🔮 easy app cloning & Claude memory & safety

Most people skip this. The ones who do it get better answers every single time.

It is called custom instructions. And if you have never set it up, Claude has been working without knowing anything about you.

That is like hiring an assistant and never telling them what you do, who you work with or how you like things done.

Here is how to fix it. In Claude's chat app and in Claude Cowork.

What Custom Instructions Actually Do

Custom instructions tell Claude who you are before every conversation starts.

Your job. Your audience. Your tone. Your preferences. The things you always have to explain at the top of every chat.

You write them once. Claude applies them automatically every time you open a new conversation. You never repeat yourself again.

Setting Up Custom Instructions in Claude Chat

Here is a template to get you started:

"I am a [your role] who works with [your audience]. My tone is [warm / professional / direct]. Keep responses concise and avoid jargon. I am not technical so explain things in plain language. When I ask for help writing, match my voice and do not use corporate language."

That is it. Four to six sentences. Claude reads this before every single conversation from now on.

What to Include in Your Instructions

Your role and what you do. Who you serve or work with. The tone you want Claude to use. Any words or phrases to avoid. How long you want responses to be. Any context that would help Claude give you better answers faster.

Setting Up Global Instructions in Claude Cowork

Claude Cowork takes this one step further.

In Cowork, global instructions live in a file called CLAUDE.md. This file sits in your workspace folder and Claude reads it every time a session starts.

It works the same way as custom instructions in the chat app — but it can hold much more. You can include your full business context, your goals, your rules for how Claude should behave, your file locations and anything else Claude needs to know to work effectively for you.

To set it up, open your Claude Cowork workspace folder and look for CLAUDE.md. If it does not exist, Claude can create one for you. Just ask: "Create a CLAUDE.md file for me and interview me to fill it in."

Cowork users who invest 10 minutes setting this up report that Claude stops making generic suggestions and starts giving answers that actually fit their business.

The Difference Between the Two

Claude chat custom instructions travel with your account. They apply in every conversation you start on claude.ai.

Cowork global instructions live in your workspace. They are more detailed, more specific and give Claude a deeper understanding of your work.

If you use both, set up both. They work together.

Your Action for This Week

Start with Claude chat. Go to Profile Settings and add your custom instructions today. Use the template above.

If you use Claude Cowork, ask Claude to help you build your CLAUDE.md file. One setup, permanent improvement.

Before the headed to the hospital for day surgery I opened Claude and typed one instruction.

Build me my own version of Wispr Flow. A voice dictation tool. Something I use every day to save hours of typing.

When I woke up and opened my computer, the app was finished. Fully working. First try.

I write zero code. Not one line. Ever.

What Actually Happened

I used Claude Fable 5, Anthropic's newest model, to run what is called an agentic session. This is where you give Claude a goal and it works through the steps on its own, making decisions, writing the code, testing it and building the finished product while you do something else entirely.

In this case, I was under general anaesthesia.

Full credit to Marcin AI, who shared this idea and inspired me to test it. I just happened to have a surgery date and a lot of nerve.

What This Means for You

Level up your AI usage. Go from using it like a smarter Google. You ask a question. It answers. You close the tab.

What happened in that hospital is different. That is DELEGATION.

You describe what you want in plain English. The AI figures out how to build it. You come back when it is done.

The old way: hire a developer, wait weeks, spend thousands. The new way: one prompt, one nap, one working app.

What You Can Clone or Build

You do not have to clone a voice dictation app. Think about the simple tools you use in your business every day.

A client intake form that saves responses automatically. A simple booking page without a monthly software fee. A tracker for your projects, invoices or leads. A dashboard that pulls together information you currently check in five different places.

If you can describe it in plain English, Claude can build a version of it.

What You Need to Get Started

Access to Claude. The Max plan and Team Premium plan gives you access to Fable 5 (Pro and Team have a $100 credit), the model that handled the heavy lifting here. A clear description of what you want. And enough patience to let it run.

You do not need to know how to code. You do not need to understand what is happening under the hood. You need to know what problem you want solved.

Your Action for This Week

Think of one simple tool you wish you had for your business. A tracker, a form, a simple dashboard.

Open Claude. Click into Claude Code. Make sure Fable 5 is selected as the model. Describe it like you would explain it to a new assistant on their first day. Tell it what the tool should do, who uses it and what happens with the information.

To clone an app:

Then step away and let it work.

You do not have to go into surgery. But you could.

Picture this. A man calls claiming to be a federal officer. He warns your bank account is in danger and texts a photo of his badge as proof. The badge looks right. The name looks right. So you do what he says.

This happened to a man outside Chicago this year. He handed over 24,000 dollars in cash at his bank, then wired another 45,000 dollars four days later. In total he lost 69,000 dollars, almost half of what he and his wife saved over a lifetime.

The badge was fake. A scammer built it with AI in minutes.

AI tools now generate a realistic government ID, complete with a name, rank and face, in under a minute. No design skill needed, only a prompt. Scammers used to rely on a shaky phone line and a weak story. Now they hand you a convincing photo and your eyes believe it before your brain catches up.

AI got better at making fake things look official this year: a badge, a letter, a voice, a face on a video call. This is not a story about one unlucky man.

You do not need to fear AI to protect yourself. You need one new habit. Treat any photo, badge or urgent message from an unknown caller as unverified until you check it a second way.

Do this today

If someone calls claiming to be law enforcement, hang up. Call the department directly using a number you find yourself.

A photo is no longer proof of anything. AI generates a convincing one in minutes.

If money or a wire transfer comes up, slow down on purpose. Real emergencies wait ten minutes for you to confirm.

Talk to the people in your life most likely to be targeted: parents, grandparents, anyone less familiar with AI. Tell them one thing. A photo is not proof anymore. Neither is a voice.

This is the part of AI education I care about most. Keeping the people you love safe matters more than any time saving trick.

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