Claude Projects
Projects are Claude's built-in way of giving a conversation persistent context. Think of it as a dedicated Claude instance for a specific purpose — loaded with the instructions and files it needs, every time you open it.
Available on any Claude plan (including the standard £18/month Pro tier — you don't need Max).
What a Project is
A Project has three things:
Instructions — a system prompt that tells Claude how to behave in this project. Runs before every conversation.
Knowledge — files you upload that Claude can reference. PDFs, spreadsheets, docs, text files — up to a generous file limit.
Conversation history — all your chats within the project are kept together.
Every time you open a Project, Claude already knows its role, has access to your files, and can see what you've discussed before.
CoWork vs Projects — when to use which
| Projects | CoWork | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan required | Pro (£18/mo) | Max (£90/mo) |
| Works in browser | ✅ Yes | ❌ Desktop only |
| Mobile access | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Connects to apps | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Acts on files | ❌ Read only | ✅ Read + write |
| Best for | Reference + writing | Active work + workflows |
Projects are better when you want a specialised assistant for a specific topic — a research tool loaded with industry reports, a writing assistant trained on your brand voice, a customer service helper that knows your product.
CoWork is better when you want to actually do work — process documents, update files, act on your apps.
Good uses for Projects
Brand voice project — upload examples of your best writing, your tone-of-voice guide, and a few sample emails. Every time you need to write something in your brand voice, open this project. Claude already knows how you sound.
Knowledge base — upload all the reference material for a specific area: product specs, pricing guides, FAQ documents. Ask questions and get answers without hunting through files.
Client project — one project per key client, loaded with their brief, background, previous work. Open it and Claude knows the full context.
Recurring reports — load the template, previous examples, and data sources. Every time you generate the report, the structure and context are already there.
How to set one up
- Open claude.ai in your browser
- Click Projects in the left sidebar → New Project
- Give it a name and write your instructions (this is your system prompt — be specific)
- Upload any files you want Claude to reference
- Start a conversation
Writing good instructions:
- Tell Claude its role and purpose
- Tell it what you want it to do by default
- Tell it what to avoid
- Give it any formatting preferences
Example:
You are a writing assistant for [business name]. Your job is to help write emails, proposals, and client communications in our brand voice — direct, warm, and never corporate. Always use British English. Keep things concise. When in doubt, shorter is better.
Projects are the easiest way for a team to share a consistent AI setup. One person builds the project (writes the instructions, uploads the files) and shares it with the team. Everyone works from the same base.