How to Use Claude Projects: Knowledge & Instructions to Cut Repetition

Re-uploading the same files and repeating the same explanations every time? Claude Projects is a workspace that keeps your materials and instructions in one place for a specific task or topic. Start a new chat inside a project and Claude automatically references the materials and instructions you've set.

What a project is made of

A project has two main parts.

• Project Knowledge: materials you reference repeatedly — upload PDFs, documents, code, and text.
• Custom Instructions: the rules and context Claude should follow in this project (tone, format, tech stack, what to avoid). They apply automatically to every chat in the project.

How it differs from profile settings

Account-wide profile settings (global preferences) are different from project instructions.

• Profile settings = global. "How I work" (tone, format — shared across all chats).
• Project instructions = this project only. "What I'm working on now" (this project's context and rules).

They stack — your profile loads first, then project instructions add on top. So you don't need to repeat in every project what's already in your profile.

Steps to use

1. Create a project per task/topic. Use a specific name like "Q1 Product Launch."
2. Add knowledge: upload the files/docs you'll reference repeatedly.
3. Write instructions: the rules and context for this project.
4. Chat: now chats in that project automatically reflect the knowledge and instructions.

Great for

• Coding: tech stack/coding rules in instructions, key code/specs in knowledge → consistent help.
• Writing: tone/style in instructions, past pieces/brand guide in knowledge → consistent voice.
• Per client/workstream: a project per client to keep context separate.
• Learning/research: gather related docs in one project and ask questions.

Tips

• Use specific names ("EcoBottle Launch," not "Project 1").
• Curate materials. Remove stale or irrelevant files. Projects have a context limit (reported to be on the order of ~200K tokens), so too much material can degrade reference quality.
• Keep instructions concise — core rules only, to cut repeated explanation each chat.

Disclaimer: Availability, project counts, file sizes, and instruction-length limits vary by plan and time and change often (some figures come from unofficial sources, so accuracy isn't guaranteed). Projects are generally described as a paid-plan feature; free availability may vary. Verify the latest in claude.ai and official docs (support.claude.com). This site is not affiliated with Anthropic.