Projects in ChatGPT and Claude: when to use them and what to put inside

If you use AI on the same topic every day, such as a campaign, a client or a school assignment, you have probably been through this: opening a new chat and having to explain everything again, paste the same documents and repeat the same rules.

That is what projects are for. A project is a space that brings together conversations, files and instructions about one topic. Everything in it serves as context for the chats you open inside it.

ChatGPT and Claude both have projects, with slightly different names and screens. Availability and limits depend on your plan, and menus change often, so look for the Projects option in the sidebar.

When a project is worth it

Create a project when these three things are true:

1. You will come back to the topic many times, over days or weeks.
2. There are documents the AI needs to know, such as a brief, a brand guide, a results spreadsheet or notes.
3. There are rules that apply to everything about that topic, such as tone, audience and what must not be said.

For a one-off question, a project is overkill. A regular chat with a good prompt does the job.

What to put inside

Project instructions. A short text saying what the project is, who the work is for and how the AI should respond. For example:

This project is about marketing for an online kids' clothing store.
The audience is parents of children aged 0 to 8, with mid-range budgets.
Light, friendly tone, no slang and not too many emojis.
When analyzing results, highlight what worked, what did not work
and the recommended next step.
Do not make up numbers that are not in the project files.

Reference files. The documents you would otherwise paste every time:

• the brief or project description;
• the brand guide or style guide;
• examples of texts that worked well;
• results spreadsheets (ideally with aggregated data and no personal customer data);
• templates you want the AI to follow, such as a report format.

Conversations. Each task becomes a conversation inside the project: “December posts”, “October campaign review”, “Company video script”. They are easy to find later.

A note on memory

Do not count on the AI remembering everything said in other conversations of the project. Depending on the tool, each conversation may only see the instructions and files, not what was discussed in earlier chats.

When a conversation reaches an important decision, such as “we chose slogan X”, record it in the instructions or in a project file. That way it applies to the next conversations.

Project ideas

• Work: “Client Alpha Construction”, with a summary of the contract, the delivery history and the tone to use with the client.
• School: “Thesis”, with the topic, the outline, the university’s formatting rules and reference texts.
• Career: “Job search”, with your resume, the roles you are interested in and the interview answers you have prepared.
• Personal: “Home renovation”, with measurements, the budget and the quotes you received.

Projects and safety

Everything you put in a project is stored by the tool. Before uploading a file, ask the usual question: would I show this to someone outside my company? If not, replace the real data with examples or use only the tool your company approves. See using AI at work safely.

The first step

Pick the topic you use AI for the most today and create a project just for it, with short instructions and two or three files. For the tasks inside it, the prompt builder helps you write clear requests with a goal, context, format and limits.