Anthropic’s newest productivity application, Cowork, distinguishes itself not only through its capabilities but also via its development approach. Cowork is an iteration of the AI programming tool Claude Code, tailored for those who are not developers. As stated by the company, Claude Code was integral in the creation of Cowork, thus making the AI both the product and a vital element in its development.

Rather than developing software, users allow Claude to access a directory on their computer and ask for tasks such as organizing files, drafting reports, assembling spreadsheets from screenshots, or tidying up documents. In contrast to a standard chat, Cowork functions with enhanced independence. Users delegate a task, and Claude systematically strategizes and carries it out, offering updates throughout the process.

Anthropic noted that following the introduction of Claude Code, users began applying it to a broader range of tasks beyond coding, including planning trips and managing personal data. This trend influenced the agentic design of Cowork.

When queried on X about what proportion of Cowork was developed using Claude Code, Boris Cherny, Anthropic’s lead for Claude Code, simply responded: “All of it.”

Cowork is being unveiled as a research preview for Claude Max subscribers on macOS, with Anthropic emphasizing this as a preliminary step towards more agent-like AI tools.