Anthropic's Cowork turns Claude into a hands-on digital teammate

Anthropic has introduced Cowork, a tool that lets Claude access and act on files in a user's folders to automate tasks without code; it is rolling out as a macOS research preview for Claude Max subscribers.

Anthropic has announced Cowork, a tool that brings Claude's capabilities to users who do not write code. The tool can access folders on a user's computer and, with explicit permission, read, modify, or delete files. Anthropic says Cowork can create projects from folder contents, use existing connectors to pull data from third-party apps, and work with the Claude in Chrome extension. The company describes the experience as intended to feel like working with a teammate rather than a back-and-forth chatbot. Key details: - Cowork can access folders and act on files only when users explicitly grant access, and it can read, edit, or delete those files. - The tool can generate new projects from folder content, for example producing reports, organizing receipts into a spreadsheet, or cleaning a downloads folder. - Cowork integrates with Claude's existing connectors and the Claude in Chrome extension to perform actions that involve third-party apps or the web. - Anthropic says users do not need to repeatedly provide context and can queue multiple tasks to run in parallel. - The company notes potential trade-offs from deeper access, warning that Cowork can delete local files if instructed and that prompt-injection attacks are a concern; it says safeguards are in place but protections remain an active area of development. - Cowork is rolling out as a research preview on macOS for Claude Max subscribers, and Anthropic has announced a waitlist for other plans and platforms. Summary: Cowork extends Claude's ability to perform file-based and connected-app tasks without code, aiming to streamline routine work and reduce repeated context-setting. Anthropic acknowledges privacy and security trade-offs and reports that some protections, including defenses against prompt injection, are still being developed. The feature is available as a macOS research preview for Claude Max subscribers, with a waitlist offered for other users.