Your folder and context files
The folder is the prompt you don't have to retype. Select it, and Claude is in Cowork. Leave it unselected, and you're in plain chat. Same window. If the files are thin, the output is thin.
Under the box that says "How can I help you today?", open Project or folder. Select your folder and set it as the default. The example we use is 00-Ollie's-Claude. Have it selected for most things, even a basic question. Claude then knows why you're asking, and the answer is more specific than a plain chat or a Google search.
The Practical AI plugin creates this layout. That page comes first. This page is the map of the files, and the fallback if you're filling them in yourself.
How to access it
Desktop app, paid plan (Pro, Team, or above). Check the current price at claude.com/pricing.
The switch people miss: set the personal folder as the default. A shared company folder does not contain about-me.md. Select only that, and Claude has the company and none of you. In the dropdown, you want 00-Ollie's-Claude, or your own folder with a name that obvious.
Where it lives
Put your personal folder in your OneDrive or Google Drive. It backs up, and it's there if you change machine.
Keep a shared company folder separate. About the company, shared templates, skills the whole team should use. One person owns the company file so six people don't edit six versions.
SharePoint often fights this: slow sync, odd permissions, files that change under you mid-task. If it does, work in the personal OneDrive folder and copy finished files across.
Don't put the only copy on the laptop with no backup. And don't put passwords, bank details, or government contract material in either folder. See Security, privacy and compliance.
The layout
Name the folder so you'll spot it in the dropdown. 00-Ollie's-Claude is the example. Inside, it looks like this.
Inside projects/, use one folder per active thing. A gallery might have artists, fairs, and collectors. A product business might have stockists, campaigns, and suppliers. Don't copy someone else's projects if they aren't how you work.
about-business.md is your picture of the business. On a team, a shared folder can still hold the version everyone uses, with one owner. See Rolling it out to your team. That shared file is not a substitute for your about-me.md.
What goes in each file
claude.md. Master instructions. Tone defaults, format defaults, "never invent a number", "ask before anything a client will see". The hard edges live here too: what it must not send, delete, or make up. A few lines worth putting in from the start: "write like I do, not like a consultancy", and "always cite sources for stats". If you repeat yourself, move it here.
about-me.md. Who you are, and what you're focused on. Role, this quarter, how you like to work, what you hate reading. Keep it under about 2,000 words. A huge file is re-read on every message and burns your limit. If it's bloated: "This about-me is too long. Ask me what to cut."
about-business.md. The business. What it does, who its customers are, the products and services, the team, and the priorities. Keep it true and short. If it goes stale, the drafts will too.
tone-of-voice.md. How you write. From your sent emails, split by audience, run on Opus. Include real sign-offs. A public post is not the same as an email to a supplier. Say so. The file drafts. You still own anything with your name on it.
working-style.md. How you like Claude to work. Should it plan before it edits? How short is short? When should it ask, and when should it get on with it?
projects/. One folder per active thing. The notes for that piece of work live here, not in a fresh chat.
network/. One file per client, company, or deal you'll actually write about. Each file covers the relationship history, the current state of play, and the key contacts. Not your whole CRM.
writing/. 5 to 15 real examples of your writing. Emails, notes, a proposal you'd be happy to sound like. The tone file describes the voice. These are the samples.
Finance numbers. A P&L or a cashflow only goes in the folder if your policy allows. If it doesn't, leave the figures out. There isn't a separate finance folder. See Security, privacy and compliance.
meetings/. Where Granola transcripts land. A Wispr Flow transcript can live here too.
outputs/. What Cowork makes for you, so finished files don't land in a pile on the desktop.
Skills are a saved way of doing one job. They sit with the rest of the setup. See Skills.
Fill-in prompt
Use this if you're not running the plugin. Select the folder first. That is what puts Claude into Cowork.
Interview me to fill claude.md, about-me.md, about-business.md, tone-of-voice.md, and working-style.md.
Then sketch the first folders: projects/, network/, writing/, meetings/, outputs/.
Ask up to five questions per file, one file at a time. Push back if I answer vaguely.
After each file, save the draft and show it to me before you move on.
For tone-of-voice.md, use my sent emails, split by audience, and quote my real sign-offs.
Use Opus for that file. Ask before you treat public writing like private email.
Put real examples of my voice in writing/.
Start with about-me.md.
Worked example. Someone who'd only been using a shared company folder kept getting generic emails. about-me.md was in their personal folder, and that folder wasn't selected. We set 00-Ollie's-Claude as the default, left the company file in the shared folder, and told Claude to read both. The next draft used their sign-off. The company facts stayed the shared version, not a private rewrite.
Keep them live
A context file from the week of the session goes stale. When a fact changes (a new product, a new role, a client you no longer have), change the file. Don't bury the correction in a chat.
The test: could someone read these files and help you for a day? If they couldn't, Claude can't either.
Optional: read the files as documents
The files are markdown. If that's awkward, Obsidian (free) opens the folder and lets you edit them like documents. You don't need it. Any text editor is enough.
Pro tips
- Personal folder selected, and set as the default. Shared folder opened only when the task is company-wide.
- Transcripts are context. Drop a meeting transcript in the relevant client folder, or let the connector read it. See Getting more from transcripts.
- Global instructions cover the phone, where the folder isn't selected. Short version only. The files stay the source.
Limits
Claude sees the folder you selected and the connectors you approved. It does not see a file you forgot to put in.
A 20,000-word about-me.md feels thorough and costs you on every message. Cut it.
Cloud scheduled tasks run away from your laptop. Don't assume a task can see a folder that only exists on a machine that's asleep. See Scheduled tasks.
Where to start in 30 minutes
- Create the personal folder, select it under the chat box, and set it as the default. Name it so you'll recognise it.
00-Ollie's-Claudeis the example. - Write a rough about-me.md in bullets, then about-business.md: what it does, who the customers are, the products or services, the team, and the priorities. Don't polish them. Answer out loud if that's faster.
- Add five lines to claude.md: don't invent facts, don't send email without asking, don't delete files, ask if the folder looks wrong, flag gaps.
- Put one real client or project note in a subfolder.
- Ask Claude: "Read the folder. Tell me what you think you know, and what you're missing." Fix the gaps it found. Stop there.