Artifacts

A memo section takes a dozen turns to get right, and hunting for the latest version up a long chat thread wastes every one of them. Most of Claude’s replies live in the flow of the conversation. Some outputs deserve their own home. An artifact is a standalone document Claude builds beside the chat: a memo section, a comparison table, a one-pager, the kind of thing you will keep editing rather than simply read once and scroll past.

A document, not just a reply

When you ask Claude for something substantial and self-contained, it opens the result in a separate panel rather than burying it in the message thread. The chat stays on the left for your back-and-forth; the artifact sits on the right as a clean, focused document.

The advantage is that you can refine the document in place. Instead of scrolling up through a long conversation to find the latest version of a memo, you keep one living document on screen and shape it turn by turn.

What belongs in an artifact

Reach for an artifact when the output is a deliverable in its own right, something you will shape and reuse rather than glance at once.

• Memo sections, such as investment highlights, key risks, or a transaction overview.
• Structured tables, like a competitor comparison or a financial summary.
• One-pagers, for example a screen summary a partner can read in a minute.
• Reusable templates you intend to apply across several targets.

A quick answer, a definition, or a short list does not need an artifact. Those belong in the chat, where they are easiest to read in context.

Working with an artifact

1. Ask for a self-contained document

   Request the deliverable directly: “Draft the key risks section as a document,” or “Build a comparison table I can keep refining.” Claude opens it as an artifact.

2. Refine it by talking to the chat

   Keep giving instructions in the conversation: “Tighten the second paragraph,” “Add a row for churn,” “Make the tone more partner-ready.” The document updates in place.

3. Read it in context

   The artifact reflects everything in the conversation, so the files and figures you discussed earlier inform the draft without you re-explaining them.

4. Verify, then take it out

   Check every figure and claim against the source before the document leaves Claude. The artifact is a polished first draft, not a finished deliverable.

A prompt that produces a clean artifact

You are assisting a Private Equity associate, drafting for an investment committee.
Using the analysis and documents in this conversation, draft the “Key Risks” section of an IC memo for the target.

Group risks under clear headings (commercial, financial, operational).
For each, state the risk in one line, then why it matters in one or two.
End with the three diligence questions that would most reduce uncertainty.
Produce it as a clean, self-contained document I can keep editing. Flag anything the materials do not let you assess.

Where artifacts collect

Every artifact Claude builds is gathered in one place, the Artifacts entry in the left menu. That makes it easy to return to a memo section or a table you built earlier without digging through old chats. When you are working inside a deal Project, the artifacts you create stay associated with that workspace, which keeps each deal’s documents together and separate.

What to take from this

Artifacts give substantial outputs their own home, a living document beside the chat that you refine in place rather than rebuild each turn. Use them for memo sections, tables, one-pagers, and templates: anything you will shape and reuse. Drive the edits through the conversation, find your past work under the Artifacts menu, and verify the result before it leaves your desk. To see an artifact drafted from a full screen, watch the memo section come together in the Project Atlas walkthrough.