Claude Cowork
Delegate real work across your tools
Hand Claude multi-step jobs that span your apps — email, calendar, docs, design, code, and more. Connect tools, delegate tasks, and review the results.
Task: Compile my daily briefing
Across 3 connected apps
The big picture
Delegate the work, not just the question
Where Chat answers and Artifacts create, Cowork does. You hand Claude a multi-step job that spans your apps and files, it plans and executes, and you review the result — like working with a capable assistant.
End-to-end tasks
Describe an outcome and Claude breaks it into steps and works through them, not one reply at a time.
Across your apps
Connect email, calendar, drive, docs, design, and dev tools so Claude works where your work lives.
Reads & writes files
Open documents and spreadsheets, extract what matters, and produce new files as output.
You stay in control
Review the plan and the output. Claude asks before taking sensitive or irreversible actions.
Recurring automations
Schedule jobs — a daily briefing, a weekly report — that run on a cadence you set.
Extensible with Skills
Add Skills and connect MCP servers to teach Cowork new, specialized workflows.
Your roadmap
From first task to a team of automations
Start by connecting one app and delegating something small. Build up to multi-app workflows that run on a schedule.
Hand off your first task
- 1
Open Cowork in the desktop app
Install the Claude desktop app, sign in with a paid plan, and switch to the Cowork tab. This is where Claude can read files and use connected tools. - 2
Connect one app
In settings, add a single connector to start — Gmail or Google Drive are good first picks. You authenticate with that service and grant access. - 3
Describe a small, clear task
Try something contained: “Read my unread email from today and give me a bullet summary.” Specific beats broad. - 4
Approve what it wants to do
Cowork shows the steps it plans to take and asks permission for sensitive actions. Read, then approve — you're the human in the loop. - 5
Review and refine
Check the result and reply with adjustments: “group these by sender” or “flag anything urgent.” It reworks the output.
Start where the payoff is obvious
Keep it handy
Quick reference
Cowork concepts
| Concept | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
Connector | A linked app (Gmail, Drive…) | Lets Claude act on your real data. |
Skill | A saved task recipe | Repeat specialized work without re-explaining. |
MCP server | A pluggable tool source | Extends Cowork to new systems and tools. |
Plan step | The proposed approach | Your chance to approve before action. |
Scheduled task | A recurring job | Briefings and reports that run themselves. |
Describe outcomes
Say the end state; let Cowork plan the steps.
Gate risky actions
Require approval for send, share, and delete.
Drafts, not sends
Let Claude prepare; you make the final call.
Point to sources
Name the files and folders it should use.
Schedule the routine
Automate the chores you repeat every day.
Plan in Chat
Design the workflow first, then hand it off.
Common questions