Use the new Projects in Claude Code on real work

Clean house, then upgrade

In the Claude desktop app, switch to the Code tab (the </> button at the top), then click Projects in the sidebar. It is marked Beta. Click Get started. Before it lets you in, it asks you to upgrade your existing projects or archive them. I had seven. I archived the four I'm done with and upgraded three. The upgrade runs in the background, so you can close the window and keep working.

Fill in the New project form

Click Create new project. There are three fields: Name, Goal, and Context. The examples in the form are written for developers, but nothing in it needs code or a repository.

The Goal is the most important line you will write. Name the finished pieces you want, so Claude knows what done looks like. Mine:

Add a short context file

Under Context, click + Add. You can add a file, a folder, a repository, or a Google Drive folder. I wrote a short file about my business and added it as a file. Here is the template (fill in the brackets and save it as a text or Markdown file):

Keep the last line. It is the reason my project asked me for dates and prices instead of making them up.

Let it suggest the threads

Click Create project and wait. Before I typed anything, Claude read my goal and context file and came back with four suggested threads: draft the gift guide, write the customer email, plan the social calendar, and write the shipping cutoff FAQ. Each had a one-line reason. It also told me it used my recent Claude sessions, so know that it can see those.

One click on Start 4 threads and all four ran at once. The gift guide thread searched my Google Drive, found my basket contents sheet, and built the guide from my real products. It left every price blank because it could not confirm my old prices were still current.

Answer once, in the thread it points you to

Three threads needed my shipping dates. The main chat noticed and told me to answer once, in the FAQ thread, and it would pass my dates to the other two. Rough answers are fine. Mine:

The main chat confirmed it sent my dates to the email and social calendar threads. Then the FAQ thread caught a problem in my own dates. A December 14 order that takes three days to build ships December 17, the same day as the USPS Ground Advantage send-by date, which leaves no buffer for coast-to-coast ground.

Steer a thread when your plans change

Every thread has its own box at the bottom that says Steer this thread. I used it to split my cutoff and asked it to pass the change along:

It updated the FAQ, saved the new dates to the project notes, sent them to the other two threads, and checked that December 11 is a Friday.

Send project-wide changes to the main chat

When a change touches several threads, type it in the main chat instead of a single thread. I raised my price floor halfway through:

It sent the change to both threads and told me up front there might be nothing to fix, since both drafts were written without prices. Both came back clean, and it offered one useful addition instead of busywork.

Edit the file yourself and hand it back

You do not have to describe every change in chat. I opened the gift guide draft, made my edits and notes right in the file, attached it back to the thread, and typed "updated guide". The thread read my edits, summarized what changed, and asked four short follow-up questions. Shorthand answers worked fine.

Check the Overview

Click Overview at the top to see every thread grouped by status: Waiting on you, Idle, and Resolved. A thread that wrote something it wants you to check stays open until you OK it. It will not mark itself done on work that needs your eyes.