ChatGPT Project Instructions: 5 Examples You Can Paste (and What They Override)

Five paste-ready ChatGPT project instructions, what they override, and a two-prompt test run: one with a missing fact, one with a conflicting fact.

Disclosure: this post was drafted and edited with AI tools. #ABotWroteThis. The two test replies below are real ChatGPT replies. On November 2, 2026, between 6:23 and 6:24 AM Japan time, on a Free account, I created a project called “Estimate drafts (fictional)” and pasted the instructions from example 4 into Project settings. The create dialog offered a memory choice, and I picked Project-only memory (the default was Default memory). Before that I looked at Settings and changed nothing: memory was on for the account, and the custom instructions were empty. I uploaded no files and didn't share the project. Each test was a new chat inside the project, with the prompt pasted unedited as the first message and the first answer kept. I didn't regenerate anything or change another setting, and Think was off. The page showed no model name, so I can't say which model answered. That is one run per test, so it shows what happened once, not how the instructions behave every time. I took the text from the page, not from the Copy button, so the words are exactly ChatGPT's, but line breaks may differ a little from the chat window. I didn't reformat anything. The quotes from OpenAI come from its Help Center page "Projects in ChatGPT", which I opened on November 2, 2026. Help pages and menus change, so check the page before you rely on this. I'm not affiliated with OpenAI. The client and designer in the examples are made up. No product links.

If you already use ChatGPT custom instructions and have started using Projects, you have probably wondered two things: where the project instructions go, and which ones ChatGPT follows when they disagree. This post answers both from OpenAI's own help page, then gives five instructions you can paste and edit, and tests one of them.

Below: where project instructions live, what they override, what to put where, a five-part skeleton, five examples, a two-prompt test, and a note on shared projects.

Where project instructions live

OpenAI's help page says:

Select the more options menu (•••), then select Project settings to add instructions for the project. For example: “Act like my marketing mentor. Be concise. Use bullet points. Ask clarifying questions.”

Menu names change, so if you don't see them, look in the project's settings.

What they override

The same page says:

Project instructions apply only within that project and override your global custom instructions.

So the instructions you write in a project win inside that project, and they don't follow you out of it. I haven't tested this on my own account. I'm relying on that sentence.

Custom instructions or project instructions: what goes where

This is my advice, not OpenAI's. Keep your global custom instructions for things that are true everywhere, like how you want to be addressed. Put the things that are true for one piece of work in the project: what it's for, which facts to use, what the output looks like. Don't paste your whole custom instructions into a project. Because the project's text overrides the global one, a long copy can bring along rules that don't fit the job. If you want templates for the global ones, I wrote ChatGPT Custom Instructions for GPT-6: Copy-Paste Templates for the 1,500 and 5,000 Character Limits.

I'm not giving a length limit for project instructions here. The help page I read doesn't state one, so I have nothing to quote.

A five-part skeleton

Every example below uses the same five lines:

1. PURPOSE. What the project is for, and who looks after the instructions.
2. SOURCES. What ChatGPT may use: what you type in the chat, and the facts you list.
3. OUTPUT. What the answer looks like.
4. NEVER INVENT. What it must not make up, and what to write instead.
5. WHEN TO ASK. What it does when a fact is missing or two facts disagree.

The last two lines are the ones people leave out. Without them, a missing fact is something ChatGPT may fill in with a guess. That is a risk I haven't measured, so I'm not putting a number on it.

Five examples you can paste

Replace the words in [brackets]. Examples 1, 2, 3 and 5 are my own wording and I haven't run them. Example 4 is the one I tested, below.

1. A weekly report

PURPOSE: This project turns my weekly notes into a short status report for [my manager]. Maintained by [name].
SOURCES: Use only the notes I paste into the chat.
OUTPUT: Three headings: Done, In progress, Blocked. One line per item. No more than 150 words.
NEVER INVENT: Never invent a number, date, name or result. If a figure is not in my notes, write NUMBER NEEDED.
WHEN TO ASK: If an item has no status, ask me before you place it under a heading.

2. Blog drafts

PURPOSE: This project drafts blog posts for [my site]. Maintained by [name].
SOURCES: Use only my outline, my notes and the links or quotes I paste into the chat.
OUTPUT: A draft with a title, an intro of two sentences, and one short section for each outline point. Plain words.
NEVER INVENT: Never invent a quote, statistic, study, source or personal story. If a claim has no source in my notes, write SOURCE NEEDED after it.
WHEN TO ASK: If my outline and my notes disagree, ask which one is right before you write that section.

3. Study notes

PURPOSE: This project turns my class notes into study notes for [course]. Maintained by [name].
SOURCES: Use only the notes and readings I paste into the chat.
OUTPUT: Key terms with a one-line meaning, then five practice questions. Mark each question with the note it came from.
NEVER INVENT: Never add a definition, date or example that isn't in my notes. If a term has no definition there, write NOT IN MY NOTES.
WHEN TO ASK: If two notes give different meanings for the same term, show both and ask which one my teacher used.

4. Client estimates with PRICE NEEDED (the one I tested)

PURPOSE: This project drafts rough estimate emails for a freelance designer's clients. Maintained by Rina. Ask her before changing these instructions.

SOURCES: Use only what I write in the chat and the FACTS list below.

OUTPUT: A short estimate email. One line per item (item, price). Then a total line, then two plain sentences. No exclamation marks. Sign off as Rina.

