What Are Claude Projects —
and how do they work in Cowork?

"Projects" means two related but different things depending on where you are. Here's what each one actually does, and how to use them well.

The short answer

A chat Project is a workspace on claude.ai that bundles custom instructions and a knowledge base of documents, so every conversation inside it already knows who you are and what you're working on — no re-explaining required. A Cowork project is a related but separate feature: a local workspace on your computer that bundles folders, instructions, links, and memory for a recurring area of work. Same idea, different mechanics, and both require a paid Claude plan.

Everyday ways to use a chat Project

A standing client file

Everything about one client, in one place.

Upload their brand guide, past proposals, and notes on how they like to work. Every new chat inside that project already knows all of it — you're not re-explaining who they are and what they need each time you start.

Try this: create a project per major client, and drop their onboarding notes and brand voice guide straight into the knowledge base.

Your own business context

So Claude always answers in character.

Add your services, pricing, and tone of voice as custom instructions. Once it's set, every chat in that project reflects it automatically — no re-briefing Claude on who you are each session.

Try this: paste your brand guide and a few real emails you've sent into a "my business" project, then ask it to draft in your voice.

A recurring content project

Keep your voice consistent across editions.

House your last few newsletter editions or blog posts as reference material, so new drafts match the tone and structure of what's worked before instead of drifting a little further each time.

Try this: keep your three best-performing pieces in the knowledge base and ask Claude to match their structure, not just their topic.

Ongoing research

Come back to it without starting over.

Drop in articles, reports, or notes as you find them over weeks or months. Ask questions against the whole collection at once, instead of re-uploading everything every time you want to think something through.

Try this: build a project for a decision you're working through over time — pricing, a new service, a hire — and add to it as you learn more.

Click any tile to expand it.

How this works differently in Cowork

In Claude Cowork, a project is a dedicated workspace that bundles together everything Claude needs for a recurring area of work — local folders, instructions, reference links, and memory — so you don't have to re-establish context every time you start a session. It's the same idea as a chat Project, but it lives locally on your computer instead of the cloud, and it isn't shared with teammates.

Three ways to set one up

1 Start from scratch with a new folder and custom instructions.
2 Use an existing folder on your computer as the project's base.
3 Import an existing chat Project so its knowledge carries over.

What each project holds

Folders

The local directories Claude can read from and write to. Anything Claude creates during a session lands here too.

Instructions

Standing guidance applied automatically to every session in that project, so preferences don't need repeating.

Links

Reference URLs — docs, dashboards — that Claude can draw on during a session.

Memory

On by default. Claude remembers what it learned in past sessions in that project and carries it forward — but only within that project, not across others.

Worth knowing: drag files or folders into a project and Claude sorts them — individual files (up to 50MB each) get copied into the project's first folder, while whole folders get mounted as additional project folders.

Archiving: removes a project from your sidebar and deletes its name, instructions, links, and memory — but it doesn't touch your actual files, which stay exactly where they are on disk.

Two real limits: projects only exist in Cowork, not in Claude Code, and since everything's local, Team and Enterprise members currently can't share a Cowork project with each other.

The honest bit

A project is only as good
as what's in it

The convenience of not re-explaining yourself cuts both ways — a project also quietly carries forward whatever you put into it, good or bad.

Knowledge goes stale. A project's knowledge base is only as current as what you put in it. Old pricing, an outdated brand guide, or a superseded client brief will quietly shape answers unless you weed it out.

Memory carries forward mistakes too. If Claude picks up something wrong in a project, it can keep repeating it in later sessions until you correct it directly.

A Cowork project isn't a sync folder. Files you drag in get copied or mounted, not live two-way synced with the rest of your computer. Know where the actual source of truth lives.

One habit worth building

Every few months, skim what's actually in a project's knowledge base — or its Cowork folders — and remove anything outdated. A project that's quietly accumulated 18 months of old drafts and superseded pricing will drag down the quality of every answer it gives.

What Are Claude Projects — and how do they work in Cowork?

A project is only as good as what's in it

Want more of this? The newsletter will deliver it

What Are Claude Projects —
and how do they work in Cowork?

A project is only as good
as what's in it

Want more of this?
The newsletter will deliver it