--- title: "Keep a project registry your AI reads so every answer fits the right job" description: "Give AI each project's code year, client decisions, consultants, and materials so specs, RFIs, and client emails start from the right job." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-for-architects" date: "2026-01-28" modified: "2026-09-25" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Real estate - Real estate - [Real estate](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - Work - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Prepare your six-question brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prepare-your-six-question-brief) - Build - [Site build, content library with SEO, signal desk](https://scalewithsearch.com/work) - For your business - Trades and home services - [Auto body and collision shops](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/auto-body-and-collision-shops) - [Foundation and home repair contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/foundation-and-home-repair) - 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You have a mixed-use building in design in downtown Charlotte. The client wants LEED Gold. Zoning caps the height at 12 stories. The structural engineer prefers post-tensioned concrete. You have held three meetings about the parking structure. You ask ChatGPT to draft the curtain wall specification. It returns generic glass types and thermal ranges. It ignores the LEED target, the effect of the height limit on wind loads, and the vision glass the client chose last week. You did not ask for design theory. You need a specification for this project, this client, and this code jurisdiction. The assistant has no record of any of them. ## Why a generic assistant fails an architecture practice Architecture is several jobs at once: code compliance, client management, consultant coordination, material selection, and construction documents. Each project carries its own set of facts: - a code basis, such as IBC 2021 with local amendments; - client priorities, such as budget against appearance against schedule; - site constraints, such as setbacks, easements, and utilities; - a consultant team: structural, MEP, civil, landscape; - a phase: schematic design (SD), design development (DD), construction documents (CD), or construction administration (CA). A chat tool tracks none of this. You explain the setup each time: "I'm working on a healthcare facility in Columbus. It's 45,000 SF, three stories, Type II construction. The owner wants natural light in patient rooms, but we need to limit solar heat gain. What glazing systems should I specify?" The next day you ask about accessible toilet room clearances for the same building. The assistant has forgotten that it is a healthcare project. You explain the building type, the jurisdiction, and the code year again. By the third time, you stop asking and look it up yourself. ## What the assistant needs to know You do not need AI to draw floor plans. You need it to know six things before it answers: - your current projects, with name, location, size, type, and phase; - the code basis for each: the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ), the code year, and the amendments; - client preferences: approved materials, approved budgets, and open concerns; - consultant details: who does the structural work, their preferences, and open coordination issues; - material history: what you specified before, what performed, and what failed; - project history: decisions, rejected options, and meeting outcomes. With that record, "What fire rating do the corridor walls need?" resolves to one project, one occupancy, and one code edition. "Draft an RFI response about the foundation waterproofing" resolves to one contractor, one specification section, and one detail. The order in which those records load is covered in [what context should an agent read before it starts](/articles/what-context-should-an-agent-read). ## Build the practice file and the project registry Claude Code reads a file named `CLAUDE.md` when a session starts. [Claude Code: Memory](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory) Keep that file short. Put each project in its own file and tell `CLAUDE.md` where to find them. The practice file holds office-wide knowledge: - code references for IBC, NFPA, ADA standards, and local amendments, with the edition adopted in each jurisdiction; - a consultant directory for structural, MEP, civil, landscape, and specialty firms, with coordination preferences and copy rules; - a material library of products you specified before, with performance notes, vendor contacts, and submittal history; - standard details: office standards, typical details, and specification templates. Each project file holds the job: ```text ## Project: P-2604 Parkway Office Location: City A | 28,000 SF | office | phase: CD Code basis: per AHJ letter dated 2025-03-12 (see /p-2604/ahj-letter.pdf) Sustainability target: LEED Silver; cool roof credit required Client: CLIENT-11; approves