Writing Instructions for Claude Principles and patterns for writing instructions that Claude follows reliably — whether as project instructions, standalone prompts, or skill content. Choosing the Right Format Determine format before writing. The wrong container undermines good instructions. Project instructions — persistent context for a workspace. Use when all conversations in a project need shared knowledge, team collaboration context, or initiative-specific behavior. Signals: "for this project," "all conversations about X," "team workspace." Read references/project-instructions.md for deta…