LESSON 3 OF 5
Set the context once
BY THE END OF THIS LESSON
Use projects and styles so you stop re-explaining yourself.
A project is shared memory
A project holds files and instructions that every conversation inside it can see. The point is not tidiness — it is that context stops being something you carry around and start being something the workspace holds.
What to put in a project
Reference material that does not change often: brand guidelines, product documentation, past work you want matched, a glossary of internal terms, decisions already made.
Keep out anything that changes weekly. Stale context in a project is worse than no context, because you will stop noticing it is there and it will quietly shape every answer.
Styles are the how, projects are the what
A style governs how Claude writes — tone, structure, formality, length. A project governs what it knows.
Keeping them separate means you can apply the same voice across different bodies of knowledge, and swap knowledge without losing the voice. Mixing them into one blob of instructions is why people find their setup stops working after a few weeks.
WORKED EXAMPLE
ONE BLOB
A single instruction block containing brand voice, product facts, this quarter's campaign, a client's name, and a note about a deadline that passed two months ago.
SEPARATED
STYLE: short sentences, British English, no exclamation marks, never "excited to announce". PROJECT KNOWLEDGE: product docs, brand guidelines, the twelve posts that performed best, a glossary. IN THE CHAT: "This week: the rota story. Four posts."
The blob rots — the passed deadline is now silently shaping output, and nobody will notice. Separated, the style outlives any project and the project knowledge can be updated without touching the voice.
YOUR TURN
Split your existing setup into style and knowledge.
RUN THIS
Here is the instruction block I currently paste or have saved. [paste it] Split it into three: things that govern HOW you write (style), things that are knowledge about my work (project), and things that belong in an individual chat because they change often. Then flag anything that has gone stale or is specific to something that has already finished.
What a good result looks like
Expect at least one stale item. Those are the ones that have been quietly degrading your output.
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Answer all 2 correctly to complete this lesson.
1. What is the difference between a style and a project?
2. Why keep fast-changing information out of a project?
REMEMBER THIS
Style is how it writes, project is what it knows — keep them apart.