Cowork: Claude’s New Feature That Lets Everyone Work as Efficiently as Developers
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Cowork is Anthropic’s research preview feature that enables users to grant Claude access to local folders for automated file reading, editing, and creation workflows. Built on the Claude Agent SDK, this macOS-compatible tool provides non-developers with the same agentic capabilities as Claude Code, handling complex tasks like file organization, data extraction, and report generation.
What do you do when your downloads folder is cluttered with hundreds of randomly named files, or when you need to compile an expense list from a pile of screenshots? Manually organize them one by one? There’s a smarter way now.
Anthropic just released Cowork, a tool that’s changing how people collaborate with AI. It’s not just another chat interface—it’s a digital assistant that actually completes real work for you.
What Is Cowork? How Does It Differ from Regular Conversations?
In traditional Claude conversations, you ask questions, Claude answers, and then you likely need to copy-paste those answers, manually adjust formatting, and apply them to your actual work. This process is full of friction.
Cowork works completely differently. Once you grant Claude access to a specific folder on your computer, it can work directly within that folder—reading files, editing content, and creating new documents. This means you no longer need to act as a “human intermediary,” shuttling information back and forth between AI and your actual work.
Here’s a practical example: You can ask Claude to reorganize your downloads folder, and it will automatically categorize, rename, and move each file to appropriate locations. Or if you have a bunch of shopping receipts as screenshots that need organizing into an expense report, Cowork can extract information from these images and create a well-structured spreadsheet. Or perhaps you’ve written scattered notes that need consolidating into a formal report draft—Cowork can handle that too.
Why Did Anthropic Develop Cowork?
The genesis of this feature was somewhat unexpected.
When Anthropic launched Claude Code (a command-line tool for developers), they expected developers would use it for coding. And they did—but developers quickly discovered this tool could be used for almost everything, not just programming-related tasks.
This discovery prompted Anthropic to consider: if this working style is so useful for developers, why not make it accessible to everyone? After all, most people don’t use command lines or need programming skills, but they still need to process files, organize data, and create documents.
Thus Cowork was born. Its positioning is clear: enable anyone to collaborate with Claude the way developers use Claude Code, without requiring any technical background.
Cowork’s Core Capability: Agentic Work Mode
Cowork’s most distinctive feature is its “agentic capability”—once you set a task, Claude autonomously formulates a plan and steadily progresses through it while keeping you informed throughout the process.
How does this working style differ from regular conversations?
In traditional conversations, you need constant instruction: “Do this first, then do that, and next…” Every step requires your intervention. In Cowork, you simply describe the desired outcome, and Claude plans how to achieve the goal itself, reporting progress along the way.
It feels more like leaving a message for a coworker about what needs to be done, then letting them handle it, rather than hand-holding them through every step.
Technically, Cowork is built on the same foundation as Claude Code—the Claude Agent SDK. This means it inherits all of Claude Code’s agentic capabilities and can handle many of the same types of tasks, just presented in a format more suitable for non-coding scenarios.
What Can Cowork Do? Real-World Use Cases
Let’s examine what tasks Cowork can help you accomplish in actual work:
File Management and Organization
Do you have a “temporary files” folder on your computer stuffed with months or even years of various files? Cowork can help you automatically categorize and rename these files according to rules—perhaps by file type, creation date, or content theme.
Data Extraction and Organization
Suppose you attended a meeting and took many photos of whiteboards, or you’ve saved a bunch of receipt screenshots. Cowork can extract text information from these images and create a structured spreadsheet. You don’t need to manually input anything.
Document Creation and Editing
Have scattered ideas, notes, or drafts? Tell Cowork what kind of final document you want, and it will organize these materials and create a coherent first draft. This is particularly useful for writing reports, organizing meeting minutes, or preparing presentations.
Making Cowork More Powerful: Connectors and Skills
Once you’ve mastered Cowork’s basic usage, you can enhance its power through two approaches:
Connectors
Connectors allow Claude to access external information sources. If you’ve already set up connectors in Claude, Cowork can use them directly. This means Claude can access not only your local folder contents but also other information you’ve authorized when completing tasks.
Skills
Anthropic has added an initial set of skills to Cowork specifically designed to improve Claude’s ability to create documents, presentations, and other files. These skills enable Claude to better understand different file format requirements and generate outputs that meet professional standards.
Browser Integration
If you use Claude in Chrome alongside Cowork, Claude can complete tasks requiring browser access. This further expands its range of applications.
Fundamental Workflow Changes: Parallel Tasks and Continuous Feedback
Cowork brings not just functional improvements but fundamental workflow transformations.
No Need to Wait
In traditional conversations, you pose a question, wait for Claude to finish answering, then pose the next question. This is a serial process.
In Cowork, you can queue multiple tasks and let Claude handle them in parallel. You don’t need to wait for the first task to complete before making the second request. This approach more closely resembles real work scenarios—you assign multiple tasks to coworkers and let them arrange priorities and processing sequences themselves.
Instant Feedback
More importantly, even while Claude is processing tasks, you can provide new ideas or feedback at any time. You don’t need to wait until the entire task is complete to suggest modifications. This real-time interaction makes collaboration more natural.
