Claude Projects Explained: How to Build Custom Knowledge Bases for Better AI Outputs

Anthropic launched Claude Projects today. It's the feature that turns Claude from a stateless chatbot into a persistent workspace with custom knowledge. If you've been uploading the same documents to Claude repeatedly, or starting every conversation with the same context, Projects solves that. ## What Claude Projects Are A Project is a workspace within Claude that contains: **Custom Knowledge:** Upload documents, files, and context that Claude can reference in any conversation within that Project. Upload once, use everywhere. **Persistent Conversations:** All chats within a Project can access the Project's knowledge base. No more re-uploading or re-explaining context. **Team Sharing:** Projects can be shared with team members (on Team plans). Everyone gets access to the same knowledge base and conversation history. **Organization:** Separate Projects for different clients, initiatives, or domains. Keep context isolated and organized. Think of it as giving Claude a custom knowledge base that persists, instead of starting from scratch every conversation. ## How Projects Work **Creating a Project:** 1. Click "New Project" in the Claude interface 2. Name it (e.g., "Client ABC Marketing" or "Product Documentation") 3. Upload relevant documents, files, and context 4. Add custom instructions if needed 5. Start conversations that can access all uploaded knowledge **What You Can Upload:** - Documents (PDFs, Word docs, text files) - Code files and repositories - Company information and background - Style guides and brand guidelines - Process documentation and SOPs - Research and reference materials Upload limit: 200 documents per Project, ~10MB per file **Custom Instructions:** Each Project can have specific instructions that apply to all conversations: "You are helping with client deliverables for ABC Corp. Always use their brand terminology (they call it 'customer success' not 'support'). Format all outputs as executive summaries with bullet points." These instructions persist across all Project conversations, ensuring consistency. ## Why This Matters **Before Projects:** You'd start every Claude conversation by uploading client docs, pasting company info, and explaining context. This meant: - 5-10 minutes of setup every conversation - Inconsistent context across conversations - Risk of forgetting important background - Can't easily share setup with teammates **With Projects:** Upload context once. Every conversation in that Project automatically has access to the knowledge base. New conversations start immediately with full context. ## Common Use Cases **Client Work:** Create a Project for each client containing: - Client background and industry info - Brand guidelines and style guides - Previous deliverables and work - SOPs for how you work with them Now every client conversation starts with full context about their business, preferences, and history. **Product Development:** Create a Project for your product containing: - Product specifications and roadmap - Technical architecture docs - User research and feedback - Competitive analysis Any conversation about the product - whether planning features, writing docs, or analyzing feedback - has access to the complete product context. **Content Creation:** Create a Project for your content strategy containing: - Brand voice guidelines - Previous successful content - Target audience research - SEO strategy and keywords Every piece of content created in this Project will be consistent with your brand and strategy. **Learning & Research:** Create a Project for a topic you're learning: - Course materials and textbooks - Your notes and summaries - Practice problems - Reference materials Claude becomes a tutor with access to all your learning materials, able to reference specific sections and build on previous explanations. ## Projects vs Regular Conversations **Use Regular Conversations for:** - One-off questions - General tasks without special context - Quick assistance that doesn't need custom knowledge **Use Projects for:** - Repeated work that needs consistent context - Client or customer-specific work - Domain-specific tasks requiring background knowledge - Team collaboration with shared context ## Team Collaboration with Projects On Team plans ($30/user/month), Projects can be shared: **Shared Access:** - Everyone on the team can access Project knowledge and conversations - Changes to Project knowledge are visible to all team members - New team members get instant access to organizational knowledge **Use Cases for Team Projects:** - Client Projects shared across account teams - Product Projects accessible to all product/engineering - Company knowledge base accessible to everyone - Process documentation available team-wide ## Limitations and Gotchas **File Limits:** 200 documents per Project, ~10MB per file. For most use cases this is plenty, but large teams with extensive documentation might hit limits. **No Version Control:** If you update a document in a Project, the old version is gone. No way to track changes or revert to previous versions. **Search Could Be Better:** No way to search within Project knowledge. Claude can find and reference content, but you can't directly search uploaded files. **Pro Plan Required:** Projects are only available on Pro ($20/month) and Team ($30/user/month) plans. Free tier doesn't get access. ## Quick Takeaway Projects are the feature that makes Claude useful for repeated, context-heavy work. Instead of re-uploading and re-explaining every conversation, you build persistent knowledge bases. If you use Claude regularly for client work, product development, or domain-specific tasks, Projects will immediately improve your workflow. The real power is team collaboration - shared Projects mean everyone on your team works with the same context and knowledge, making Claude a true team tool instead of individual chatbot.