Share the same ChatGPT and Claude instructions with your whole team, contractors included

You wrote instructions that make Claude or ChatGPT do a task your way: the weekly client report, the proposal check, the tone for support replies. Now 4 people need them. One is on Claude Pro, one on ChatGPT Plus, one on ChatGPT Business at a client, and a freelancer pays for their own account. Each app can share instructions, but only inside its own company plan.

Anthropic's help pages quoted here were read on November 4, 2026. OpenAI's docs at learn.chatgpt.com and developers.openai.com were read the same day. OpenAI's help center refused automated reads, so its lines come from the pages as search engines show them.

What each app shares, and on which plan

A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file: a name, a line on when to use it, and the instructions. Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor all read this Agent Skills format. What differs is who can share one.

So built-in sharing works when everyone is in one company plan of one app. It stops at the edge of that plan: Anthropic says shared access "is removed automatically if they leave the organization", and a freelancer on their own account was never in it.

The free way: everyone keeps a copy

With no shared plan, the instructions travel as text:

1. Write them once as a SKILL.md. How to turn a how-to doc into a skill shows the format.
2. Send the file in Slack, email, or a shared drive.
3. Each person adds it. In Claude: Customize → Skills, +, + Create skill, Upload a skill, then the ZIP of the skill's folder. Skills need code execution turned on. In ChatGPT Plus or Pro: OpenAI says "Standalone skills are available in the ChatGPT desktop app", so add it there, or paste the instructions into a Project, or into Custom Instructions if they should apply to every chat.

It costs nothing. It also drifts. Every paste is a copy, so the next fix reaches only the people who paste again. After a month, three people run three versions of "the" proposal check.

Keep one copy for everyone in 4 steps

The way around the copies is a remote MCP server: a link each person's AI connects to, which serves the same instructions to everyone. Both apps take one on personal plans:

• Claude: Anthropic says custom connectors using remote MCP "are available on Claude, Cowork, and Claude Desktop for users on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise plans. Free users are limited to one custom connector."
• ChatGPT: OpenAI's help lists custom MCP servers for Pro (read and fetch only), Business, and Enterprise, and doesn't list Plus. OpenAI's developer docs add: "Account and workspace policies apply to adding and using custom MCP servers."

The steps:

1. Put the instructions on the server as skills, one per task.
2. Send each person the link. On Claude Team, Anthropic says "only Owners and Primary Owners can add them", so an owner adds it once for the organization.
3. Each person connects once. In Claude: Customize → Connectors, + Add, Add custom connector, then the link. In ChatGPT: open Plugins, select +, then Add custom MCP server, and paste the link. On Business, OpenAI's help says only admins and owners create custom MCP connections.
4. Edit in one place. The next chat reads the new version, for everyone.

Fluxenic's AI Skill Pod is such a server for teams: you paste the instructions you already give people, send one invite link that takes any email address, and each person asks for the skill by name in Claude (any plan with a custom connector, Free's one included), ChatGPT (Pro, Business, or Enterprise), Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or OpenCode. Fluxenic is the company that runs Convika.

On November 4, 2026, AI Skill Pod's pricing read: Free for up to 3 members and 10 skills, Team at $5 per member a month from 3 members, Business at $15 from 5, and a 14-day free trial with no card. Team and Business are early-bird prices for teams that start by December 11, 2026, or until the first 50 teams join, whichever comes first; new teams pay $8 and $20 after that.

What a connector doesn't do

• The skill isn't in Claude's Skills list. AI Skill Pod's own help says Claude chat and Desktop "don't load skills served over MCP into the Skills list". Claude reaches them through the connector, as it uses any connector.
• Anyone who can use a skill can read it. An AI follows instructions by reading them, so a teammate can ask it to show them. Keep API keys and client prices out.
• ChatGPT Plus isn't on OpenAI's list. A Plus user can check under Plugins, +, for Add custom MCP server. If it isn't there, they add the skill in the desktop app or paste the text into a Project.
• Removing someone stops their next use, not their copies. What they pasted or downloaded stays with them.

When a company plan is the better answer

If everyone is an employee, works in one app, and the company pays for those seats anyway, use the app's own sharing. Claude Team gives you Share and Publish to org with owner review, and Anthropic says recipients "automatically get the updated version at next use". ChatGPT Business gives you shared skills and a workspace library. A separate server earns its place when some people use another app, pay for their own plan, or work for you as contractors.

Frequently asked questions

How do I share custom instructions with my team in ChatGPT?

On Plus and Pro there's no Share button: each person adds the skill in the ChatGPT desktop app, or pastes the same text into their own Custom Instructions or a Project. On Business and Enterprise, save the instructions as a skill and use Share in the Skills tab. To keep one copy across plans, connect each person's ChatGPT (Pro, Business, or Enterprise) to a remote MCP server that holds it.

Can I share a Claude skill with someone on Claude Pro?

Not with Claude's own Share button, which is on Team and Enterprise. On Pro, send the skill's ZIP and they upload it under Customize → Skills. Or put the skill on a remote MCP server: Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise take custom connectors, and every connected person reads the same copy.

Do my teammates need Claude Team or ChatGPT Business to use the same instructions?

No. They need a plan that takes a custom connector: Claude Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, or Enterprise, or ChatGPT Pro, Business, or Enterprise. OpenAI's list of plans for custom MCP servers doesn't name Plus, so a Plus user checks under Plugins, +, for Add custom MCP server, and otherwise adds the skill in the desktop app or pastes the instructions.

What happens when I update the instructions?

With copies, nothing: each person has the old text until they paste again. With Claude Team's sharing, recipients get the new version at next use. With a remote MCP server, the next chat on any connected AI reads the new version.

Is a shared skill private?

No more private than a shared doc. Anyone whose AI can use it can ask to see the text. Share only what you'd send that person as a document.

Sources

• Claude Help Center: Using skills in Claude (plans, upload steps, Share and Publish on Team and Enterprise; read November 4, 2026)
• Claude Help Center: Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP (plans, Free's one connector, Team owners; read November 4, 2026)
• OpenAI's docs: Build skills (where skills run; read November 4, 2026)
• OpenAI for developers: Connect and test your plugin (the Add custom MCP server steps; read November 4, 2026)
• OpenAI Help: Skills in ChatGPT and Connecting custom MCP servers in ChatGPT (the web Skills tab's plans and the custom MCP plans, as search results showed them, November 4, 2026)
• Agent Skills specification (read November 4, 2026)