Claude Cowork

Claude Cowork handles tasks autonomously. Give it a goal and Claude works on your computer, local files, and applications to return a finished deliverable. If it’s repetitive, messy, or just taking too long, assign it to Claude.

Filling a gap for knowledge workers

Chat is a useful resource in many instances, but it’s not always the right tool for your needs. At Anthropic, non-technical teams like Marketing and Data started bypassing Claude's chat interface for Claude Code, drawn to its ability to handle complex, multi-step work like building tools or mining data. We observed the same pattern externally. Claude Cowork is the result: the same capability with a simplified experience, designed for where non-technical knowledge work happens.

Built for non-technical tasks

Most AI assistants require users to break work into individual prompts. Claude Cowork takes the outcome and handles the rest.

Claude Cowork runs on desktop, where most knowledge work is done: in local files, folders, and the applications people use every day. It moves between them, synthesizes information across multiple sources, and completes tasks without the user coordinating each step. The work it handles best is high-effort and repeatable. No technical background is required.

With Claude Cowork, work gets done faster. We also found that tedious tasks that might otherwise get skipped–like scanning data or feedback–now get done, leading to better decisions.

Common workflows and use cases

Organizing and managing local files

File systems accumulate faster than anyone can organize them. Point Claude at a folder of drafts, downloads, and attachments and ask it to rename, sort, deduplicate, or surface what's relevant.

Preparing documents from source files

The hardest part of writing a report is rarely the writing. Hand off a set of source files and it produces a structured draft, handling assembly and synthesis so the work that's left is refinement.

Synthesizing complex research

Reading across sources takes time that most people don't have. Share a question and a set of sources, and Claude identifies what's relevant and returns a summary ready for review.

Extracting data from unstructured files

Contracts, reports, and records are dense by nature. Claude reads through them and returns the information that matters in a clear, digestible, structured format.

Agent safety

Claude Cowork is designed with human oversight in mind. It completes tasks, but consequential decisions remain with the user. Anthropic's approach to agent safety, including how we think about trust, access, and control, is documented in our research