skill designed to format responses for ADHD accessibility. While the `/i-have-adhd` command works for individual sessions, the `~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` flag enables persistent activation across all future sessions by leveraging the skill's SessionStart hook mechanism. ## How the Persistent Activation Flag Works The persistent activation system operates through a **SessionStart hook** located at [`hooks/always-on.sh`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/hooks/always-on.sh) in the repository. When Claude Code initializes a new session, it automatically executes this hook before processing user input. According to the source code in [`hooks/always-on.sh`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/hooks/always-on.sh), the implementation follows this logic: - **Detection** (line 14): The hook checks `[ -f "$flag_path" ] || exit 0`, aborting silently unless `$CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR/.i-have-adhd-always` exists. - **Rule loading** (lines 22-27): The script reads [`skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md) and strips YAML front-matter to extract the raw ruleset. - **Injection** (lines 29-30): The hook prepends the rendered rules to the system context and announces "ADHD MODE ACTIVE (always-on)". - **Safety**: Any execution failure triggers `exit 0`, ensuring the hook never blocks or delays Claude Code startup. ## Managing the Persistent Activation Flag You control persistent activation using standard shell commands to create or remove the marker file. ### Enable Persistent Activation Create the empty flag file using the `touch` command as documented in the repository's README (line 32) and INSTALL guide: ```bash touch ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always ``` This single command activates the SessionStart hook for all future Claude Code sessions. ### Disable Persistent Activation To deactivate automatic rule injection, remove the flag file: ```bash rm ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always ``` Subsequent sessions will start without automatically loading the ADHD-friendly ruleset. ### Verify the Flag Status Confirm persistent mode is configured by listing the file: ```bash ls -l ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always ``` If the file exists, the hook will execute on the next session initialization and inject the rules from [`skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md). ## Manual Activation vs. Persistent Mode While the `~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` flag provides seamless automatic activation, you can still manually trigger the skill for individual sessions without creating the flag file: ```bash /i-have-adhd ``` This command loads the ruleset temporarily for the current session only, useful when you need ADHD-friendly formatting occasionally without committing to persistent activation. ## Summary - The `~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` file acts as a persistent activation marker that the SessionStart hook detects automatically. - The [`hooks/always-on.sh`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/hooks/always-on.sh) script validates the flag's presence and injects content from [`skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md) into every response. - Use `touch ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` to enable and `rm ~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` to disable persistent mode. - The hook includes fail-safe error handling that exits with code 0 to ensure Claude Code startup never fails due to skill errors. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What happens if the flag file contains text instead of being empty? The hook only checks for file existence using the test `[ -f "$flag_path" ]` at line 14. The actual content of `~/.claude/.i-have-adhd-always` is irrelevant—an empty file functions identically to one containing text. The script reads the ruleset from [`skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md) rather than from the flag file itself. ### Does the flag work with custom Claude Code configuration directories? Yes. The hook references the environment variable `$CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR` rather than hardcoding the path. If you have moved your Claude Code configuration to a custom location, place the `.i-have-adhd-always` file in that directory instead of the default `~/.claude/` location. ### How can I confirm ADHD mode is active in my current session? When the SessionStart hook executes successfully, Claude Code displays the announcement "ADHD MODE ACTIVE (always-on)" at the beginning of the session. Seeing this message confirms that the hook detected your flag file and successfully loaded the ruleset from [`skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md). ### Will session startup fail if the hook encounters an error? No. The [`hooks/always-on.sh`](https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/blob/main/hooks/always-on.sh) script implements defensive programming where any failure results in `exit 0`. This safety mechanism ensures that permission issues, missing files, or other errors within the skill never prevent Claude Code from starting normally or block your ability to begin coding.