# 8.8 The same setup on both AI vendors (/managing-ai-workers/context-memory-knowledge-and-state/both-ai-vendors) --- type: Document title: "8.8 The same setup on both AI vendors" description: "How Anthropic's and OpenAI's own pages say you can set up the same project, the two differences that change your setup, and what stays the same on both." status: stable order: 208.8 ksor: owner: team:panaversity audience: [ public ] approval: by: process:panaversity at: 2026-10-07T18:30:04Z chapter: "08" part: II expert_status: required concepts: [ "8.8" ] last_verified: 2026-10-07 sources: - id: anthropic-context-window title: "How large is the context window on paid Claude plans? (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8606394-how-large-is-the-context-window-on-paid-claude-plans - id: anthropic-usage-limits title: "How do usage and length limits work? (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11647753-how-do-usage-and-length-limits-work - id: anthropic-personalization title: "Understanding Claude's personalization features (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/10185728-understanding-claude-s-personalization-features - id: anthropic-projects title: "How can I create and manage projects? (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9519177-how-can-i-create-and-manage-projects - id: anthropic-org-instructions title: "Set organization instructions (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/14546867-set-organization-instructions - id: anthropic-project-rag title: "Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) for projects (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11473015-retrieval-augmented-generation-rag-for-projects - id: anthropic-google-workspace title: "Use Google Workspace connectors (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/10166901-use-google-workspace-connectors - id: anthropic-drive-docs title: "Google Drive (Claude Docs, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://claude.com/docs/connectors/google/drive - id: anthropic-memory title: "Use Claude's chat search and memory to build on previous context (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11817273-use-claude-s-chat-search-and-memory-to-build-on-previous-context - id: anthropic-incognito title: "Use incognito chats (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12260368-use-incognito-chats - id: anthropic-connectors title: "Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11176164-use-connectors-to-extend-claude-s-capabilities - id: anthropic-project-sharing title: "Manage project visibility and sharing (Claude Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9519189-manage-project-visibility-and-sharing - id: chatgpt-pricing title: "Pricing (ChatGPT, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://chatgpt.com/pricing - id: openai-custom-instructions title: "ChatGPT Custom Instructions (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8096356-chatgpt-custom-instructions - id: openai-projects title: "Projects in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10169521-projects-in-chatgpt - id: openai-admin-sync title: "Administrator-managed apps with sync in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10847137-administrator-managed-apps-with-sync-in-chatgpt - id: openai-memory title: "Memory in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8590148-memory-in-chatgpt - id: openai-temporary-chat title: "Temporary chat in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8914046-temporary-chat-in-chatgpt - id: openai-connected-apps title: "Connected apps in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11487775-connected-apps-in-chatgpt - id: openai-company-knowledge title: "Company knowledge in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center, verified 2026-10-07)" resource: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12628342-company-knowledge-in-chatgpt generated: at: 2026-10-07T18:30:04Z by: esl-rewrite/1.2.0+ksor.1 trust_tier: unverified build_id: sha256:c93b28093c2f70c60faae2645a693d881b657ff94d00f7dd9f8c06427ff61c87 dirty: true ksor_version: 0.0.60 --- **In everyday life.** Two phone companies both let you keep a contact list. One syncs it automatically, updating it by itself. The other makes you import it again after each change. The list is the same. **What you will learn.** How to set up the same project on both AI vendors, from their own help pages, and the two differences that change your setup. You practice it in steps 3 and 5 of the build step. **Why it matters.** The ideas are the same on both AI vendors, but two settings are not. Get them wrong, and a copy goes out of date, or memory from your other chats gets into the project. Anthropic makes Claude, and OpenAI makes ChatGPT. They are the two AI vendors, the companies that make the AI products in this book. On either one, you set up the same project, a workspace for one body of work. The steps are the same. The settings differ. The two boxes below cover the same seven settings, in the same order. > **Anthropic, as verified 7 October 2026.