Claude Academy
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Claude in a DM

Lesson 215 min
In this lessonBy the end, you’ll be able to
  • Decide when a DM is the right place for a piece of work
  • Name what Claude can and cannot access in a DM
  • Set up a routine that posts to you alone

If you want Claude to act under your own account, in your own tools, on work only you will see, start with Claude in a DM. Here Claude works as an extension of you in your own tools; in a channel it works under its own name (lesson 3). A DM is also the easiest place to try things before anyone else sees them.

What you can do in a DM

Use DMs with Claude for personal work on your own data that isn't posted to any channel. In a DM, you can:

  • Have Claude work as you: in a DM Claude runs on your own Claude account with your connectors, so it can read your calendar, email, and files.
  • Try things before anyone sees them: shape a draft before anyone sees it, or ask something you would rather not post in a channel.
  • Catch up on a public channel: name the channel and Claude searches it for you, without you posting there.
  • Set up routines for yourself: scheduled work, such as a morning brief, that posts to you alone.

Get familiar with what Claude can do for you

A DM is also the easiest place to find out what Claude knows and can do for your work. Start by asking it directly:

What do you know about me, and what sorts of things can you do for my work?

What can you access from here?

What Claude can use in your DMs

In a DM, Claude can draw on:

  • Your daily tools: your calendar, email, and files, through your own connectors.
  • Information across your workspace: any public channel in the workspace, by search, when you name it.
  • Anything you bring to the conversation: file attachments, images, or what you paste into the thread.

Put together, that makes a DM good for work like this:

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Protecting your privacy and data

Trusting Claude to act on your behalf

In a DM, Claude can take action on your behalf. A few things to know before you let it:

  • What Claude learns here stays separate: what Claude learns here is kept to this DM, never added to the notes Claude shares across the workspace.
  • Claude uses your connectors only for what you ask: you can disconnect any of them from your Claude account's connector settings.
  • Anything Claude does in your tools is done under your name: review before you let it send or change something.
  • Your DM is not visible to any channel: nothing you do here reaches the team's channels, and a channel's connections stay with that channel.

When to use a channel instead

A DM keeps the work with you. That is the point of it, and also its limit:

  • Nobody else can see or continue it: a colleague cannot add what they know, correct Claude's answer, or pick the task up while you are away. If you paste the result into a channel later, any correction happens where Claude does not learn from it.
  • Claude works from your own tools: your connectors and what you paste. The systems connected to a team channel, like the CRM or the tracker, are not available here, so questions about them get thinner answers.
  • What it learns stays with you: a preference or correction saved in a DM shapes only your DM; said in a public channel, it helps everyone in that channel.

When any of these matter, ask in a channel. Lesson 5 helps you decide.

Try it

Think of an assistant who has read everything before you sit down, knows what is waiting on you, and has already started the small things. That is the routine you set up here, from the channels you follow.

Set up a morning brief with Claude

In a DM with Claude · 10 minutes, then a minute each morning

  1. Open a DM with Claude and say hello: if it asks you to connect your Claude account, follow the prompt.

  2. Tell it which channels matter to you: name the channels where your work happens and the people whose messages matter most. Or ask Claude to work it out and copy this in:

    @Claude search the workspace and tell me what you find about me, my work and my priorities, then propose the channels you should watch for me.

    Claude comes back with a proposed list of channels to follow.

  3. Ask for the brief: one message with when, what to watch, and what to bring back. Change the underlined parts, then copy it into your DM:

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  4. Sharpen it when the first one arrives: reply in its thread with what would make it more useful: the format ("more scannable, always include links"), something to track over time ("each week, count how many questions in #sales-requests went unanswered for a day"), or what to prioritize ("messages from [names] first; skip routine posts in [channel]"). Then ask Claude to update the routine with it.

Done when: a brief has arrived in your DM and you have tailored it once so the next one fits how you like to work.

Claude's memory from your DM is available only to you. If you hit an error, the troubleshooting docs can help.

Before you move on

Key takeaway: a DM is you and Claude, working under your name, with your own tools; good for questions, tasks, or responsibilities that belong only to you.

After practicing: A morning brief will be arriving in your DM, and you will have tailored it once so the next one fits how you like to work.