For most agencies, one Claude Project per client is the right way to start. Each project keeps that client's files, instructions and memory apart from every other client, and on a Team or Enterprise plan you can keep it private to the account team. Add a shared client folder when freelancers, other AI tools or Claude Code need the same material.
Key takeaways
- Claude keeps a separate memory for each project, so one client's details stay out of another client's chats.
- Chats inside a shared project stay private to the person who started them, even when the files are shared.
- Project sharing works inside your Claude organization, so freelancers and other AI tools need another route.
We'll follow one example the whole way through: a 15-person agency with eight DTC clients, one of which is a skincare brand with a brand guide, a stack of past campaigns and a new brief every month.
How do Claude Projects work?
A Claude Project is a workspace in Claude with its own knowledge files, its own instructions and its own chats. You upload documents, text or code to the project's knowledge, and every chat you start in that project can use them [1].
Projects are on every plan, including Free, which allows up to five projects. On paid plans, Claude switches to retrieval when a project's knowledge gets large, which expands how much it can hold by up to 10 times [1].
10x
More room for project knowledge on paid Claude plans, through retrieval.Source: Claude Help Center, What are projects?
Each project also gets its own memory. Anthropic says Claude "creates a separate memory for each project" [3], so what Claude picks up while you work on the skincare brand stays with the skincare brand. Anthropic is also testing a new version of projects in beta with some Pro, Max and Ultra users, and says Team and Enterprise will follow [1].
With that in place, the per-client setup is the natural next step.
Should an agency set up one Claude Project per client?
Yes, one project per client is the setup we'd recommend for most agencies. The skincare brand's guide, briefs and past work sit in one place, and the separate memory keeps its details out of the other seven clients' chats.
On Team and Enterprise, you also choose who sees each project. A private project is open only to the members you invite, and each of them gets either Can view or Can edit [2]. Here's how we'd set up the skincare project:
1
Create a private project named for the client
Done when: only the skincare account team is invited.
2
Upload the brand guide, the current brief and two or three strong past campaigns
Done when: a new chat can describe the brand's voice without help.
3
Write project instructions covering tone, audience and the words the brand avoids
Done when: drafts come back in the brand's style on the first try.
4
Give the account lead Can edit and everyone else Can view
Done when: one named person owns what goes into the project.
Quick check: open your Claude projects list and look for any client project set to Public, since Public means everyone in your organization can view and use it [2].
One detail surprises people, which is that chats inside a project stay private to whoever started them, even in a public project, unless that person shares the chat [2].
This setup covers the account work your in-house team does in Claude chat, and the open questions start once the work reaches people or tools outside it.
Where does one project per client run out?
It runs out at the edge of your Claude organization. Project sharing happens inside your organization [2], and the skincare account has people and tools outside it:
- A freelance writer who works from their own Claude account.
- A strategist who drafts in ChatGPT, and a developer who builds the brand's landing pages in Claude Code or Codex.
Sharing a project with a whole group, such as everyone on one client pod, requires Enterprise and is in beta [2], so on Team you add people to each project individually.
Cost grows with the team too, since every person in a shared project needs a seat. Claude Team is $25 a seat a month billed monthly, or $20 billed annually, for teams of 2 to 150, and Enterprise lists $20 a seat billed annually with a 20-seat minimum, plus usage at API rates [4].
Keep the client's source files where every tool on the account can reach them.
That's the job of a shared client folder, which sits alongside the projects.
Should you use Claude Projects or a shared client folder?
Use both, with a Claude Project for chat work and one shared client folder that holds the master copy of every file. The folder holds the skincare brand's guide, briefs and approved work, and the project loads the files the account team needs in Claude.
Option 1
Claude Project per client
Reaches: your Claude organization
Keeps apart: knowledge, instructions, memory
Best for: in-house chat work
Option 2
Drive or Dropbox folder per client
Reaches: anyone you share it with
Keeps apart: files, by sharing settings
Catch: people copy files into each AI tool by hand
Option 3
A client company in HQ
Reaches: people you invite, in the AI tools each of them connects to HQ
Keeps apart: files, skills, rules, logins, per client
Best for: mixed tools and outside help
Whichever you pick, keep client logins and API keys out of project knowledge and shared drives and put them in a password manager or a secrets store that tools can use without showing the value.
If everyone on the account works in Claude chat on your plan, projects alone are enough. When they don't, the shared folder is what keeps every tool working from the same version of the client.
How this works in HQ
In HQ, each client gets its own space, encrypted and completely separate from every other client. The skincare brand's space holds what a Claude Project would: the brand guide, briefs and past campaigns, plus the standing rules for how its work gets done. It also holds the brand's skills and the logins its tools need, like Shopify and Klaviyo, kept out of chat.
Where it differs from a Claude Project is how far it reaches. Everything in that space works across the AI tools your team already uses, whether that's Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Codex, so nobody re-uploads the brand guide to each one. And only the people you add to the client, like the skincare account team, can see it. The other seven clients stay out of view.
Because the client's work lives in that shared space and not in anyone's own account, it also stays put when your team changes. If a strategist leaves, you take them off the client and everything they built stays with the client.
A Claude Project and an HQ company can run side by side, so you can keep the skincare project for day-to-day chat in Claude and use HQ as the place the client's files, rules and logins live for every tool. See isolated client and brand workspaces and HQ for agencies. You can start free with $10 of usage included every month.
FAQ
Can other people see my chats in a shared Claude Project?
No. Chats in a project stay private to the person who started them, even in a public project, unless they choose to share a chat [2].
Does Claude remember things across projects?
No. Claude keeps a separate memory for each project, so what it learns in one client's project stays there [3].
How many Claude Projects can I create?
Free accounts can create up to five projects [1]. The Help Center doesn't list a project limit for paid plans.
Which Claude plan do I need to share projects with my team?
Further reading
Sources (4)
- What are projects?, Claude Help Center, checked November 5, 2026.
- Project visibility and sharing, Claude Help Center, checked November 5, 2026.
- Memory announcement, Claude blog, September 11, 2025, updated October 23, 2025.
- Claude pricing, checked November 5, 2026.
Last updated November 5, 2026. Facts checked November 5, 2026.
