Anthropic has announced a new tool that brings Claude Code’s advanced capabilities to less tech-savvy users, letting them perform various actions without writing a single line of code. Dubbed Cowork, the tool can access folders on a user’s computer and read, modify, or delete files on their behalf.
Claude Cowork can also spin up new projects using information from the folder, enabling tasks like generating reports based on a user’s notes. Anthropic says the tool can even be used for organizing old receipts and creating an expense-tracking spreadsheet, or cleaning up a messy downloads folder.
Cowork can also utilize Claude’s existing connectors, allowing it to create documents, presentations, or other projects based on information from third-party apps. In addition, it works with the Claude in Chrome extension to complete actions that require browser access.
Anthropic explains Cowork is “designed to make using Claude for new work as simple as possible.” The company adds that users don’t need to repeatedly provide context or manually convert output into the right format, and can queue multiple tasks and let Claude work through them in parallel. The experience is intended to feel more like working with a teammate than having a constant back-and-forth with a chatbot.
The trade-offs of deeper access
The company notes that Cowork’s ability to access local files introduces potential risks. To address privacy concerns, it says that the tool can only read or edit files that users explicitly grant access to. However, since Cowork can delete local files if instructed to do so, Anthropic advises users to be precise with their prompts to reduce the risk of unintended actions.
It also warns about the risk of prompt-injection attacks, which could be particularly problematic if Cowork has access to sensitive files. While Anthropic says it has built safeguards to mitigate such threats, it acknowledges that protections against prompt injection are “still an active area of development.”
Cowork is currently rolling out as a research preview for Claude Max subscribers on macOS. Users on other plans or platforms can join a waitlist to get access in the future.
