Claude Projects Guide: Knowledge, RAG, Memory, Sharing

Claude Projects are saved workspaces on claude.ai with their own chats, files and instructions. Every chat inside a project starts with that shared context, so you stop pasting the same background again and again.

This guide covers setup, project knowledge limits, instructions, RAG, team sharing and per-project memory. It also covers the new projects beta and how Claude compares with ChatGPT Projects and Gemini Gems.

TLDR

Who gets it: every plan. Free users can create up to 5 projects.
Files: up to 30MB per file in project knowledge. On Free, everything must fit in the context window.
RAG: on paid plans, big projects switch to RAG mode automatically and hold up to 10x more content.
Memory: each project has its own memory, kept apart from your other projects.
Sharing: Team and Enterprise only, with “Can view” and “Can edit” roles.
New: a projects beta in Claude Code runs work as parallel cloud threads, and some existing projects are being moved to it.

What Claude Projects Are

A project is a self-contained workspace. It has three parts that every chat inside it can use.

Project knowledge: documents, text, code and other files you upload once.
Project instructions: rules for how Claude should behave in every chat, such as tone or role.
Chat history: the project’s own list of conversations, kept apart from your other chats.

Good uses include a writing style guide, a codebase you keep asking about, a class with its course notes, or a client account with its briefs. Anything you would otherwise re-explain at the start of each chat belongs in a project.

Note: chats inside a project do not share context with each other. Only what you add to project knowledge (and project memory, if it is on) carries across chats.

How to Create a Project (Step by Step)

These steps follow Anthropic’s help center for the current version of projects on claude.ai.

Open Projects. Hover over the left sidebar and click “Projects”, or go to claude.ai/projects.
Click “+ New Project”. The button is in the upper right corner.
Name it. Add a name and a description. Claude cannot see these, so they are only for you.
Pick visibility (Team and Enterprise). Choose “Keep it private” or share it with your organization.
Add knowledge. In the knowledge panel on the right, click “+” and upload documents, text or code.
Set instructions. Click “Set project instructions”, write your rules and click “Save instructions”.
Start chatting. Open a new chat inside the project. Claude now has the files and instructions from the first message.
Move old chats in. On any chat, open the dropdown next to its name and choose “Add to project”.

You can also star a project from its three-dot menu or the star icon, so it stays pinned in your sidebar.

Project Knowledge and Its Limits

Project files work a little differently from files you drop into a single chat. The help center lists separate limits for each.

Limit	Project knowledge	Chat upload
File size	30MB per file	500MB per file
Number of files	Unlimited, but total content must fit the context window (unless RAG is on)	Up to 20 per chat
Content handling	Text extraction only, except multimodal PDFs	Text and visuals
PDF pages	Up to 1,000 pages. Visuals are read only in PDFs of 100 pages or fewer.

Supported file types

Documents: PDF, DOCX, CSV, TXT, HTML, ODT, RTF, EPUB and JSON. XLSX needs code execution and file creation turned on.
Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP.

How big is “the context window”?

On paid plans, Anthropic lists a 1M token chat context window for current models like Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5, Haiku 5.5 and Fable 5.1. Some older models have 500K, and other models have 200K.

That is the budget your project knowledge has to fit into before RAG kicks in.

Plan details are in our Claude Free vs Pro vs Max vs Ultra comparison.

Writing Good Project Instructions

Project instructions apply to every chat in the project. Keep them short, specific and about behavior, and let the files hold the facts.

Role: “You are a senior editor for a UK tech blog.”
Audience: “Readers are beginners. Explain any jargon in one line.”
Format: “Use short paragraphs and a bullet summary at the end.”
Sources: “Base answers on the style-guide.pdf in project knowledge. Say so if the file does not cover it.”
Limits: “Do not invent prices or dates. Ask me when unsure.”

Tip: name files clearly, like 2026-pricing-sheet.pdf, and refer to them by name in your instructions. Anthropic’s RAG guide says clear filenames help Claude find the right content.

For reusable workflows that you want in every project, look at Skills instead. Our Claude Skills guide explains the difference.

RAG for Large Projects

RAG stands for retrieval augmented generation. It is available on Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise, but not on Free.

How it works

Automatic switch: when project knowledge nears the context window limit, Claude turns on RAG mode by itself. You see an indicator that the project is RAG-enabled.
Search, not load: instead of loading every file into each chat, Claude uses a project knowledge search tool to pull only the relevant parts.
Bigger capacity: Anthropic says this expands capacity by up to 10x.
Switches back: if you remove files and drop below the threshold, the project can go back to normal in-context mode.

You cannot force RAG on or off. Anthropic says it works with web search, extended thinking and Research.

The trade-off is that Claude no longer reads every page on every turn. For questions that need the whole corpus at once, like “compare all 40 contracts”, ask Claude to work through the files in batches.

Memory per Project

Claude’s memory saves useful facts as you chat, such as your role, preferences and ongoing work. Memory is on by default for Free, Pro, Max and Ultra. On Team and Enterprise, owners decide whether it is available.

Projects get their own memory, with these rules:

Separate per project: inside a project, Claude uses that project’s memory plus your general memory, but not memory from other projects.
Fully private option: turn off “Use account memory” under Memory on the project’s page to keep the project completely separate.
Per-chat switch: a chat started with memory off in the “+” menu uses neither your memory nor the project’s memory.
Chat search: on paid plans, Claude can search past chats, but in a project the search stays inside that project.
Reset: “Reset memory” in settings deletes all memories, including project memories. It cannot be undone.

