Cowork Capabilities

Reading time: ~8 minutes

Purpose: Understand exactly what Cowork can and cannot do

Model Selection

Cowork supports different Claude models. Since Sonnet 4.6 launched (February 17, 2026), the model selection calculus has changed significantly.

Available Models

Model	Best For	Speed	Context Window	Usage Cost
Haiku	Very simple tasks, quick queries	Very Fast	Standard	Low
Sonnet 4.6 ⭐	Agentic tasks, file automation, daily Cowork workflows	Fast	1M tokens (beta), 128K output	Standard
Opus 4.6	Deep reasoning, scientific analysis, complex multi-agent tasks	Slower	1M tokens (beta), 128K output	Higher (5x Sonnet)

Model Notes (February 2026):

Sonnet 4.6 (released February 17, 2026): Now the recommended default for Cowork. Achieves 72.5% on OSWorld-Verified (computer use benchmark) vs Opus 4.6’s 72.7% — essentially identical performance on agentic tasks, at 5x lower cost. Also includes the 1M token context window (beta), 128K output, and adaptive thinking.
Opus 4.6 (released February 5, 2026): Retains advantages for deep scientific reasoning (91.3% on GPQA Diamond) and complex multi-agent coordination. For standard Cowork file operations and automation, the performance gap with Sonnet 4.6 is negligible.
Context compaction (beta): Cowork now uses automatic compaction to compress conversation history, enabling longer sessions without losing important context.

When to Use Each

Task Type	Recommended Model	Why
File organization, renaming	Sonnet 4.6	Agentic tasks — Sonnet’s strength
Receipt extraction, OCR batches	Sonnet 4.6	Tool-calling — Sonnet’s #1 ranking
Email drafts, document creation	Sonnet 4.6	Fast, sufficient quality
Daily automations, scheduled tasks	Sonnet 4.6	Same agentic performance, 5x cheaper
Multi-source research synthesis	Sonnet 4.6	1M context handles large volumes
Contract review, legal analysis	Opus 4.6	Deep reasoning advantage
Complex scientific/technical reports	Opus 4.6	GPQA-level reasoning needed
Multi-agent coordination	Opus 4.6	Coordination logic benefits from Opus

Selection Tips

Default to Sonnet 4.6 — Handles 90%+ of Cowork tasks with near-identical agentic performance to Opus
Switch to Opus 4.6 only when:
- Results require expert-level reasoning (legal, scientific, regulatory)
- Task involves complex multi-agent coordination
- Output quality from Sonnet falls consistently short despite good prompts
Avoid Opus for file operations — No measurable benefit over Sonnet for organizing files, extracting data, or running scheduled automations
Mind your quota — Opus consumes 5x more quota per token. On Pro plan, this compounds quickly.

Pro plan users: Sonnet 4.6 is your default for everything. Reserve Opus for the rare task where reasoning depth genuinely matters.

Max plan users: Still start with Sonnet 4.6. Switch to Opus for contract review, strategic analysis, or when Sonnet’s output needs more depth.

Capability Matrix

File Operations

Operation	Can Do	Notes
Read files	✅ Yes	Any format in granted folder
Create files	✅ Yes	Any text-based format
Move files	✅ Yes	Within granted folders
Copy files	✅ Yes	Within granted folders
Rename files	✅ Yes	Bulk renaming supported
Delete files	✅ Yes	⚠️ Permanent, no trash
Create folders	✅ Yes	Nested structures supported
Extract archives	❌ No	Cannot run unzip/tar
Compress files	❌ No	Cannot create archives

Document Generation

Format	Can Create	Features
Plain text (.txt)	✅ Yes	Any content
Markdown (.md)	✅ Yes	Full formatting
Word (.docx)	✅ Yes	Headers, tables, formatting
Excel (.xlsx)	✅ Yes	Formulas, multiple sheets, formatting
PowerPoint (.pptx)	✅ Yes	Slides, basic formatting — see reusable template workflow →
PDF	✅ Yes	Generated from content
HTML	✅ Yes	Full HTML/CSS
CSV	✅ Yes	Data export
JSON	✅ Yes	Structured data

