Cowork is Claude working on your files and connected apps on its own: reading a folder, running the steps, and producing a spreadsheet, a document or a deck. The skill it needs from you is a brief good enough to leave alone, plus a setup that decides what it may reach and what it may do without asking.
Reach for it when
- You have recurring work that ends in documents
- You want jobs that run on a schedule
- You want the same procedure followed every time
Look elsewhere when
- You want a conversation rather than a job
- The work is code in a repository
- You are on a free plan
What the lessons will cover
- 01Cowork, Chat and Code
- 02A first task
- 03Where the work runs
- 04Briefs for unattended work
- 05Steering and fixing a run
- 06Global instructions and projects
- 07Connectors
- 08Skills and plugins
- 09Approval modes and prompt injection
- 10Computer use and the browser
- 11Scheduling the job end to end
Common questions
Is Claude Cowork free to use?
Claude Cowork is open source and free to run yourself. You still pay whichever model provider you point it at, and this tutorial is free with no signup.
Do I need to know Python to use Claude Cowork?
Basic Python is enough. Functions, dictionaries and imports cover most of what Claude Cowork asks of you.
When should I not use Claude Cowork?
You want a conversation rather than a job. The work is code in a repository. You are on a free plan.
Lessons for Claude Cowork are being written. Meanwhile the Agent Governance Toolkit tutorial covers the same ground: state, tools, loops, memory and human approval. Most of it carries straight over.
Start the Agent Governance Toolkit tutorial →