Chapter L3.1 — Cowork: first steps

Level 3 — Daily work. Product details verified on 27/06/2026 against official sources.

Goal

By the end you will know what Cowork is and how it differs from Chat and Claude Code, how to start a task on a folder of your computer, how to describe a result instead of a sequence of steps, and how to approve the actions Claude proposes while it works.

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop installed (see ch. L2.1).
• A paid plan: Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise. Cowork is not included in the Free plan (see ch. F.3 and the ledger).
• A folder with files it makes sense to work on.

What Cowork is

Cowork is the desktop app’s tab for agentic non-code work: you hand it a task on a folder and it carries it forward on its own — reads the files, reasons, creates or modifies documents, runs steps in sequence — stopping to ask you for confirmation when needed. It is available on the paid plans on macOS and Windows. (VOLATILE: the product’s status evolves fast; see the ledger.)

It runs in an isolated VM (a virtual machine, a computer inside the computer) on your device. This is the key point for trust: Cowork reads and writes only in the folders you connect to it, and the network follows the egress settings (what it can reach on the internet). It doesn’t see the rest of your disk unless you give it to it.

Cowork, Chat and Code: who does what

The app’s three tabs answer different needs. Choosing them well is half the job.

Table L3.1.1 — When to use which tab.

In short: if you want an answer, Chat. If you’re programming, Code. If you want someone to do an involved thing on your files — reorganize a folder, produce a report from several documents, prepare a series of files — Cowork.

End-state, not the steps

The most common mistake on first use is to guide Cowork step by step, the way you do in chat. The opposite works better: describe the result you want (the “end-state”) and let it find the sequence.

• Weak (steps): “Open the file. Now read column B. Now copy…”
• Better (end-state): “From these three sales Excel files, create a summary by region with quarterly totals, saved as summary.xlsx.”

Describing the result plays to what Cowork is made for: planning the path. You define the “where to get to” and the constraints; it finds the “how”.

Approving the actions

While it works, Cowork stops before the actions that matter and shows you what it’s about to do: create a file, modify one, run a command. You approve or correct. It’s the same principle as Claude Code’s permissions (see ch. L2.4): the repetitive part flows, the decisions stay yours.

Don’t approve sight unseen. Read what it proposes, especially the first few times: that’s how you learn to trust it — or to understand where you need to be more precise in the request.

Cowork has two permission modes that decide how often it stops:

• Ask before acting: it stops and asks for confirmation at every action. It’s the right mode with new files or tools, or when you want to keep everything under control.
• Act without asking: it proceeds without stopping. Faster, but riskier: use it only while you are supervising, on files and sites you trust.

In both modes, Claude always asks for confirmation before deleting files permanently: deletion is never automatic.

In practice: your first task

1. Open Claude Desktop and go to the Cowork tab.

2. Connect a folder: choose one with real files, but of which you have a copy. Cowork will act only inside this folder.

3. Write the task as an end-state, with the constraints:

   In this folder there are scattered .txt notes.
   Group them by topic into subfolders and
   create an INDEX.md listing what's where.

4. Let it plan. When it stops for an action, read and approve.

5. At the end of the task, check the result in the folder. If it’s not what you wanted, refine the request and run it again.

Common mistakes

• Guiding it step by step. Wastes its strength. Describe the result, not the procedure.
• Connecting the entire disk or critical folders. Connect only what’s needed, and work on copies until you trust it.
• Expecting Cowork in the Free plan. It needs a paid plan.
• Approving without reading. The first few times, check what it proposes: that’s where you learn to give it better instructions.

Summary

1. Cowork is the desktop tab for agentic non-code work, in an isolated VM that sees only the connected folders.
2. Chat for answers, Code for software, Cowork for multi-step tasks on your files.
3. Describe the result (end-state) and the constraints, not the sequence of steps.
4. Approve the actions Cowork proposes: control stays yours.
5. Connect only the necessary folders and start from copies.

Next step

In ch. L3.2 — Projects we look at how to give recurring work a stable home: instructions, reference files and memory that persist from one session to the next.

Details on Cowork (isolated VM, plans, connected folders, permission modes) from the ledger, verified on 27/06/2026 on support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190 and code.claude.com/docs. The example task was not run here: it requires the desktop app with a paid account.