Input Processing

Input Type	Can Process	Notes
Text files	✅ Yes	Any encoding
Office docs	✅ Yes	Word, Excel, PowerPoint
PDFs	✅ Yes	Text extraction
Images	✅ Yes	OCR for text extraction
Screenshots	✅ Yes	Receipt/document scanning
Markdown	✅ Yes	Full parsing
CSV/JSON	✅ Yes	Structured data parsing
Audio	❌ No	Cannot process
Video	❌ No	Cannot process
Encrypted files	❌ No	Cannot decrypt

Web Capabilities (via Chrome)

Action	Can Do	Notes
Search web	✅ Yes	Via Chrome integration
Read pages	✅ Yes	Extract content
Save content	✅ Yes	To local files
Fill forms	⚠️ Limited	Requires explicit approval
Make purchases	❌ No	Security restriction
Login to sites	❌ No	Security restriction
API calls	❌ No	No direct network access

Detailed Capabilities

1. File Organization

Cowork excels at organizing large numbers of files:

INPUT:  500 files in Downloads folder
OUTPUT: Organized structure by type/date/project

What Cowork Does:

Analyzes file names, types, content
Proposes organizational schema
Creates folder structure
Moves files (with your approval)
Generates organization report

Limitations:

Cannot access file metadata (creation date, etc.) reliably
Cannot read file content for some binary formats
Relies on file names/extensions for categorization

2. Document Synthesis

Combine multiple sources into structured outputs:

INPUT:  15 meeting notes, 3 reports, 5 emails (as text files)
OUTPUT: Executive summary with key decisions and action items

What Cowork Does:

Reads all source documents
Identifies key themes and information
Structures into requested format
Generates polished output document

Limitations:

Context window limits (~200K tokens)
Cannot access original email/calendar systems
Synthesis quality depends on source clarity

3. Data Extraction

Extract structured data from unstructured sources:

INPUT:  20 receipt images (photos, screenshots)
OUTPUT: Excel spreadsheet with Date, Vendor, Amount, Category

What Cowork Does:

OCR on images
Identifies relevant fields
Normalizes data format
Creates Excel with formulas

Limitations:

Field extraction: ~97% accuracy (vendor, date, totals)
Line-item extraction: ~63% accuracy (table rows) — verify manually
Handwritten text is challenging
Some receipt formats may not parse correctly
Budget 30-50% of “saved” time for error correction

⚠️ No independent benchmarks exist for AI file organization tools. Productivity claims are vendor marketing, not peer-reviewed research. Set realistic expectations.

4. Report Generation

Create formatted reports from raw data:

INPUT:  CSV with sales data
OUTPUT: Formatted report with charts and analysis

What Cowork Does:

Analyzes data patterns
Creates summary statistics
Generates visual representations
Formats for specified output

Limitations:

Chart capabilities limited in Excel output
Complex visualizations need manual refinement
Statistical analysis is basic

5. Research Compilation

Gather and organize research from multiple sources:

INPUT:  Topic: "Remote work productivity tools"
OUTPUT: Research document with comparison matrix

What Cowork Does:

Uses Chrome for web research
Extracts relevant information
Organizes into structured format
Cites sources

Limitations:

Cannot access paywalled content
Web research is slower than direct API
Quality depends on available public information

Excel Capabilities (Detailed)

Since Excel output is a major Cowork strength:

Supported Features

Feature	Supported	Example
Basic formulas	✅ Yes	`=SUM(A1:A10)`
Conditional formulas	✅ Yes	`=IF(A1>100, "High", "Low")`
VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP	✅ Yes	Cross-reference sheets
Multiple sheets	✅ Yes	Summary + detail sheets
Cell formatting	✅ Yes	Bold, colors, borders
Number formatting	✅ Yes	Currency, percentages
Data validation	⚠️ Limited	Basic dropdown lists
Pivot tables	❌ No	Must create manually
Macros/VBA	❌ No	Security restriction
Charts	⚠️ Limited	Basic chart types

Not to Be Confused With: Claude in Excel Add-in

⚠️ Important Distinction: This section describes Cowork’s Excel generation capabilities (creating .xlsx files from data). This is NOT the same as the Claude in Excel add-in (Microsoft Excel add-in for formula assistance, launched Jan 24, 2026).

Key differences:

Cowork Excel: Generates new Excel files from unstructured data (receipts, images, text)

Claude in Excel: Helps with formulas/analysis inside existing Excel files

See full comparison.

