Context is king
Good prompting gets you a good answer once. Context is what makes the next answer sound like you, without you explaining yourself again.
The problem with prompting alone
Even with a clear prompt, you're starting from scratch. Claude doesn't know your business, your clients, your tone, or what good looks like.
So you explain it. Every time.
"I'm the founder of a sustainable food brand. We sell to premium independents. Our tone is warm but direct. We're known for…"
You've typed that forty times. The times you don't, the draft is generic.
That's the ceiling of prompting on its own.
What the folder changes
Write it once, in files Claude reads when that folder is selected. Who you are, how you write, the work that's live.
Under the box that says "How can I help you today?", the left control is 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.
No folder selected, and this is plain chat. A folder selected, and the same Claude is working as Cowork. You don't change apps. If yours still shows two tabs, see What is Cowork?.
This is the layout. The Practical AI plugin builds it. That page comes first in the setup. The file-by-file notes are on Your folder and context files, which comes after.
Without the folder:
"Write a follow-up to the Waitrose buyer. I'm a founder at a sustainable food brand. We met at [explain]. Our tone is [explain]. They seemed interested in [explain]…"
With the folder selected:
"Write a follow-up to the Waitrose buyer from Tuesday. Use the transcript."
Same standard of draft. Much less briefing.
claude.md is the master instructions. A few lines that belong there: "write like I do, not like a consultancy", and "always cite sources for stats". If you explain the same thing twice, it belongs in this file.
about-me.md is who you are and what you're focused on. about-business.md is the business: what it does, who its customers are, the products and services, the team, and the priorities. tone-of-voice.md is how you write. working-style.md is how you like Claude to work.
network/ is one file per client, company, or deal you'll actually write about. Relationship history, where things stand, and the key contacts. Not the whole CRM.
writing/ is 5 to 15 real examples of your writing. Emails, notes, a proposal. The tone file describes the voice. These show it.
Finance numbers. A P&L or a cashflow needs care. Only put them in the folder if your policy allows. If it doesn't, leave them out. See Security, privacy and compliance.
Memory and global instructions
The folder is not the only memory, and it isn't selected on your phone.
Files in the folder are the source. about-me.md, about-business.md, tone-of-voice.md, the notes in projects/ and network/. You can read them and edit them. The hard rules live in claude.md.
Memory in Settings is a separate store Claude writes for itself. Useful for small preferences. A bad place for anything sensitive. Read it, and delete what shouldn't be there. On a Team account, turning organisation memory off later can wipe memories for other people. Don't toggle it to see what happens.
Global instructions are the short version that still applies when no folder is attached. Put the essentials there so mobile isn't a stranger. Keep secrets out of them.
If the tone is wrong, check the folder first. Memory will not rescue a chat where the personal folder wasn't selected.
Transcripts are context
A meeting transcript has the specifics you'd forget to type: the number, the name, the date they actually said. A summary has already dropped them.
Pull a Granola or Wispr Flow transcript into the client folder, or turn the connector on, and ask from that. See Getting more from transcripts.
What good context lets you stop doing
- Re-explaining your voice
- Re-introducing a client
- Restating the stakes, because the file already has them
You describe the task. You still read the result before it goes out.
The test: could someone read these files and help you for a day? If they couldn't, Claude can't either.
Where to start in 30 minutes
- Select your personal folder and set it as the default. The example name is
00-Ollie's-Claude. If you don't have one, start the plugin setup. - Put five true sentences in about-me.md. Role, who you serve, what this quarter is, how you like to work, what you don't want. Then five in about-business.md: what the business does, who the customers are, the products or services, the team, and the priorities.
- Add one client or project note.
- Ask: "Read the folder. What do you think you know, and what's missing?"
- Fix the gaps it found. Then write the Waitrose-style follow-up in one line and see what it still gets wrong.