AI Guides › Workbench
By Nigel Guy · 8 min read
Most people who try to "talk to their Drive" switch on the Google Drive connector, ask one broad question, and get back a confident, well-written paragraph. It reads like Claude has gone through every folder. Usually it has read a handful of files that a search turned up, filled the gaps from general knowledge, and not said which parts were which. You can't tell your own notes from a plausible guess, and that's worse than having no answer.
The rule: Claude may only answer from files it actually opened, and it names the file every time. If nothing turns up, it says so.
None of this needs code or a developer. You need three things from the normal Claude app: the Google Drive connector, a Project, and a short set of Project instructions that make citing the source the default. Below are the parts, what each costs, and how to use them.
Prices are at time of writing. Anthropic lists Pro at US$20 a month and bills in local currency in supported regions, so check the £ figure on your own checkout page.
| Part | What it does | Cost / free tier | Best for | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive connector | Lets Claude search your Drive, list recent files and read what it finds | Included on Free and paid plans | Questions across lots of files you can't be bothered to open | Claude reads only what the search returns, and very large files can arrive incomplete |
| Drive files in Project knowledge | Pins chosen Docs, Sheets or Slides to a Project so every chat in it can use them | Free plan: up to five Projects. Paid plans: more | The 5–20 documents you go back to every week | Private Projects only, and a file over roughly 10 MB comes through as name and details with no content |
| Project instructions | Standing rules Claude follows in every chat in that Project | Included | Making "cite or admit" the default | Instructions guide behaviour. They don't guarantee it, so you still check |
| The two working prompts (below) | A "pull it together" brief and an "audit my claim" check | Free | Synthesis and spot-checks | No better than the files that turn up |
Claude can only reach the files your Google account can open. On Team and Enterprise plans, Drive won't appear in the list until an Owner has added it for the organisation. After that, each member connects their own account. In a chat, you turn the connector on under + > Connectors.
Files you pin reach Claude as text. Docs become Markdown with the images removed, Sheets become CSV with every tab included, and Slides become plain text. Their content refreshes from Drive from time to time when you open the Project. On paid plans, Projects use retrieval once knowledge grows large, so Claude pulls in relevant chunks rather than reading every page each time.
Select Set project instructions, paste the text below, fill in the brackets and select Save instructions. Fill in: your name or business, the kinds of documents you keep, and any folders or files Claude should treat as out of date.
ROLE
You are the retrieval assistant for [YOUR NAME / BUSINESS]. Your knowledge of my work comes only from (a) files pinned to this Project and (b) files you open through the Google Drive connector in this chat. My Drive mostly holds [DOCUMENT TYPES, e.g. client proposals, meeting notes, price lists, supplier contracts].
GOAL
Answer my questions with what my own files say, so I can trust where every statement came from. A good answer is short, names its sources and is open about gaps.
HOW TO HANDLE EACH QUESTION
1. Decide whether the answer should come from my files. If it should, search Drive or check the pinned files before writing anything.
2. Open the most relevant files. Do not answer from a search result's title or snippet alone.
3. Write the answer. After each point, put the source file's exact name in brackets. If two files feed one point, name both.
4. If my files contradict each other, show both versions with their file names and the files' last-modified dates if you can see them. Do not pick a winner silently.
5. If several files could be the one I mean, list them with a one-line description each and ask which I want.
6. If you find nothing relevant, reply: "Nothing in the files I could search covers this." Then say what you searched for, and offer general knowledge only if I ask, clearly labelled as general knowledge.
RULES
- Never present general knowledge, assumptions or inferences as if they came from my files. Label any inference as "my inference".
- Treat [OUT-OF-DATE FOLDERS OR FILES] as superseded unless I say otherwise.
- Do not move, share, rename, trash or create Drive files unless I ask in that message.
- Keep answers under [WORD LIMIT, e.g. 150] words unless I ask for more.
- If my question is missing something you need (a date range, a client, a project), ask one short question rather than guessing.
BEFORE YOU SEND
Check: does every factual sentence about my work carry a file name? Is anything labelled as from my files that you did not actually open? Fix either problem before replying.
Use this in a chat inside the Project when you want one view of a topic that's spread across many files. Fill in: the topic, any date range, and who the summary is for.
I need one organised view of everything my Drive holds on [TOPIC], covering [DATE RANGE or "all dates"]. It is for [AUDIENCE, e.g. me before a client call / a new colleague].
Steps:
1. Search my Drive with at least three different wordings of the topic, including likely file-name terms such as [ALTERNATIVE TERMS].
2. List the files you opened, with names, before writing the summary.
3. Group what they say into 3-6 themes. Under each theme, give the key points with the source file name in brackets.
4. Add a section called "Where my files disagree" covering conflicting figures, dates or decisions, with both sources named.
5. Add a section called "Gaps" listing questions my files do not answer.
Format: headings for each theme, bullet points, no more than [LENGTH, e.g. 400] words in total.
If the topic is too broad to cover properly, tell me and suggest how to narrow it before you start.
Self-check before sending: every bullet has a source, and no file is cited that is missing from your list in step 2.
Use this before you send something to a client or quote a figure. Fill in the statement you're about to make.
I am about to tell someone: "[STATEMENT, e.g. our standard day rate is £X and includes travel]".
Check it against my Drive. Search for the relevant files, open them, and tell me:
- Supported, contradicted, or not covered by my files
- The exact wording from each relevant file, with its file name
- Any newer file that might override an older one
If you cannot find anything, say so plainly. Do not guess.