upgrades in writing; prefers bad news by phone Decisions: - 2026-01-15: owner approved white TPO upgrade (meeting notes /p-2604/mtg-0115.md) Consultants: structural = CONS-S1; MEP = CONS-M4 (handrail lighting) Roof: puncture resistance required; see /p-2604/roof-basis.md ``` When you say "the client on P-2604," the assistant knows who that is and how they want to hear about a schedule delay. When you ask "What brick did we use on the university project?", it reads the material library. For projects that must stay apart, such as two clients in the same building type, see [how to keep businesses, clients, and roles separate for AI agents](/articles/separate-business-contexts-ai-agents). ## Before and after: a roof membrane question ### Before the registry You ask: "I need to specify a roof membrane for a commercial office building in North Carolina. About 20,000 SF, low-slope, TPO or EPDM. What should I use?" The assistant answers: "Both TPO and EPDM are suitable for low-slope commercial roofs. TPO offers better heat reflectivity and is heat-weldable. EPDM is more affordable and easier to repair. Consider climate, budget, and warranty requirements." That is accurate and useless. You still do not know which one to specify. ### After the registry You ask: "What roof membrane should I specify for P-2604?" The assistant answers from the file: "Specify white TPO. It supports the cool roof credit for the LEED Silver target. The owner approved the upgrade at the January 15 meeting. The roof basis note requires puncture resistance, so specify a 60-mil minimum. Two manufacturers in the material library have local representatives you used before. Include a 20-year no-dollar-limit (NDL) warranty in the specification." Each fact traces to a line you wrote. You check the draft against the roof basis note and release it. ## Before and after: an RFI response You ask: "Draft a response to the contractor's RFI about stair handrail extensions." The assistant drafts: > RFI response: handrail extensions at exit stairs > > Per IBC 2018 Section 1014.6, the code basis for this project, handrails extend horizontally at least 12 inches beyond the top riser and continue to slope for the depth of one tread beyond the bottom riser. Detail A5.3 shows this configuration. Install as detailed. > > Code basis: the state building code based on IBC 2018, as the AHJ letter on file states. > > Copy to: CONS-S1 (structural) and CONS-M4 (handrail lighting coordination). The assistant knew the code edition, the detail, and the consultants to copy. The section number and the extension rule match the published IBC 2018 text ([ICC: IBC 2018 Section 1014.6](https://codes.iccsafe.org/s/IBC2018P6/chapter-10-means-of-egress/IBC2018P6-Ch10-Sec1014.6), checked 2026.09.25). It can still cite the wrong section on another question. You verify every code citation against the adopted code before the response leaves the office. ## Set it up in one afternoon 1. Install Claude Code. It needs a paid Claude plan or an API account; the free plan does not include it ([Claude Code: Advanced setup](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup), checked 2026.09.25). 2. Create a practice folder. Obsidian is optional and free to download; any folder of Markdown files works. 3. Write `CLAUDE.md` with the code references, consultant directory, material library, and standard details, or links to them. 4. Add one file per active project with location, phase, code basis, client, and decisions. 5. Add client profiles: who they are, what they care about, who approves. 6. Start Claude Code in the folder and ask it to list your active projects. Plan two to three hours. When a project closes, archive its file. When a project starts, add one. When a meeting ends, add the decisions with the date and the source note. The pattern for meeting records is in [AI memory for meeting notes](/articles/ai-memory-meeting-notes-decisions). Design-session decisions follow the same rule; see [how to preserve context from AI design sessions](/articles/preserve-context-ai-design-sessions). ## What the registry does not do The registry does not design buildings. It does not replace your judgment. It does not automate code compliance. It makes AI useful for the work that fills an architect's week: technical questions, specification drafts, consultant coordination, RFI responses, and client communication. You still make each design decision. You still stamp each drawing. You still own code compliance. Client and project files can hold confidential material. Claude Code sends the content it reads to the model provider over the network. [Claude Code: Data usage](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/data-usage) Keep contract prices, security layouts, and other restricted content in the systems that already control them. ## Who this fits The pattern fits a sole practitioner with three to five projects and a small firm with 10 to 20 active jobs. It also fits a project architect who works for several clients. 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