Anthropic’s new Cowork software affords Claude Code with out the code

On Monday, Anthropic announced a new tool called Cowork, designed as a extra accessible model of Claude Code. Constructed into the Claude Desktop app, the brand new software lets customers designate a selected folder the place Claude can learn or modify recordsdata, with additional directions given by way of the usual chat interface. The result’s much like a sandboxed occasion of Claude Code, however requires far much less technical savvy to arrange.

Currently in research preview, Cowork is barely out there to Max subscribers, with a waitlist out there for customers on different plans.

The brand new software is impressed partially by the growing number of subscribers utilizing Claude Code to realize non-coding duties, treating it as a general-purpose agentic AI software. Cowork is constructed on the Claude Agent SDK, which suggests it’s drawing on the identical underlying mannequin as Claude Code. The folder partition offers a straightforward option to handle what recordsdata Cowork has entry to, and since the app doesn’t require command-line instruments or digital environments, it’s much less intimidating for non-technical customers.

That opens up a brand new world of potential use circumstances. Anthropic offers the instance of assembling an expense report from a folder of receipt images — however Claude Code customers have additionally put the system to work managing media recordsdata, scanning social media posts, or analyzing conversations.

Much like Claude Code, Cowork is designed to take strings of actions with out person enter — a probably harmful method if the software is given imprecise or contradictory directions. In a weblog publish saying the brand new software, Anthropic explicitly warns in regards to the threat of immediate injection or deleted recordsdata, recommending that customers make directions as clear and unambiguous as doable.

“These dangers aren’t new with Cowork,” the publish reads, “but it surely is perhaps the primary time you’re utilizing a extra superior software that strikes past a easy dialog.”

Launched as a command-line software in November 2024, Claude Code has grow to be certainly one of Anthropic’s most profitable merchandise, main the corporate to launch a string of recent interfaces in latest months. An online interface launched in October, adopted by a Slack integration simply two months later.