Projects shipping

A persistent context bag.

A Project on claude.ai bundles a system instruction (always sent), a small set of pinned files Claude consults automatically, and the chat history. Every chat inside the project starts with all of that loaded. You stop re-explaining yourself.

Five minutes.

1. Click "Projects" in the sidebar on claude.ai. Pro / Max / Team / Enterprise plans.
2. Name the project after a recurring task — "Homework: AP Bio", "bnbhot copywriting", "Family genealogy".
3. Add a system instruction. One paragraph telling Claude its role and constraints.
4. Pin reference files. Style guide, brand sheet, last 3 finished pieces. Claude consults them automatically.
5. Start chats inside the project. Each one inherits everything.

The decision rule.

Patterns from this network.

• Editorial — system prompt: "You are an editor for {site}. Match the existing voice — practical, no fluff." Pinned: 3 finished pieces, style guide, brand sheet.
• Research notebook — system: "We are researching {topic}." Pinned: 5 source PDFs. Each chat asks a question; Claude answers with citations.
• Customer support draft-bot — system: "Draft a reply that matches our tone." Pinned: tone guide, FAQs, last 10 reply examples.
• Tenant correspondence — system: "Compose tenant letters in a warm professional voice." Pinned: tenant roster, lease template, late-fee policy.

Shared context across people.

On Team and Enterprise plans, Projects can be shared. A team Project gets one system prompt and one pinned file set; everyone's chats inherit it. When the style guide updates, every teammate's next chat picks it up.

For agentic work over the same shared files, see /cowork.

Related products.

Every Anthropic surface has its own page on this guide.