Depot Documentation & User Guide

Getting Started & Installation

Installing Depot and opening your first side panel session.

Installation

Depot is available on the Chrome Web Store. It works in Google Chrome, Brave, and Microsoft Edge.

1. Open the Depot Chrome Web Store listing and click Add to Chrome.
2. Confirm the extension permissions. Depot requires access to https://claude.ai/*, sidePanel, and scripting.
3. Navigate to claude.ai in your browser and ensure you are logged into your account.
4. Click the Depot icon in your browser toolbar or extensions menu to open the side panel docked beside your chat.

Because Depot uses session credential inheritance, there is no need to enter an API key or log into a secondary service.

Working with Shared Library Groups

Creating reusable context groups and organizing master reference files.

Why use Shared Library Groups

A Shared Library Group acts as a single source of truth for reference files that multiple Claude Projects need. Common examples include:

• Company Knowledge: Mission, overview, target customer profiles, and team guidelines.
• Product Specifications: Architecture overview, API schemas, and feature requirements.
• Brand & Copy Rules: Voice guidelines, messaging rules, and prohibited terminology.
• Coding Standards: Style guides, test conventions, and component patterns.

Creating a Library Group

1. In the Depot side panel, switch to the Library tab.
2. Click New group and enter a descriptive name (e.g. Company Context or Frontend Rules).
3. Open the group to view its Files and Connected Projects sub-tabs.

Adding Files to a Group

Click the + button inside a Library Group to add files using three methods:

• New file: Create a blank file directly in Depot and write its content in the built-in editor.
• Upload from disk: Select text files (.md, .txt, .json, .sql, .js, .py) from your local computer.
• From projects: Import existing context documents from your active Claude projects into the group.

Running a 3-Way Context Sync

Connecting projects, reviewing diffs, and pushing updates safely.

Connecting Projects to a Group

1. Inside a Library Group, switch to the Connected Projects sub-tab.
2. Find the Claude Projects you want to keep in sync and click Connect.
3. Connected projects now monitor the library group for changes.

Understanding the Sync Button States

The dynamic action button at the top of each Library Group reflects real-time status:

• Sync to projects: Evaluates files across connected projects. If no files exist, it prompts you to add files; if no projects are connected, it opens the Connected Projects tab.
• Sync N updates to projects: Appears when one or more connected projects are missing files or have older file versions. Clicking opens the Push Preview sheet.
• ✓ All connected projects up to date: Confirms all connected projects match the latest library version.

The Create-Then-Delete Safety Guarantee

When updating an existing file in a project, Depot avoids deleting files first. Instead, it uploads the new document version to Claude first. Only after the upload succeeds does it remove the outdated document ID. If a network disruption occurs mid-sync, your document is preserved.

Safe Project Duplication & Prompt Branching

Cloning projects with pre-flight dry runs to test prompt variants.

How to Duplicate a Project

1. In the Projects tab, locate the project card you wish to branch.
2. Click the Duplicate button on the card.
3. Depot inspects the project and presents a pre-flight dry-run sheet.
4. Review the target project name (default: {Project Name} (variant B)) and edit it if desired.
5. Review the document count and click Duplicate project to confirm.

Depot creates the new project container in Claude and copies over the system prompt instructions and all text documents. The original project remains untouched.

In-Panel Markdown & Context File Editing

Editing uploaded context files directly without leaving your browser tab.

Opening the In-Panel Editor

1. Click any project card in the Projects tab to open its Context Documents list.
2. Click the Edit button on any text file to open the full-panel editor.
3. Edit your text, prompt guidelines, or code directly in place.

Editor Features & Shortcuts

• Character Counter: Displays live character and word counts to help you stay within Claude context limits.
• Keyboard Shortcut: Press Cmd+S (macOS) or Ctrl+S (Windows/Linux) to save immediately.
• Push to Library: If the document is linked to a Shared Library Group, click the upload arrow (↑) on the document row to sync local edits back to the library.

Backing Up & Restoring Projects

Exporting single projects or full account archives, and restoring round-trip.

Backing Up a Single Project

Click Back up on any project card. Depot downloads a {project_name}.zip file containing:

• instructions.md: The exact system prompt instructions.
• project.json: Machine-readable metadata, IDs, and document manifest.
• README.md: Human-readable export log.
• docs/: Directory containing every text document under its original filename.

Backing Up All Projects (Account Snapshot)

Click Back up all in the Projects header. Depot iterates through all projects in your active workspace with a visual progress bar and generates a consolidated zip archive containing each project in its own folder.

Restoring a Backup

1. In the Projects header, click the Import backup button (↑ icon).
2. Select a .zip archive created by Depot.
3. Depot validates the archive, parses the manifest, and displays a dry-run confirmation sheet.
4. Rename projects if desired and click Restore project. Depot recreates the project and re-uploads all documents.

Multi-Organization & Shared Projects Filtering

Filtering across Personal, Team, Enterprise, and Shared workspaces.

Workspace Aggregation

If your Claude account belongs to multiple organizations (e.g. a Personal account and a Team or Enterprise workspace), Depot automatically discovers all projects and tags them with organization badges.

Filter Pills

Use the top filter pill bar to instantly scope your view:

• All: Shows every project across all workspaces.
• Personal: Filters to projects in your personal Claude account.
• {Org Name}: Scopes to projects within a specific organization.
• Shared: Filters to projects shared with you by teammates.

0ms Cached Document Counts

Depot stores project document counts in local browser cache. When you launch Depot or switch tabs, file counts appear instantly in 0ms without skeleton shimmers, while background workers refresh metrics in parallel.

Image Previews & Platform Boundaries

How Depot handles image attachments and Claude API limits.

Document vs. File Attachments

Claude treats project content in two categories:

• Context Documents (Text, Code, Markdown, JSON, SQL): Fully accessible via Claude API. Depot has full read, write, edit, duplicate, and restore capabilities over these files.
• Image Attachments (.png, .jpg, .webp): Claude converts uploaded images into downscaled WebP preview thumbnails (~1092px) and provides no endpoint to re-upload image files back into projects.

Image Handling in Depot

Depot backs up image previews and clearly labels them as previews in the archive. When duplicating or restoring projects, Depot notifies you that images cannot be copied automatically and must be attached in Claude manually.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Resolving connection issues, rate limits, and common questions.

Common Questions & Fixes

"Depot says disconnected or cannot find projects"

Ensure you have an active tab open to claude.ai and are logged in. If your session expired, log into Claude in your browser, then reopen the Depot side panel.

"Syncing paused or rate limited (HTTP 429)"

When syncing dozens of files rapidly, Claude may temporarily return a rate-limit header. Depot includes automatic exponential backoff retry logic (withRetry). It pauses and retries automatically without dropping files.

"Where are Library Groups saved?"

Library Groups are stored locally in Chrome encrypted extension storage (chrome.storage.local). They never leave your device.

"How do I clear local cache?"

Click the refresh icon in the top header of the Depot side panel to force a live reload of all organization projects and document counts.