The single easiest thing you can do to get a better experience in the Claude app. It takes about two minutes, and every chat after it starts already knowing you.
There is a box in your Claude settings where you tell Claude who you are, who you serve, and how you like to work. It is easy to miss. Fill it in once, and Claude carries that context into every new conversation. No retraining. No starting over each time.
Here is how to set it up.
In the Claude app, click your name in the bottom-left corner and open Settings. Look for the box for your personal instructions, sometimes labeled what Claude should know about you. That box is the whole game.
Keep it open. You will paste into it in Step 3.
Open a new chat and paste the prompt below. Claude will ask you a few questions, then write a clean set of instructions you can use.
You are helping me write my personal instructions for Claude, the ones that live in my settings so every future chat already knows me. Interview me one question at a time. Ask about: - Who I am and what I do - The audience or customers I serve - The outcomes I care about most - How I like answers formatted (short vs detailed, bullets vs prose) - My tone, and any words or phrases I never want used - Anything else that would help you work the way I want When the interview is done, write a clean, concise set of instructions, under 200 words, that I can paste straight into the personal instructions box in my Claude settings. Start with your first question now.
Copy what Claude wrote, paste it into the personal instructions box from Step 1, and save. That is it. Every new chat now opens already knowing who you are and how you like to work.
If you would rather skip the interview, copy this, fill in the brackets, and paste it into the same box.
About me: I am [name], [role] at [company]. I help [who you serve] do [the outcome you deliver]. How I like answers: [short and direct / detailed and thorough]. [Bullets / prose]. Skip the preamble and get to the point. Never use: [any words, phrases, or styles you dislike]. Good to know: [anything else that helps you work the way I want, such as my tone, my market, or the tools I use].
Keep it short. You can update it any time as the way you work changes.
The steps above are the basics. This is the thorough version. Give it real time, about fifteen to twenty minutes, and answer with specifics. Turn on Cowork so Claude walks you through it and writes everything up at the end. What you get back is an assistant that knows your business well enough to work like a teammate, not a stranger.
You are going to interview me in depth, then write up a profile so you can work as an assistant that genuinely knows me and my business. Take this seriously and go deep. How to run the interview: - Ask one question at a time and wait for my answer. - Follow up. If an answer is vague, ask for a specific example or a real number before you move on. - Do not jump to the next area until you have real detail on the one you are in. - Keep it plain and friendly. This will take a while. That is expected. Cover all of these, in order: About me: how I like to communicate, when I do my best work, anything personal that shapes how I work, and what is fine to share publicly versus what has to stay private. My business: what it does in plain words, exactly what I sell, how people pay me, how customers find me today, how big it is, who else a customer looks at and why they pick me, and what a strong month looks like next to a slow one. Who I serve: my best customer in detail, what is going on in their world right before they come to me, what they care about most, how they describe their problem in their own words, who is not a good fit, where they spend their time, and one thing I believe about them that most people in my field get wrong. What is mine: my own method, program, or process, what I call it, the steps or main parts in plain words, any names or phrases I always want said exactly right, and what I know that my competitors do not. How I work: how I deliver for a customer start to finish, what happens on a regular cadence, and what I check before something goes out the door. My goals: my top three goals for the next year, and what I would put more time toward if I had it. What eats my time: the three things that eat the most of my time or that I dread, where things pile up or slip through the cracks, and finish this sentence for me, "If I could hand off ______, I would finally have time for ______." My voice: three words for how my business would talk if it were a person, whether I am more formal or casual and more serious or playful, any sayings that feel like me, and any words I never want used because they sound too corporate, too salesy, or just not me. Then ask me to paste in three to five things I have written that sounded exactly right. When we are done, write up two things: 1. A short version, under 200 words, I can paste into my personal instructions. 2. A longer profile, organized in clear sections, I can save so every future chat works from it. Start with your first question now.
Two places to keep the output: paste the short version into your personal instructions from Step 1, and save the longer profile in a Claude Project so every chat in that project starts already knowing your business. The hand-off question is the one to sit with. Whatever you would give away first is the best place to point your assistant first.
SAM is a ready-made folder that turns Claude into an assistant that knows your business. It has the interview built in, plus the file structure your assistant reads from, so you do not start from a blank page. Download it, unzip it, and give the folder a permanent home in your Documents.
Download the SAM starter kit (.zip)Open Claude, turn on Cowork, connect the SAM folder, and say Set up my SAM. It interviews you for about fifteen minutes and sets itself up from your answers.
Same questions the prompt above uses, in a list you can read, print, or hand to a colleague to walk you through. Answer them, then paste your answers into Claude and ask it to write up your profile.
The hand-off question is the important one. Whatever you would give away first is where your assistant starts.