** > - *Context window.* The context window is everything the model can use for its next reply, counted in tokens, pieces of words. On paid plans, the newest models have a 1M-token (one million token) window. Near the limit of the window, Claude summarizes earlier messages and keeps the full history to refer back to. This summarizing needs code execution, a setting that lets Claude run code, turned on.[^anthropic-context-window] Long chats use more of your usage limit, the amount of use your plan allows.[^anthropic-usage-limits] > - *Instructions.* Account-wide instructions in Settings apply to every conversation.[^anthropic-personalization] Project instructions apply to one project.[^anthropic-projects] On Team and Enterprise, organization owners can set organization instructions, which take priority where they conflict with a member's own instructions.[^anthropic-org-instructions] > - *Project knowledge.* Project files are available in every chat in the project.[^anthropic-projects] On paid plans, when a project's files grow near the window's limit, it switches to retrieval automatically. Claude then searches the files and reads only the parts it needs.[^anthropic-project-rag] > - *Synced sources.* Google Docs added from Google Drive to chats and projects stay synced to the latest version. In projects, this works only in private projects, ones not shared with others,[^anthropic-google-workspace] and the content refreshes from time to time when you open the project.[^anthropic-drive-docs] > - *Memory.* Claude saves memory as topics you can read, edit and delete in Settings. Each project has its own memory. Memory can be turned off for one chat, inside or outside a project, before the first message.[^anthropic-memory] Incognito chats, outside projects, are not saved to memory.[^anthropic-incognito] On Team and Enterprise, owners decide whether memory is available.[^anthropic-memory] > - *Connectors.* Connectors are links from Claude to other apps and services. They reach them with your own permissions. If you cannot open a file, the connector cannot either, unless it was set up with one shared login that many people use.[^anthropic-connectors] > - *Sharing.* On Team and Enterprise, a project can stay private. It can also be shared with chosen people, with Can view or Can edit access, or be opened to the whole organization.[^anthropic-project-sharing] > **OpenAI, as verified 7 October 2026.** > - *Context window.* OpenAI lists context windows by plan and mode on its pricing page.[^chatgpt-pricing] OpenAI's help pages do not say how ChatGPT handles older messages when a chat grows long. > - *Instructions.* Custom instructions, ChatGPT's account-wide instructions, apply to every chat in your account.[^openai-custom-instructions] Project instructions apply only within the project and override, or take priority over, your custom instructions.[^openai-projects] > - *Project knowledge.* A project holds chats, files and instructions. The file limit is 5 per project on the Free plan, 25 on the Go and Plus plans, and 40 on the Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu (education) plans.[^openai-projects] > - *Synced sources.* In a private project, you can add a Google Drive file or folder as a source by pasting its link. The Google Drive app, a connector, does not sync when added inside a project. It can still search and open files when asked.[^openai-projects] Sync indexes content for search. It is now set up only by workspace admins, for supported providers.[^openai-admin-sync] > - *Memory.* Saved memories are details you ask ChatGPT to remember. Where that behavior is available, they also include details ChatGPT saves as useful. A second setting, Reference chat history, uses past chats. You can review, correct and delete saved memories.[^openai-memory] A project's own memory shows no list. To stop project memory using a chat, delete the chat or, where settings allow, move the chat to another project.[^openai-projects] Temporary chats do not create or update memories.[^openai-temporary-chat] A project can use project-only memory, which ignores saved memories and chats outside the project. Shared projects always use project-only memory.[^openai-projects] > - *Connectors.* In ChatGPT, connectors are now called apps.[^openai-connected-apps] On Business, Enterprise and Edu, the Company Knowledge plugin, an add-on, searches connected apps within each user's existing access. When an answer includes citations, you can open them and check.[^openai-company-knowledge] > - *Sharing.* A shared project gives members edit access or chat access.[^openai-projects] **The comparison.** Both AI vendors offer projects with instructions and files. Both can keep a project's memory apart from your other work: on ChatGPT, once you choose project-only memory. Both let you read and correct saved memories. Two differences change how you set up: 1. *Keeping copies current.