Claude Projects, Tools and Computer Use

Claude Projects

Projects in Claude AI provide a workspace for organizing related conversations. They allow you to set persistent custom instructions and upload reference documents that Claude can access across conversations.

Setting Up a Project

• Create a project and give it a descriptive name
• Add custom instructions (system prompt for the project)
• Upload reference files - code, documentation, design specs
• Claude references uploaded files when answering questions

Tool Use (Function Calling)

Claude can call external tools and APIs through the tool use feature. You define tools with their parameters, and Claude decides when to use them:

tools = [{
    "name": "get_weather",
    "description": "Get current weather for a location",
    "input_schema": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
            "location": {"type": "string"}
        },
        "required": ["location"]
    }
}]

Computer Use

Claude's computer use capability allows it to interact with desktop applications by taking screenshots, clicking, and typing. This is available through the API for building automation tools.

# Computer use allows Claude to:
# - Take screenshots of the screen
# - Click on specific coordinates
# - Type text into fields
# - Navigate desktop applications

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

MCP is an open standard for connecting Claude to external data sources and tools. It provides a standardized way to give Claude access to databases, APIs, and file systems.

Key Points

• Projects organize conversations with persistent instructions and files.
• Tool use lets Claude call external APIs and functions.
• Computer use enables Claude to interact with desktop applications.
• MCP provides a standard protocol for data source connections.
• These features extend Claude beyond text-based interaction.