Reduced Context Switching
You no longer need to manually provide context or convert Claude’s outputs into the correct format. Cowork completes tasks directly in your working environment, eliminating these frictions.
Control and Security: Important Information You Need to Know
While Cowork is powerful, Anthropic designed it with user control as a priority.
Explicit Permission Management
Claude can only access folders and connectors you explicitly authorize. It cannot read or edit any content you haven’t authorized. This is a basic but critical security principle.
Pre-Operation Confirmation
Claude asks for your approval before executing any significant operations. This gives you the opportunity to review and adjust its plans, ensuring everything proceeds according to your intentions.
Potential Risks to Understand
Despite these safeguards, there are some risks to be aware of when using Cowork:
Claude can execute potentially destructive operations, like deleting local files—if you explicitly instruct it to do so. While Claude strives to understand your intent, misinterpretation is always possible. Therefore, when involving irreversible operations like deletion or overwriting, you need to provide very clear instructions.
Prompt Injection Attack Risks
This is a more complex security issue. Prompt injection attacks occur when attackers attempt to alter Claude’s behavior plan through content Claude might encounter on the internet.
For instance, if you ask Claude to extract information from a webpage and that page has been maliciously embedded with special instructions, it might attempt to influence Claude’s behavior.
Anthropic has built sophisticated defenses against prompt injection attacks, but agent safety—securing AI’s real-world actions—remains an active area of research across the industry.
Recommended Precautions
Especially when you’re just starting with Cowork and still learning how it works, consider taking some precautions:
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Don’t give Claude access to folders containing important or sensitive data -
Carefully review before authorizing significant operations -
Provide clear, specific instructions to avoid ambiguity -
Regularly back up important data
Anthropic provides detailed guidance on using Cowork safely in their Help Center. These risks aren’t unique to Cowork, but if this is your first time using an advanced AI tool beyond simple conversation, understanding this information is crucial.
Current Cowork Status: What Does Research Preview Mean?
Cowork is currently in “research preview” phase. What does this term mean?
Purpose of Early Release
Anthropic chose to release Cowork early primarily to learn: What will people use it for? What aspects do they think could be improved? This early feedback is crucial for the product’s long-term development.
Encouraging Experimentation
Anthropic explicitly encourages users to try various possibilities, even those you think might not work. You might be surprised to discover Cowork can accomplish more than you expected.
Continuous Improvement Plans
Based on feedback collected during the preview period, Anthropic plans numerous improvements, including:
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Adding cross-device sync functionality -
Launching Windows version -
Identifying more ways to enhance safety -
Optimizing user experience
Who Can Use Cowork? How to Get Started?
Current Availability
Currently, Cowork is only available to Claude Max subscribers and only supports macOS platform.
If you’re a Claude Max user with a Mac computer, you can start immediately:
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Download Claude’s macOS application -
Click the “Cowork” option in the sidebar -
Select the folder you want Claude to access -
Start describing the tasks you need completed
Options for Other Users
If you’re on a different subscription plan or use a Windows computer, you can join the waitlist for access when future versions are released.
The Trend Cowork Represents: From Conversation to Collaboration
Cowork’s launch marks an important turning point in AI tool development.
Over the past few years, we’ve become accustomed to “conversing” with AI—asking questions, receiving answers, asking more questions. This mode has value but also limitations. It confines AI to the role of advisor or information provider.
Cowork demonstrates a new possibility: AI doesn’t just answer questions but genuinely participates in work, becoming a collaborative partner capable of executing tasks. This shift could have profound implications for productivity.
Imagine: when you no longer need to spend time translating between AI and actual work, when you can delegate repetitive tasks to AI as you would to a colleague, how much time could you save? That time could be spent on work requiring more human judgment and creativity.
Who Benefits Most from Cowork?
While Cowork is designed for everyone, certain groups may find it particularly useful:
Knowledge Workers
People who handle large volumes of documents, data, and information—researchers, analysts, consultants, project managers, etc. Cowork can automate many time-consuming organization and formatting tasks.
Small Business Owners and Freelancers
People without dedicated assistants or support teams. Cowork can handle some administrative and organizational work, letting you focus on core business.
Students and Educators
People who need to organize notes, prepare presentations, and organize research materials. Cowork can help transform scattered content into structured documents.
Creative Workers
Designers, writers, producers, and others who manage large volumes of material files and project assets. Cowork can help maintain workspace organization.
Practical Usage Tips: Maximizing Cowork’s Value
Start with Small Tasks
Don’t begin by having Cowork handle critical tasks. First familiarize yourself with its working style using low-risk tasks—like organizing an unimportant folder or extracting information from a few receipts to create a simple table.
Express Intent Clearly
Specific, clear instructions are more effective than vague requests. Rather than saying “organize this folder,” try “categorize this folder by file type, put images in an Images subfolder, PDFs in a Documents subfolder, and leave other files in place.”
Gradually Expand Authorization Scope
Initially, only authorize access to a specially created test folder. Once you’re confident in how Cowork operates, gradually expand to folders containing real work content.
