Hey again, it's Hasen.
One month into using Claude for Maia Studio and my own projects, I still couldn't figure out where I was supposed to put in "instructions"
Turns out there are three separate places inside Claude desktop where you can type them in, each doing a different job.
I didn't know that when I started, so I just picked one and used it for everything.
I Turned Claude Into My Old Uni Lecturer
I have a learning preference I'm fairly attached to. Explain complex concepts with real-world analogies, and wrap up learning sessions with bullet points.
So I dropped that instruction into Settings, under "Instructions for Claude," assuming it was just a general preferences box.
What I didn't realize is that this box applies to every conversation I have with Claude, not just my learning project.
So every casual question after that, no matter how simple, came back with an analogy and a concluding paragraph that I never asked for.
I was getting lectured by a tool I set up to help me move faster.
The Hidden Cost of Not Knowing Where Things Go
As a small business owner, I use Claude to brainstorm design and layout ideas for the jewelry business. Pull-up banners, web store design, wholesale catalogues, care cards, you name it.
Every one of these projects needs to know the same things: my brand colors and fonts, down to the exact hex codes.
I didn't know there was a better way to set it once. So I retyped the same hex codes and font names into every project's chat box, every single time I needed Claude to create an artefact.
Then, there was a growing sense that I was doing something wrong…
Three Boxes, Three Jobs
Each instruction box has its own scope, and mixing that up turned Claude into a lecturer and had me retyping hex codes on repeat.
Settings → General Instructions sits underneath everything. Every conversation you start, every project you open, this layer is already there in the background. Think of it as default behavior, not project detail.
Settings → Cowork → Global Instructions is scoped differently. It only applies inside Cowork, separate from Chat entirely. This is where operating rules live: how you want files named, what formats to avoid, regional defaults you'd otherwise have to repeat every session.
Project Instructions are the narrowest and the most useful for anything project-specific. Set inside a single project, in Chat or Cowork. They don't follow you into a new project, and they don't touch your general chats either.
So, my learning preference belonged in project instruction, not in general instructions, which is why it followed me into every unrelated conversation.
And my brand colors and fonts also belonged in project instructions, set once, instead of retyped into each chat.
What Actually Goes in Each Box
Knowing the three tiers exist is one thing. Knowing what to actually type into each one is the part that saves you the month I lost.
General Instructions: this is where you set how Claude talks to you and thinks through problems, because it applies everywhere. My own setup focuses on cutting sycophancy, keeping answers brief, flagging uncertainty instead of guessing, and asking before assuming when a request is vague. None of that is project-specific. It's how I want Claude to behave, always.
Cowork Global Instructions: this is your operating rulebook for anything Cowork touches, separate from Chat. Mine covers file naming conventions, a hard rule to never save anything as .docx or .xlsx since I'm Google-only, and regional defaults like NZ date formats and time zone. These are rules about how work gets done, not what the work is about.
Project Instructions: this is reusable memory scoped to a single project, set once and carried through every conversation inside it. My Maia Studio brand kit lives here. Hex codes, font names, the exact palette I use across banners, the web store, and care cards. I set it once per project now, instead of retyping it every time I open a new design brainstorm.
One Sentence, Then Move
Putting instructions in the wrong box costs you tokens and consistency. The right box means you set it once and it holds.
Next time you go to type an instruction into Claude, pause and ask: does this apply to everything I do, only to Cowork, or only to this one project? That answer tells you exactly which box it belongs in.
Bonus Tip
Double-tap the Option key on Mac and Claude Desktop opens a floating text box, right over whatever app you're already in. You don't need to be in Chrome, or anywhere near a browser tab.
It also triggers crosshairs so you can drag a screenshot area straight into your message. Useful for grabbing a design mockup or an error message without switching windows first.
You can start a fresh chat each time, or send it into your most recent conversation instead. Small tool, but it saved me more alt-tabbing than I expected.
Catch you next issue,
Hasen
Infinite Output — Practical AI for solo founders.