* A project holds copies of your approved knowledge. A Google Doc in a private Claude project stays synced, refreshed from time to time when you open the project. The Google Drive app inside a ChatGPT project fetches files when asked, and does not sync them in advance. On either AI vendor, replace uploaded files by hand after an approved change. On ChatGPT, also check that answers from fetched files cite the new approval. 2. *Memory scope*, which memories a project uses. Every Claude project keeps separate memory. A ChatGPT project uses your saved memories, unless you choose project-only memory. Choose project-only memory for an AI Worker's project. ![The title reads "One blueprint, two project setups." A dark banner reads "Governed knowledge and project instructions, maintained at the source." A table compares Claude from Anthropic and ChatGPT from OpenAI in seven rows. Context window: on Claude, model-dependent, up to 1M tokens on supported paid models, and long chats can be summarized. On ChatGPT, it varies by plan and model, so check the current published limits. Instructions: on Claude, account, project and organization scopes, with organization rules taking priority on conflict. On ChatGPT, project instructions override global custom instructions. Project knowledge: on Claude, project files available across chats, with retrieval for larger knowledge bases. On ChatGPT, chats, files and instructions, with file limits that depend on the plan. Source syncing, in gold: on Claude, Google Docs can stay synced in private projects. On ChatGPT, Drive in projects retrieves on demand and does not sync in advance. Memory scope, in gold: on Claude, editable memory topics, with separate memory for each project. On ChatGPT, default or project-only memory, and shared projects use project-only memory. Connected apps: on Claude, connectors access sources using your permissions. On ChatGPT, apps access connected sources, and company knowledge provides citations. Sharing: on Claude, project roles of Can view or Can edit, on supported plans. On ChatGPT, chat access or edit access. A key reads "Gold = settings to check before setup." The foot reads "Same governance. Different settings. Uploads are snapshots. Verify source freshness, access and memory scope," and "Availability depends on plan and workspace settings."](img/both-ai-vendors.png) *Figure 8.9. The same setup on both AI vendors, as verified 7 October 2026. The gold rows are the differences that change your setup.* **What stays the same.** An answer can come from five places, on either AI vendor: - Context, what the worker sees in this conversation, is temporary. - Memory is continuity, never authority. It helps the worker carry on from past chats, but it never has the final word. - A matter's history, the story of one piece of work such as an invoice, is kept in SSoR, the State System of Record, not in a chat. - Approved knowledge is written once, in the KSoR, the Knowledge System of Record, and a named person keeps every copy current. - Current state, where things stand now, is read from its own system, such as the accounting system. In Part IV of this book, DSoR, the Data System of Record, does that reading. [^anthropic-context-window]: How large is the context window on paid Claude plans?, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-usage-limits]: How do usage and length limits work?, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-personalization]: Understanding Claude's personalization features, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-projects]: How can I create and manage projects?, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-org-instructions]: Set organization instructions, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-project-rag]: Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) for projects, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-google-workspace]: Use Google Workspace connectors, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-drive-docs]: Google Drive, Claude Docs. [^anthropic-memory]: Use Claude's chat search and memory to build on previous context, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-incognito]: Use incognito chats, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-connectors]: Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities, Claude Help Center. [^anthropic-project-sharing]: Manage project visibility and sharing, Claude Help Center. [^chatgpt-pricing]: Pricing, ChatGPT. [^openai-custom-instructions]: ChatGPT Custom Instructions, OpenAI Help Center. [^openai-projects]: Projects in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center. [^openai-admin-sync]: Administrator-managed apps with sync in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center. [^openai-memory]: Memory in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center. [^openai-temporary-chat]: Temporary chat in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center. [^openai-connected-apps]: Connected apps in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center. [^openai-company-knowledge]: Company knowledge in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center.