The agentic tool Claude Code by Anthropic has become a popular choice among software developers and hobbyists. Now, the company is expanding its application to broader office tasks with the introduction of a new feature called Cowork.
Integrated into the Claude desktop application for macOS, Cowork utilizes the same powerful foundations as Claude Code. It enables users to grant Claude access to specific folders on their computer and execute tasks through straightforward language instructions.
Anthropic suggests several practical uses for Cowork, such as completing expense reports from folders of receipt images, compiling reports from extensive digital notes, or organizing digital folders and tidying desktops according to user prompts.
While many of these tasks were already feasible with Claude Code, not all users realized its full potential, and setting it up required more technical expertise. With Cowork, Anthropic aims to make these capabilities accessible to any knowledge worker, from developers to marketers, streamlining task management.
The creation of Cowork was inspired by the way users were already tending to employ Claude Code for general office tasks. The new feature simplifies processes I have already experimented with, such as leveraging the Claude desktop app via Model Context Protocol (MCP) to create notes in my Obsidian vault from given files. Cowork enhances this functionality with a cleaner interface and improved usability, offering features like making additional requests or modifications during an ongoing task.