Leverage Parallel Capabilities
Don’t wait for one task to complete before raising the next. If you have multiple independent tasks, submit them all at once and let Cowork process them in parallel. This dramatically improves efficiency.
Stay Engaged
While Cowork has autonomy, this doesn’t mean you should completely hands-off. Regularly check progress and provide feedback or course corrections when necessary.
Cowork’s Limitations: What Can’t It Do?
Understanding a tool’s limitations is as important as understanding its capabilities.
Requires Explicit Authorization
Cowork cannot access any content you haven’t explicitly authorized. This is a design feature, not a flaw, but it means you need to actively manage access permissions.
Depends on Clear Instructions
While Claude is intelligent, it can’t read minds. Vague or contradictory instructions may lead to suboptimal results.
Security Still Evolving
As mentioned earlier, agent safety is an active research area. Current protections are robust but not absolutely perfect.
Platform Limitations
Currently only supports macOS and is only available to Claude Max users. These limitations will change over time but exist presently.
Technical Foundation: The Role of Claude Agent SDK
Cowork’s ability to deliver these functions largely stems from its technical foundation—the Claude Agent SDK.
This SDK provides a framework for building applications with agentic capabilities. It enables Claude to:
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Formulate multi-step plans -
Execute sequences of related operations -
Evaluate progress throughout the process -
Adjust strategies based on results -
Seek human feedback when necessary
Both Claude Code and Cowork are built on this foundation, which is why they can handle similarly complex tasks despite targeting different use scenarios.
Integration with Existing Tools
Cowork isn’t meant to replace your existing tools but to enhance their functionality.
Integration with Connectors
If you’ve already set up Claude’s connectors to access Google Drive, Notion, or other services, Cowork can leverage these connections to access more information when completing tasks.
Integration with Claude in Chrome
Combining Cowork with Claude in the Chrome browser enables Claude to handle tasks requiring web browsing—like extracting information from websites or performing operations in web interfaces.
Integration with Skills
The skill sets provided by Anthropic make Claude perform better when creating specific file types. As more skills are added, Cowork’s capability range will continue expanding.
The Importance of Feedback: Your Usage Experience Has Value
Since Cowork is in research preview phase, Anthropic particularly values user feedback.
If during your usage you:
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Discover particularly useful application scenarios -
Encounter confusing behavior -
Have improvement suggestions -
Face security or privacy concerns
Your feedback can directly influence Cowork’s future development direction. Anthropic seriously considers input from these early users during development.
Looking Forward: How Will Cowork Evolve?
While we can’t predict Anthropic’s specific plans, based on the current research preview status, we can reasonably expect some development directions:
Broader Platform Support
The Windows version is already planned. Future expansion to mobile platforms is also possible.
Cross-Device Sync
Enabling seamless work continuation across different devices.
More Skills and Integrations
As users explore various uses for Cowork, Anthropic may add more specialized skills and integrations with external services.
Security Enhancements
As agent safety research progresses, Cowork’s protection mechanisms will continue improving.
User Interface Optimization
Based on real usage feedback, the interface and interaction methods may continuously optimize.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between Cowork and Claude Code?
Both are built on the same technical foundation (Claude Agent SDK) but target different user groups. Claude Code is a command-line tool primarily for developers and programming-related tasks. Cowork is a graphical interface application for all users, focused on general work scenarios like file management and document creation.
Do I need programming knowledge to use Cowork?
Absolutely not. Cowork was designed from the ground up to let non-technical people enjoy the benefits of agentic AI collaboration. You simply describe what you want accomplished in natural language.
Could Cowork accidentally delete my important files?
Claude can only access folders you explicitly authorize, and it asks for confirmation before executing significant operations. However, if you explicitly instruct it to delete files, it will comply. Therefore, it’s recommended not to authorize access to folders containing important data initially, and to provide very clear instructions when involving irreversible operations.
Can I have Cowork process multiple tasks simultaneously?
Yes. This is one of Cowork’s key advantages—you can queue multiple tasks and let Claude process them in parallel, without waiting for one task to complete before requesting the next.
What file formats does Cowork support?
Specific supported formats depend on added skills. Anthropic mentions the initial skill set improves document, presentation, and other file creation capabilities but doesn’t list an exhaustive format catalog. It’s recommended to try formats you commonly use.
What if I’m not a Claude Max subscriber?
Currently Cowork is only available to Claude Max users. Users on other subscription plans can join the waitlist for potential future access.
Will Cowork read all files on my computer?
No. Claude can only access folders you explicitly authorize. It cannot access files or data in other parts of your system.
Can I revoke Cowork’s access permissions at any time during use?
Yes. You can adjust which folders and connectors Claude can access at any time.
How fast does Cowork respond?
This depends on task complexity. Simple tasks may complete quickly; complex tasks may require more time. Since Cowork works in the background, you can do other things or submit new tasks while waiting.
Are there additional fees for using Cowork?
For Claude Max subscribers, Cowork is included in the subscription service with no additional fees. Non-subscribers need to wait for possible future access opportunities.
