Claude Cowork Customize: Global Instructions, Folder Rules, Skills, and Plugins

The layers of context in Cowork

Think of Cowork's customization as a stack. Each layer adds context on top of the one below:

Instructions tell Claude how to behave. Skills tell it how to do a particular task. Connectors decide what it can reach. Plugins package skills and connectors so a whole team gets the same setup.

Global instructions: your standing brief

Global instructions are a brief you write once and Claude reads in every session: every chat, every Cowork task, and every scheduled task. In the merged Claude app, the Cowork Global instructions setting is part of Instructions for Claude under Settings → General. Older desktop versions show it as Global instructions; click Edit next to it.

What to include

• Your role and context: job, team, industry, and the tools you use most.
• Shorthand: acronyms, product names, and internal terms Claude should understand.
• Output preferences: format, length, tone, and words to avoid.
• File conventions: how to name outputs and where to save them.
• Standing rules: for example, always ask before deleting files or emailing anyone outside the company.

Example

I'm a product manager at a 200-person B2B SaaS company.
I work with engineering, design, and sales. Main tools: Notion, Linear, Slack.

Writing: clear headings, short bullets, plain language. Summaries under one page
unless I ask for more.

Files: name outputs YYYY-MM-DD_short-description. Save reports to Documents/Reports.

Always ask before deleting or moving files outside the folder I gave you.

Keep global instructions short and durable. A good habit from Anthropic's own training: whenever you notice yourself giving the same correction twice, that correction belongs in your global instructions.

Folder instructions: rules for one directory

Folder instructions add context whenever Cowork works in a particular local folder on the desktop. When you select a folder, type the instructions in the text box and click Save. Claude can also update folder instructions on its own during a session, for example to note where it saved outputs or what it learned about the files.

• “This folder holds signed vendor contracts. Never modify originals; write summaries to the Reviews subfolder.”
• “Invoices here are named VENDOR_YYYY-MM. Totals are in euros. Flag anything over €10,000.”
• “This is the Q3 launch folder. The launch date is fixed; the audience is existing customers.”

Folder instructions shine for recurring work in the same place, such as a monthly finance folder or a research archive, because the rules travel with the location instead of your memory.

Projects and project instructions

Projects are workspaces tied to one stream of work: a customer account, a recurring deliverable like a monthly report, or a launch. Each project can hold its own instructions, context such as folders or links, scheduled tasks, and memory that Claude builds from the conversations inside it. Project instructions stack on top of your global instructions, so global covers you and the project covers what you're working on.

You can create a project from scratch, from an existing folder on your computer, or from an existing project, and edit its instructions in the project's right panel. Because each conversation adds to the project's memory, the next task starts with last week's decisions already in hand. Pair projects with scheduled tasks for work that should happen every week.

The Customize area: skills, plugins, and connectors

Customize sits in the left sidebar and gathers the building blocks that extend what Claude can do. Here is what each section is for.

Skills

Skills are instruction files that teach Claude to complete a specific task the same way every time, such as your team's report template or a data-cleaning checklist. Claude loads a skill automatically when a task calls for it, or you can call it by name with /skill-name. To add one, open Customize → Skills, click +, then + Create skill, or upload a ZIP of a skill folder. The easiest route is often to finish a task with Claude and then ask it to “package what we just did into a skill.”

Plugins

Plugins bundle skills, connectors, and sometimes subagents for a job role, such as sales, legal, or finance. Browse and install them from Customize → Plugins, and click Customize on an installed plugin to have Claude tailor it to your tools and terms. Our Cowork plugins directory lists the official ones.

Connectors

Connectors give Claude access to outside services such as Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce, Jira, or Microsoft 365. Add them from Customize → Connectors and turn them on or off per conversation from the + menu. See our connectors guide and the Microsoft 365 integration guide.

Customize vs Settings: what lives where

New users often look for everything in one place. The split is simple once you see it: Customize holds the things that extend what Claude can do (skills, plugins, and connectors), while Settings holds how Claude behaves for you, including Instructions for Claude, memory, and account options. Projects keep their own instructions in the project panel. If you are hunting for a toggle, ask yourself whether it adds a capability, which means Customize, or changes a preference, which means Settings. Admin-level controls for a whole organization sit in organization settings, and anything an admin locks will appear grayed out in your Customize menus.

Which layer should a rule go in?

When two layers disagree, keep the more specific rule in the more specific place. For example, if you usually want one-page summaries but a client needs detailed memos, say so in that client's project instructions rather than editing your global instructions.

Examples by role

The right setup depends on the work. Here is how three different people might split their context across the layers.

Account executive

(The sales plugin covers the rest.) Global: “I sell to mid-market logistics companies. Keep emails under 120 words, friendly but direct. Never promise discounts.” Project per key account: the buying committee, open objections, and the renewal date. Daily habit: a scheduled morning brief that reads the calendar and recent threads for each meeting.

Finance analyst

Global: “Use our fiscal calendar, which starts in February. Show currency with ISO codes. Round to thousands in summaries.” Folder: the month-end close folder explains which exports arrive when and which tabs hold the trial balance. Repeatable method: a variance commentary template that every monthly report follows.

Researcher or consultant

Global: “Cite every claim with the source file or URL. Separate facts from interpretation.” Project per engagement: the client's question, scope limits, and deliverable format. Folder: the interview notes directory, with a rule that quotes must be copied exactly and attributed by role, never by name.

In each case the personal rules stay small, the work-specific detail lives next to the work, and anything done the same way every time becomes reusable.

Customize for teams and admins

On Team and Enterprise plans, admins can add organization instructions that apply across chat, Cowork, and Claude Code, require specific plugins for everyone, run a private plugin marketplace, and control which connectors members may use. Members can share skills and plugins with colleagues from the Customize menus when sharing is allowed. For the bigger picture of rolling Cowork out to a company, read our enterprise deployment guide and our Cowork security overview.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Writing an essay. Long, rambling instructions are harder for Claude to apply consistently. Aim for a short list of rules you actually care about.
• Mixing layers. Client details in global instructions leak into unrelated tasks. Move them to a project.
• Contradicting yourself. Review instructions every few weeks and delete rules that no longer apply.
• Storing secrets. Never put passwords or API keys in instructions or skills. Use connectors for access instead.
• Skipping skills. If you paste the same multi-step recipe into prompts, turn it into a skill once.

A 20-minute starter setup

1. Write five to ten lines of global instructions: role, tools, formats, and one or two safety rules.
2. Create a project for your most frequent deliverable and add its specific instructions.
3. Add folder instructions to the folder you point Cowork at most often.
4. Connect the two or three tools you use daily from Customize → Connectors.
5. Install one plugin that matches your role, such as the productivity plugin, and try its main skill on real work.
6. After your next task, ask Claude to package the workflow into a skill.

If something doesn't show up where this guide says, you may be on an older app version or your organization may control the setting. Our troubleshooting guide covers app versions and admin restrictions.

Frequently asked questions