Claude Project: Build a Persistent ID Assistant

What This Builds

Instead of starting every new course project by re-explaining your client's brand voice, audience, course standards, and templates to the AI each time, you'll build a Claude Project that holds all of that context permanently. Every new conversation starts with your client's style guide, sample narration, learning objective templates, and course structure pre-loaded. You stop being a prompt engineer and start being an instructional designer who has a well-briefed AI collaborator.

Prerequisites

• Comfortable using Claude for basic prompting (Level 3)
• A Claude Pro account ($20/month at claude.ai)
• Existing course assets to upload as knowledge (style guide, sample scripts, templates)
• At least one active client or project to configure for

The Concept

A Claude Project is like having a new team member who has read everything about your client before their first day. You write a project description (the "system prompt") that tells Claude who it's working for, what standards it should follow, and how it should behave. You upload documents. brand guides, sample courses, approved objective templates, as project knowledge. Every conversation you start within that project begins with all of this context loaded and ready, without you repeating yourself.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Set up the Claude Project

1. Go to claude.ai → click Projects in the left sidebar
2. Click New Project → give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Acme Corp. L&D Course Design")
3. Click Edit Project Instructions → this is where you write the system prompt

Write your project instructions using this template (fill in the specifics for your client):

You are an instructional design assistant for [Client Name], a [type of organization].

## Role Context
You help me (an instructional designer) create eLearning courses for [audience description].
When I give you content to work with, assume it comes from a subject matter expert and should be
treated as accurate — don't supplement it with outside knowledge unless I specifically ask.

## Audience Profile
- Job role: [e.g., call center representatives]
- Prior knowledge: [e.g., 6 months on the job, comfortable with CRM software]
- Tech comfort: [high/medium/low]
- Reading level target: [e.g., 8th grade]

## Brand Voice and Tone
- [e.g., Conversational and direct. Not corporate or overly formal.]
- [e.g., Use contractions. Second person ("you", "your"). Present tense.]
- [e.g., Avoid jargon: never use "leverage", "synergy", "learner-centric".]

## Course Standards
- Learning objectives: [e.g., Always use Bloom's application-level verbs. Format: "By the end of this module, you will be able to [verb] [specific skill]."]
- Module length: [e.g., Maximum 20 minutes of content per module]
- Assessment: [e.g., 8-10 questions per module, multiple choice, application level]
- Feedback: [e.g., Write specific instructional feedback for each wrong answer, not just "Incorrect."]

## Output Formats
- Narration scripts: Second person, present tense, short paragraphs (3-4 sentences max)
- Learning objectives: Bullet list format with Bloom's verb bolded
- Quiz questions: Numbered, with answer options labeled A-D, correct answer marked with ✓

## What I'll Ask You Most Often
1. Analyze SME content → extract outline + write objectives
2. Write narration scripts from outlines
3. Generate quiz questions with distractors and feedback
4. Write scenario-based activities for specific topics
5. Draft stakeholder emails and project communications

When I say "start a new course", ask me: topic, target audience, number of modules, and any SME content I have available.

Click Save.

Part 2: Upload project knowledge documents

Click Add Content → Upload files → upload these documents:

• Style guide. your client's brand standards document (if they have one)
• Sample course script. a completed, approved narration script from a previous course (Claude will match this style)
• Approved objectives template. a list of approved learning objectives or past examples
• Course template structure. a description of your standard module structure

What you should see: Uploaded documents appear in the project's knowledge base. Claude will reference these in every conversation.

Troubleshooting: PDFs and Word docs both work. If a document is very large (100+ pages), upload the most relevant sections rather than the full document.

Part 3: Test and refine the project

Start a new conversation within the project → test it with a real task:

Paste the document → review the outline Claude produces.

Check:

• Does it match your tone guide?
• Are the objectives formatted correctly?
• Is the reading level appropriate?
• Are the narration samples in the right voice?

If anything is off, go back to the project instructions and be more specific about that aspect.

Real Example: Acme Corp Course Design Project

Setup: You're an instructional designer who handles all L&D work for Acme Corp, a mid-size manufacturing company. You build 8-12 courses per year for them. Their audience is line-level production workers, 8th-grade reading level, conversational tone.

Project instructions include:

• Acme's style guide uploaded (colors, fonts, approved terminology)
• Sample approved script from their last safety training course
• Standard 3-module structure they use for all training

A conversation inside this project:

You: "Start a new course. Topic: machine lockout/tagout procedures. I have the OSHA regulation text and a recording transcript from the plant safety manager."

Claude: "Got it. Based on your standard 3-module structure for production worker courses, here's a proposed outline for the lockout/tagout course:

Module 1: Why Lockout/Tagout Matters (foundation)

• Objective: Identify the 3 most common machine-related injuries that lockout/tagout prevents Module 2: The 6 Steps (procedure)
• Objective: Demonstrate the lockout/tagout procedure sequence on [specific equipment type] Module 3: What To Do When Something Goes Wrong (judgment)
• Objective: Decide the correct response to 4 common lockout/tagout exceptions

Want me to proceed with writing the narration for Module 1 based on the OSHA text and the safety manager's transcript?"

Setup time: 1-2 hours (one time) Time saved per course: 30-60 minutes of context-loading eliminated; consistent voice without rework

What to Do When It Breaks

• Claude ignores the style guide → Add the specific rule more prominently in the system prompt; repeat it in your conversation prompt as a reminder
• Outputs don't match uploaded documents → Remove and re-upload the documents; Claude sometimes doesn't surface them if the project context is too long
• Conversations feel inconsistent → Start a new conversation within the project rather than continuing old ones. each new conversation reloads the full project context freshly

Variations

• Simpler version: Use Claude's regular "Custom Instructions" (Settings → Custom Instructions) to set basic preferences without managing a full project
• Extended version: Create a separate project for each major client; upload client-specific terminology, regulatory requirements, and previous courses as precedent examples

What to Do Next

• This week: Set up one project for your most active client and run your next course through it
• This month: Build a second project for a different client and compare the quality and consistency of outputs
• Advanced: Connect the project to a Zapier workflow that automatically emails you a weekly summary of new content drafted across all active projects

Advanced guide for Instructional Designer professionals. These techniques use more sophisticated AI features that may require paid subscriptions.