Regional Considerations

Excel formula syntax varies by region:

US/UK: =SUM(A1,A2) (comma separator)
EU: =SUM(A1;A2) (semicolon separator)

Tip: Specify your regional setting in prompts:

Create an Excel file using European formula syntax (semicolon separators)

Context Window Usage

Cowork shares Claude’s ~200K token context limit, but effective capacity is ~165K.

Why 165K, Not 200K?

System overhead consumes tokens before your task starts:

Tool definitions: ~10K tokens
Safety instructions: ~10K tokens
Execution logs: ~5-15K tokens (varies)

Effective limit: ~165-175K usable tokens

Practical Limits

Content Type	Approximate Capacity
Plain text pages	100-400 pages
Documents	40-80 typical docs
Spreadsheet rows	8,000-40,000 rows
Images (OCR)	40-80 images

When You Hit Limits

Error message:

Context limit reached

Symptoms:

Cowork stops mid-task (often around 165K, not 200K)
Results are incomplete
Silent failure without clear message

Solutions:

Break work into batches of 10-20 files
Process files in groups
Save intermediate results to checkpoint files
Start fresh conversation for new tasks

Token Budget by Task Type

Task	Tokens	Pro Sessions
Simple Q&A	5K-10K	Many
File inventory	20K-30K	6-8
Small file org (10-20 files)	30K-50K	3-5
Large file org (50+ files)	80K-150K	1-2
OCR batch (10+ images)	60K-100K	2-3

Agentic overhead: Plan→Execute→Check cycles add 15-30% tokens.

Extensions & Plugins

Cowork supports official extensions that extend its capabilities for specialized workflows. Extensions are provided by Anthropic and integrate seamlessly with the Cowork interface.

Available Extensions

Claude Legal (announced February 3, 2026):

Purpose: Automate legal document review and risk detection
Key capabilities:
- Automated contract review and key term extraction
- Risk and compliance issue identification
- NDA and agreement triage
- Regulatory compliance tracking
Use cases for SMBs:
- Automated contract verification before signing
- Detection of problematic clauses in vendor agreements
- Compliance checklist generation for sector-specific regulations
- Invoice and agreement term cross-checking

⚠️ Legal Disclaimer: Claude Legal does NOT provide legal advice. It assists with document analysis and risk identification. All findings should be reviewed by a qualified legal professional before making decisions.

How to use: Claude Legal capabilities are accessible through standard Cowork prompts when processing legal documents. No separate installation required—simply reference legal analysis needs in your task description.

Example prompt:

Review the contract in ~/Cowork-Workspace/contracts/vendor-agreement.pdf
Identify key terms, obligations, and potential risks.
Generate a summary with flagged issues for legal review.

Official Plugins (January 30, 2026) + Expanded Ecosystem (February 24, 2026)

The plugin ecosystem has grown significantly. Starting from 11 core plugins (January 30), Anthropic expanded with enterprise connectors and functional plugins on February 24.

Core Plugins (all users)

Plugin	Category	SMB Use Cases
Asana	Project Management	Task tracking, project status
Canva	Design	Create visuals, social posts
Cloudflare	Infrastructure	Site management, analytics
Figma	Design	Design file access, review
GitHub	Development	Repository management, issues
Google Drive	Cloud Storage	File access, document management
Jira	Project Management	Issue tracking, sprint management
Linear	Project Management	Issue tracking, project planning
Notion	Knowledge Base	Pages, databases, documentation
Sentry	Monitoring	Error tracking, performance
Slack	Communication	Messages, channel management

New Connectors (February 24, 2026)

Key additions relevant for SMBs:

Connector	Category	Use Cases
Google Calendar	Productivity	Meeting scheduling, availability checks
Gmail	Communication	Email workflows without Chrome
DocuSign	Documents	Contract signing, document workflows
WordPress	Publishing	Post management, content updates
Apollo	Sales	Contact research, prospecting
Clay	Sales	Lead enrichment, CRM data
Outreach	Sales	Sales sequences, follow-ups
Similarweb	Research	Competitor web traffic analysis
Harvey	Legal	Legal document analysis
LegalZoom	Legal	Document templates, compliance

Finance/institutional connectors also added (FactSet, MSCI, LSEG, S&P Global) — primarily enterprise/investment workflows.