Coming from ChatGPT? Our ChatGPT memory guide shows how OpenAI handles the same idea.

Sharing is only on Team and Enterprise plans. Free, Pro, Max and Ultra projects stay personal.

Visibility

Public: everyone in your organization can find the project in the Organization tab and use it.
Private: only people you invite can see it. You can switch between the two at any time from the “Share” button.

Roles

Can view: see the knowledge and instructions, and chat in the project, but not edit it.
Can edit: change instructions and knowledge, manage members and add project tags (beta) on Enterprise.

You can add people one by one or paste a list of emails. Enterprise plans can also share with a group (beta), where access follows group membership and changes can take up to five minutes.

Warning: sharing a project shares its knowledge and instructions, not your chats. Your chats stay private unless you share them yourself. Admins can turn sharing off, which also makes public projects private.

The New Projects Beta

Anthropic is rolling out a new version of projects, starting with Claude Code. In it, a project is one ongoing conversation. Claude splits the work into parallel threads that run in the cloud and keep going when you close your laptop.

Who has it: select Pro, Max and Ultra users in Claude Code, at claude.ai/code and the desktop app’s Code tab. Others can join a waitlist.
Not yet on: Team and Enterprise. Chat and Cowork will follow later.
What threads share: the project’s files, repositories, instructions and memory. A Library collects the files you add and the files Claude makes.
Instructions limit: up to 16,000 characters in the new version.
Migration: some existing projects are being moved, with instructions, files, chat history and scheduled tasks kept. If you used the project in the last 30 days, you get an email first.
Usage: it draws from your plan, and several threads at once use it faster.

If you already use cloud sessions, our Claude Code on the web guide covers the basics these threads build on.

Claude Projects vs ChatGPT Projects vs Gemini Gems

All three let you save instructions and files for reuse. They differ a lot in limits and in where they are heading.

Feature	Claude Projects	ChatGPT Projects	Gemini Gems
Free plan	Yes, up to 5 projects	Yes, with fewer files	Being retired
Files	30MB each, fit to context window, RAG on paid plans	Per-plan file cap (OpenAI lists 5 on Free up to 40 on top plans)	Knowledge files per Gem
Instructions	Project instructions	Project instructions	Gem instructions
Own chat history	Yes	Yes	No, a Gem is a saved assistant
Memory	Separate memory per project	Default or project-only memory	No separate memory per Gem
Team sharing	Team and Enterprise, view or edit roles	Yes, on several plans	Gems can be shared until they retire
Status, Nov 2026	Active, new beta rolling out	Active	Personal Gems read-only on Nov 17, 2026, removed Dec 17, 2026

What is happening to Gemini Gems

Google’s help center says personal Gems turn into “skills” and become read-only on November 17, 2026. They are removed on December 17, 2026, so download any files you need before then.

Workspace business, enterprise and non-profit accounts move in March 2027, and education accounts in June 2027. Skills have a 100MB file limit, and some file types will not transfer.

Which one should you use?

Big document sets: Claude Projects, thanks to RAG and a 1M token context window on paid plans.
You live in ChatGPT: ChatGPT Projects, with project-only memory for clean separation.
Gemini users: move your Gems to skills now rather than wait for the deadline.

For a wider look at the assistants, see ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Grok.

Troubleshooting: Common Problems and Fixes

A Free project runs out of space: Free plans do not get RAG. Remove large files, split them into smaller text files, or upgrade.
A file will not upload: project files are capped at 30MB. Compress the PDF, export only the pages you need or save it as plain text.
Claude ignores a document: refer to the file by its exact name in your prompt. In RAG mode, Claude only reads the parts its search finds.
Charts in a long PDF are missed: visuals are read only in PDFs of 100 pages or fewer. Split long PDFs.
Claude forgets what you said in another chat: chats in a project do not share context. Add the key facts to project knowledge, or ask Claude to remember them.
The Share button says sharing is turned off: your admin disabled project sharing. Existing shares stay, but you cannot add people.
Can’t find a shared project: check all three tabs on the Projects page: Your projects, Organization and Shared with you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Claude Projects free?

Yes. Projects are available on every plan, including Free, but Free users can create at most five projects and do not get RAG.

How many files can I add to a Claude project?

There is no fixed file count, but each file can be up to 30MB. Without RAG, the total content must fit in Claude’s context window.

Does Claude remember things between chats in a project?

Chats do not share context by default. Project knowledge is shared, and if memory is on, each project keeps its own memory across its chats.

Can I share a Claude project with friends on a Pro plan?

No. Sharing is only on Team and Enterprise plans, and only with members of your organization.

Can I turn RAG off?

No. Claude turns RAG on automatically when project knowledge gets close to the context limit, and can switch back when it shrinks.

Can Claude see my project name and description?

No. Anthropic’s help center says Claude does not have access to the project name and description. Put anything Claude needs in the instructions or knowledge.

What happens to my projects in the new projects beta?

Anthropic says nothing is lost in the move. Instructions, files, full chat history and scheduled tasks come with the project.

Claude Projects Guide: Knowledge, RAG, Memory and Sharing

What Claude Projects Are

How to Create a Project (Step by Step)