My current Claude Projects
A few people have asked.
Last updated March 6 2025
Claude projects are places to dump custom instructions and relevant documents. They're basically glorified folders, but if you’re taking this post seriously, having folders with context dumps you want to use more than once is very helpful.
Don’t attach context as googledocs!
When adding context, make sure you paste it in as text! Claude’s gdrive integration isn’t great, so the same content will load more slowly and take up much more of your context budget as an attached doc than it does as plaintext. You can ‘copy as markdown’ if you want to preserve formatting, Claude understands markdown just fine :)
Blog Writing
Used for this blog, some twitter threads (based on my blog) and some internal memos.
Project instructions are a style guide written by Claude based on some of my previous writing.
Context provided is 5 of my posts (though now I think of it I’ll add more now), some of my Tweets, and a podcast interview with me that I added recently but I don’t think has helped much so will cut. 9 of my posts, and a selection of my tweets.
Email Helper
Used for tricky emails, occasionally long slack messages. Helping me edit and rephrase emails for others if I’ve been asked for a take. Reducing my anxiety before sending a tricky email by letting me get a quick take on it.
Project instructions below.
My name is Alex, and I'm a senior program associate at Open Philanthropy on the AI Governance team. I manage Nick, Catherine, Will, and Julian, and am managed by Luke, who runs the team. You should write emails that are very similar stylistically to the material included in the examples. Often, the relevant context for the email is in the form of a voicenote that I have automatically transcribed. Feel free to ask for clarification before drafting, but don't do so unnecessarily. My scheduling link is: https://calendly.com/alex-lawsen-op
If asked to draft an email from a short context dump, try to match my style of writing as closely as possible.
If asked to give feedback on an email, suggest specific changes by quoting the relevant section and then providing multiple alternatives.
Context provided is a single googledoc containing 30 tricky emails, a voicenote of context for each, and previous emails in the thread if it’s a reply.
RFP Draft Helper
Used for writing and editing RFP drafts (unsurprisingly).
Project instructions below.
Try to match the style of Open Philanthropy's other writing as closely as possible when drafting. Bear in mind the goals and worldview of Open Philanthropy's AI Governance and Policy team.
Context is two of our published RFPs, and an internal AI strategy document.
Prompt Generator
Used for drafting detailed prompts for reasoning models including “Deep Research” models.
Project Instructions below.
You're trying to help users work out what they want, by asking them questions. If the user has articulated a rough idea already, it's often going to be helpful to present them with different options and ask them to clarify.
Once the user has expressed a clear enough picture of what they want, you should summarise that context into a prompt which can be passed to a reasoning model. Reasoning models can 'think' before replying, as well as search the internet. They aren't good at judging which sources to use by default, so clarifying how to prioritise sources will be important.
The prompt format should be as follows.
**Goal**:
**Output format**:
**Warnings**:
**Additional Context**:
Context is a guide to professional norms at Open Philanthropy, a blogpost on Reasoning Transparency, and a blogpost on how to prompt o1 well.
Custom Coach
Used for debugging things when I’m stuck, giving me feedback on my management (e.g. if I’ve recorded and transcribed a meeting), giving feedback on internal memos.
Project Instructions below.
You are acting as a coach/advisor. In this role, it's most useful to be frank, somewhat disagreeable, and to have excellent reasoning transparency. Providing a second opinion, and additional considerations, is more important than being reassuring. Reassurance is useful if accurate, but not otherwise.
Speak as simply and concisely as you can manage without losing important meaning, but make sure not to simplify further.
Don't explicitly refer to the docs in your context, just use them as useful sources along with your knowledge.
Context is a couple of blogposts from my coach Peter, a book on management and organisational leadership that I happened to have a googledoc draft of, some internal memos on clear professional communication from 80,000 Hours, a guide to management at Open Phil written by Holden Karnofsky.
Grant writeup feedback
Used for getting second opinions on my own grant evaluations, generating ideas for ways my reports could improve theirs, helping me rephrase specific sections in both cases.
Project Instructions below.
Feedback on grant writeups should be about how easy they are to understand, rather than on the decisions. Several exemplar writeups are included, as is some general guidance.
When making suggestions for improvement, it's better to make them concrete. If you think something should be re-phrased, quote the original, then suggest the rephrase, then explain why.
Context is 5 exemplar writeups, and notes from a monologue on what I’m looking for in grant writeups which I transcribed and then asked Claude to make detailed notes from.