Anthropic’s new Cowork tool offers Claude Code without the code

On Monday, Anthropic announced a new tool called Cowork, designed as a more accessible version of Claude Code. Built into the Claude Desktop app, the new tool lets users designate a specific folder where Claude can read or modify files, with further instructions given through the standard chat interface. The result is similar to a sandboxed instance of Claude Code, but requires far less technical savvy to set up.

Currently in research preview, Cowork is only available to Max subscribers, with a waitlist available for users on other plans.

The new tool is inspired in part by the growing number of subscribers using Claude Code to achieve non-coding tasks, treating it as a general-purpose agentic AI tool. Cowork is built on the Claude Agent SDK, which means it’s drawing on the same underlying model as Claude Code. The folder partition gives an easy way to manage what files Cowork has access to, and because the app doesn’t require command-line tools or virtual environments, it’s less intimidating for non-technical users.

That opens up a new world of potential use cases. Anthropic gives the example of assembling an expense report from a folder of receipt photos — but Claude Code users have also put the system to work managing media files, scanning social media posts, or analyzing conversations.

Similar to Claude Code, Cowork is designed to take strings of actions without user input — a potentially dangerous approach if the tool is given vague or contradictory instructions. In a blog post announcing the new tool, Anthropic explicitly warns about the risk of prompt injection or deleted files, recommending that users make instructions as clear and unambiguous as possible.

“These risks aren’t new with Cowork,” the post reads, “but it might be the first time you’re using a more advanced tool that moves beyond a simple conversation.”

Launched as a command-line tool in November 2024, Claude Code has become one of Anthropic’s most successful products, leading the company to launch a string of new interfaces in recent months. A web interface launched in October, followed by a Slack integration just two months later.