- A Claude.ai account with access to Projects (available on paid plans; check your workspace's plan details if you do not see a Projects option in the sidebar).
- No installation or setup beyond a normal Claude.ai login. Everything below happens in the browser or desktop app.
Start a new Project from the Claude.ai sidebar before you write any instructions or upload any files.
- Click Projects in the left sidebar, then Create project.
- Give it a short, specific name that describes its scope, such as "Q3 Marketing Copy" rather than "Work Stuff."
- An empty Project has no custom instructions and no files yet - both are added separately.
- You can rename or archive a Project later without losing the conversations inside it.
Related: Setting Up a Project with Custom Instructions - the next step once a Project exists.
Open the new Project's settings and add a short block of custom instructions before starting any conversations.
- Custom instructions are plain text that Claude reads before every message in this Project's conversations.
- Keep them specific: describe the background, the audience, and any rules Claude should always follow here.
- Avoid vague instructions like "be helpful" - they add length without adding useful context.
- You can edit these instructions at any time, and the change applies to new messages going forward.
Related: Setting Up a Project with Custom Instructions - a full walkthrough of writing effective instructions.
Add one reference file to the Project so every conversation inside it can draw on the same source material.
- Use the Add content or knowledge section in the Project's settings to upload a file.
- Common first files are a style guide, a product overview, or a glossary of terms specific to your work.
- Once uploaded, the file is available to every conversation in that Project, not just the one open when you added it.
- Start with one or two well-chosen files rather than uploading everything you have.
Related: Uploading Knowledge Files to a Project - more detail on choosing and managing files.
Begin chatting inside the Project you just set up and notice how it differs from a plain chat.
- Open the Project and click New chat from within it, rather than starting a chat from the main screen.
- Ask a question that depends on the custom instructions or the uploaded file, and check that the answer reflects that context.
- Every new conversation you start inside this Project automatically inherits the same instructions and files.
- You can still ask about anything else in that conversation - the Project context is background, not a restriction on topics.
Ask Claude for something substantial enough to warrant its own space, and watch it open in the side panel instead of the chat.
- Request something like a one-page outline, a short reference document, or a simple diagram description.
- When Claude produces it, it opens in a separate panel next to the conversation rather than as a plain chat message.
- The chat continues underneath, so you can keep discussing the Artifact while it stays visible on the side.
- Not every reply becomes an Artifact - short answers and quick explanations stay in the chat.
Related: When to Use an Artifact Instead of a Chat Reply - how Claude decides, and how you can ask directly.
Ask for a change to the Artifact you just created and observe how the revision replaces the content in place.
- Describe the change in plain language, such as "shorten the second section" or "add a row to the table."
- Claude updates the same Artifact rather than creating a second, separate one in the chat.
- Look for a version indicator or history control in the Artifact panel to step back to an earlier draft if needed.
- This is the core advantage of an Artifact over a plain reply: you can iterate without re-reading a wall of repeated text.
Related: Editing and Iterating on an Artifact - a deeper look at revision and version history.
Upload a second, different knowledge file to the same Project and start a fresh conversation to see both files in use together.
- Choose a file that complements the first one, such as a data reference alongside a style guide, rather than a duplicate of it.
- Start a new conversation and ask something that could draw on either file.
- Notice whether Claude's answer pulls from the right file for the question asked - this is a good early signal of whether your Project's files are well chosen.
- If answers start feeling unfocused, that is usually a sign the Project is accumulating files it does not really need.
Related: What Makes a Good Project: Scope and Shared Context - how to judge whether a Project's files and scope are still working well.
Practice the judgment call that comes up constantly once you have more than one Project: does this new task belong in an existing Project, a new Project, or just a plain chat?
- If the task shares background or rules with an existing Project, start a new conversation inside that Project instead of creating another one.
- If the task is genuinely different in audience, subject, or rules, a new, narrowly scoped Project usually works better than stretching an existing one to cover it.
- If the task is a one-off with no expected repetition, skip Projects entirely and use a plain chat.
- Revisit this decision periodically - a Project that made sense with one file and one instruction block can outgrow its original scope.
Related: Project Setup Checklist: Instructions, Files, and Scope - a checklist to run before starting a new Project.
Stack versions: Written against the Claude model lineup current as of ~June 2026 - Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Sonnet 5 (the default), and Claude Haiku 4.5. Model names, pricing, and product features move quickly - verify current specifics at platform.claude.com/docs before relying on them.