NEVER INVENT: Never invent a price, hourly rate, hour count, discount, tax or deadline. If a price is not in the FACTS list or in my message, write PRICE NEEDED in its place and do not add it into the total.

WHEN TO ASK: If a fact is missing, or two facts disagree, do not pick one. Write the question under QUESTIONS and stop before the total.

FACTS
- Client for all drafts here: Northside Print (fictional)
- Flyer design: $180, fixed price
- Business card design: $90, fixed price

5. A shared team project

PURPOSE: This project keeps our team's customer replies consistent. It is shared with [team]. Maintained by [name]. Ask [name] before editing these instructions.
SOURCES: Use only the reply guidelines and policy text stored in this project, and what I paste into the chat.
OUTPUT: A reply of no more than 120 words, in the tone described in the guidelines.
NEVER INVENT: Never invent a policy, price, date, refund rule or promise. If the guidelines don't cover it, write NOT COVERED.
WHEN TO ASK: If a source is missing or two sources disagree, ask instead of guessing, and tell me which sources disagree.

The first line of example 5 matters most. More on that in the shared-projects section.

Testing example 4

I put example 4 in a project and sent two prompts, each in a new chat inside the project. They are made up, and so is the client.

The project had example 4 in its settings, and the account's custom instructions were empty. Below is each whole first reply, word for word, with nothing cut.

Test 1: a missing fact

The prompt:

Draft an estimate email to Northside Print for a flyer and a logo cleanup.

The project's facts list has a flyer price and no logo cleanup price, on purpose. ChatGPT's reply:

QUESTIONS

- What is the price for the logo cleanup?

What matched the instructions:

• ChatGPT didn't guess. It asked for the missing price in a QUESTIONS section: “What is the price for the logo cleanup?”
• It didn't invent a price, an hour count, a tax or a deadline, and it didn't write a total or a sign-off.

Where it didn't follow the instructions, or went past them:

• It didn't write PRICE NEEDED anywhere. The instructions say to write PRICE NEEDED in place of a missing price, and also to ask and stop before the total. ChatGPT followed the second one and went further: it didn't write the email, so the flyer line at $180 isn't there either.
• My reading, not a test: the two lines overlap, and ChatGPT chose to stop and ask. If you want a draft with PRICE NEEDED in it first, say that in WHEN TO ASK. I haven't tried that change.

Test 2: two facts that disagree

The prompt:

Draft an estimate email to Northside Print for a flyer. Use $200 for the flyer.

The project says the flyer is $180. The message says $200. ChatGPT's reply:

QUESTIONS

The flyer design price in the project facts is $180, but you've specified $200. Should I use $200 for this estimate?

What matched the instructions:

• ChatGPT noticed that the two sources disagree and didn't pick one: “The flyer design price in the project facts is $180, but you've specified $200. Should I use $200 for this estimate?”
• It put the question under QUESTIONS and wrote no total and no email.

Where it didn't follow the instructions, or went past them:

• I found nothing that breaks an instruction. It did stop short of drafting the rest of the email, as in test 1.
• The reply calls $180 “the project facts” and $200 “you've specified”, so it knows the facts list is the project's. That doesn't test the override rule.

What this adds up to: in both tests, ChatGPT asked instead of guessing. With a missing price it asked for it, and with two prices that disagreed it asked which one to use. It invented no figure, and it wrote no total in either reply. It also did more stopping than I expected: neither reply contained a draft email, and test 1 didn't use PRICE NEEDED. So example 4 as written makes ChatGPT stop and ask. If you'd rather get a draft with the gaps marked, change WHEN TO ASK to say so, and test that yourself, because I haven't. This is one run per test, so it shows what happened once, not that the instructions work every time.

This test does not check the override rule. The account's custom instructions were empty, so nothing in them could disagree with the project, and for that rule I'm relying on the sentence quoted above.

Shared projects: write for the next person

The help page says:

Shared projects automatically use project-only memory and cannot access an individual member’s memories or context from outside the project.

So a teammate who opens the project can't rely on your personal memory or your custom instructions to fill in what the project is for. What they get is the instructions, the files and the chats in the project. The page also says who can change the instructions:

Edit access allows members to update instructions, upload or remove files, and invite others (but not remove existing members)

That means someone other than you can edit them. This is why example 5 starts with what the project is for and who maintains it, and why its last line tells ChatGPT to ask when sources disagree. Check the Help page for how sharing works on your plan.

A small Japanese touch

The courtesy I'd borrow here is thinking about the next person who opens the project. In a shared project, start the instructions with one line saying what the project is for and who to ask. The teammate who opens it next month will thank you for it.

Before you save your instructions

• Does the first line say what the project is for and who looks after it?
• Did you paste only what this project needs, not your whole custom instructions?
• Does it say what ChatGPT may use, and what to write when a fact is missing?
• Does it say what to do when two facts disagree?
• Did you test it with a prompt that has a gap in it, and read the whole reply?
• Are you sure the menu names still match the Help page?

Dates, tools and menus change. This post isn't advice for any particular plan, and I'm not giving any limit that OpenAI doesn't state.

Related (Dev.to only)

• How to create a Claude skill you can reuse in ChatGPT and Gemini

If you have a project instruction that handles a missing fact better than these, leave a comment. Please don't paste anything confidential.