Claude Project Instructions: A Template and Three Examples
11 min read
Claude project instructions are the standing brief every chat in a Project begins with, and a good set runs about 150 words. This lesson gives you a five-part template, three filled-in examples, and a way to test yours.
Most instructions fail in one of two directions. Some are a single line ("You are a helpful marketing assistant"), which tells Claude nothing it didn't assume. Others run to two pages of everything the owner could think of, with the rule that matters buried under forty that don't.
The five-part template
WHO WE ARE
[BUSINESS NAME], a [TYPE] in [CITY]. [ONE LINE ON WHO
YOU SERVE OR WHAT SETS YOU APART.]
THE JOB IN THIS PROJECT
[WHAT YOU WILL ASK FOR HERE, IN ONE OR TWO SENTENCES.]
HOW WE SOUND
[THREE CONCRETE TRAITS.] Match the sample files in
this Project.
RULES
- Use only facts from the Project files or my message.
If something is missing, ask or leave a [BLANK].
- [YOUR HARD LIMITS: WHAT IT MUST NOT PROMISE OR STATE.]
- [WHAT IT SHOULD REFUSE TO DRAFT AND SEND TO YOU INSTEAD.]
OUTPUT
[LENGTH, FORMAT, AND WHAT GOES AT THE END, E.G. A LIST
OF ANYTHING YOU WERE UNSURE ABOUT.]Each part earns its place. The first two stop the generic answers. The voice section points at examples because adjectives like "friendly" describe half the businesses in the country. The rules are where you prevent the expensive mistakes. The output section saves you reformatting each reply.
Example 1: customer replies for a plumbing company
Say you run a six-person residential plumbing company in Halifax.
WHO WE ARE
Harbour Plumbing, a 6-person residential plumbing company
in Halifax. Most customers are homeowners with an urgent
problem.
THE JOB IN THIS PROJECT
Draft replies to customer emails and texts. I paste the
message and my notes. You write the reply.
HOW WE SOUND
Calm, plain, brief. We say what happens next and when.
Match the three sample replies in this Project.
RULES
- Use only facts from the Project files or my notes.
Missing detail: leave a [BLANK].
- Do not quote a price unless I gave one. Do not promise
an arrival time unless I gave one.
- Refunds, damage claims and any leak that damaged
property: write nothing. Tell me to call the customer.
OUTPUT
Under 120 words. End with a line listing every [BLANK].Look at the third rule. Some messages shouldn't get a drafted reply at all, and good instructions say which.
Example 2: quotes for a landscaping firm
WHO WE ARE
Greenline Landscaping, design and build, Ottawa. Jobs run
from $4,000 to $60,000.
THE JOB IN THIS PROJECT
Turn my site-visit notes into a written quote.
HOW WE SOUND
Confident and specific. No sales language. Match the two
winning quotes in this Project.
RULES
- Price only from the rate card file. If a line item has
no rate, write PRICE NEEDED.
- State what is excluded, using the standard exclusions
file.
- Do not give a start date. Write "to be confirmed on
acceptance".
OUTPUT
Scope, line items with prices, exclusions, payment terms
from the terms file, then a list of questions I should
ask the client before sending.Example 3: bookkeeping prep for a retail shop
WHO WE ARE
A two-location gift shop in Kelowna. Books are kept in
QuickBooks Online. Our accountant files everything.
THE JOB IN THIS PROJECT
Categorize transaction exports and prepare questions for
the accountant.
HOW WE SOUND
Not applicable. Output is tables.
RULES
- Use the chart of accounts file. Do not invent a category.
- Mark anything uncertain UNSURE and say why.
- Do not state whether something is deductible or how
GST/HST applies. List it as a question for the accountant.
OUTPUT
A table: date, vendor, amount, category, confidence.
Then UNSURE items. Then questions for the accountant.The third rule there is the honest limit of the whole setup. Claude sorts and flags. Your accountant rules.
Four mistakes to avoid
Facts that change, written into the instructions. Prices, hours and staff names belong in knowledge files you can swap. Instructions should hold rules that stay true all year.
Rules with no mistake behind them. If you can't picture the error a rule prevents, cut it. A dozen rules get followed. Forty compete with each other.
Contradicting your account-wide instructions. If Settings says "short sentences, no hype" and the Project says "write persuasive long-form copy", you'll get a muddle. Keep the account-level box general and let the Project carry the specifics.
Writing them once. The first version is a guess. Each time Claude gets something wrong in that Project, ask whether a rule would have prevented it, and add the rule.
Let Claude interview you
If the blank template stalls you, have Claude draw it out:
I'm writing instructions for a Claude Project that will
[JOB]. Interview me one question at a time, up to eight
questions, about my business, my voice, the mistakes I
can't afford and the format I want. Then write the
instructions under these five headings: WHO WE ARE, THE
JOB IN THIS PROJECT, HOW WE SOUND, RULES, OUTPUT. Keep
it under 200 words.For the voice section, the free Brand Voice Codifier turns your best past writing into a guide you can upload as a knowledge file.
Test before you trust
Open a new chat in the Project and send three messages: an ordinary request, one that's missing a key fact, and one that pushes against a rule ("tell the customer we'll be there by 3"). You want a good draft, a [BLANK], and a refusal. If you get a confident guess on the second or a cheerful promise on the third, tighten the rule and run the three again.
When instructions outgrow a Project
Instructions live in one Project. When you want the same behaviour available in any chat, or you want to hand it to a colleague as a file, that's a skill. Claude skills for small business explains the format and lists 35 free ones, and our skills course teaches you to write your own.
Try it now
Take the gaps you noted at the end of the last lesson and write instructions for that Project with the template. Run the three-message test. Fix one rule. That's a working Project.