📖 See also: Glossary: Claude Code Building Blocks for a full breakdown of all the pieces (skills, hooks, subagents, MCP, plugins, etc.)
Projects (claude.ai) vs Claude Code (terminal/VSCode) header-row="true">
| Projects (claude.ai) | Claude Code (terminal) |
| Custom instructions | System prompt in Project settings | CLAUDE.md file |
| Context/files | Manually uploaded files | Entire project folder — Claude reads files directly |
| Project config | No equivalent | settings.local.json (hooks, permissions) |
| File access | Limited to what you upload + context window size | Full codebase, reads on demand |
| Can execute code | No | Yes, runs commands directly |
| Can edit files | No | Yes, writes and modifies files |
| Best for | Writing, analysis, brainstorming, non-code tasks | Code, design systems, token files, anything file-based |
| Collaboration | Share Projects with teammates | Share via Git repo + CLAUDE.md |