Functional Plugins by Department

Beyond individual app connectors, Anthropic launched pre-built plugins that combine connectors and skills for specific job functions:

Function	Covers
HR	Full employee lifecycle: job descriptions, onboarding docs, offer letters, offboarding
Legal & Design	UX copy, accessibility audits, design critiques
Operations	Process documentation, vendor evaluations, change request tracking, brand voice
Engineering	Development workflows, code review processes
Finance	Financial analysis workflows (enterprise-focused)

Build Your Own Plugin (No Code Required)

You can create custom plugins tailored to your specific workflow:

Open Cowork’s Plugins panel in the interface
Click Create Plugin
Define your skills (reusable AI tasks) with descriptions
Assign slash commands to each skill (e.g., /quote, /followup)
Bundle skills with relevant connectors
Share across your team

Starting point: Anthropic’s 11 official plugins are open-sourced and available as templates to adapt.

Admin: Private Plugin Marketplace

Organizations can create a private catalog of approved plugins:

Admins control which plugins and connectors are available to users
Plugins can be bundled with pre-configured connector permissions
Organization-wide sharing tools in development

Note: Plugin availability and connector functionality may evolve during research preview. Google Calendar, Gmail, and DocuSign connectors were announced February 24, 2026 — check current availability in your Cowork settings.

New Capabilities (February 2026)

Scheduled Tasks

Cowork can automate recurring tasks, run them at set times without manually triggering each time. Set it up once, and it handles your daily, weekly, or monthly operations.

Two Task Types

Recurring tasks — Run automatically at set intervals without any manual action:

Hourly, daily, weekly, weekdays-only, or custom schedules
Cowork rewrites your prompt after the first run, optimizing it based on what it learned

On-demand tasks — Run once when you trigger them manually:

Useful for irregular or one-off operations
Same setup process, just triggered via “Run now” instead of a schedule

How to Set Up a Task

Open Claude Desktop → left sidebar → Scheduled section
Click New Task
Write your task prompt (CTOC format recommended)
Choose task type:
- Recurring: set cadence (hourly / daily / weekly / weekdays / custom)
- On-demand: will run when you click “Run now”
Activate

Managing tasks from the sidebar: view upcoming runs, see past run history, edit prompt or cadence, pause, resume, delete, or trigger an on-demand run at any time.

Note: Scheduled Tasks is in research preview. Reliability may vary. Always verify automated outputs before acting on them.

⚠️ Device must be awake: If your computer is asleep or Claude Desktop is closed when a task fires, it will be skipped and re-run once the device wakes and the app reopens. Plan accordingly for overnight or early-morning schedules.

4 Essential Patterns

Pattern 1: Daily Morning Brief Triggers every day at 9am. Consolidates overnight inputs into a usable brief.

CONTEXT: Files added yesterday to ~/Cowork-Workspace/input/daily/
TASK: Summarize new documents, key information, items requiring action today
OUTPUT: ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/brief-[date].md with sections: Actions Today, Key Info, Nothing Urgent
CONSTRAINTS: Max 1 page. Bullet points only. Flag anything time-sensitive.

Pattern 2: Weekly Sales Compilation Triggers every Monday at 8am. Pulls together the past week’s data.

CONTEXT: Files in ~/Cowork-Workspace/input/weekly/ from the past 7 days
TASK: Compile into a weekly summary, totals, notable items, open follow-ups
OUTPUT: ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/weekly-[date].docx
CONSTRAINTS: One-page executive format. Include totals. Flag overdue items.

Pattern 3: Friday Wrap-Up Triggers every Friday at 5pm. Documents what happened this week.

CONTEXT: All files modified this week in ~/Cowork-Workspace/
TASK: Create end-of-week recap, work done, pending items, notes for next Monday
OUTPUT: ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/recap-[date].md
CONSTRAINTS: Focus on what's actionable next week. Brief format.

Pattern 4: Monthly Dashboard Triggers on the 1st of each month. Creates your monthly overview.

CONTEXT: ~/Cowork-Workspace/input/monthly/ for the past month
TASK: Monthly summary, key metrics, trends, outstanding issues
OUTPUT: ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/dashboard-[month].xlsx with Summary and Details tabs
CONSTRAINTS: Use EU formula syntax. Month-over-month comparison where data allows.

Reliability Notes

Scheduled tasks work well for straightforward, repeatable operations. For complex multi-step workflows or tasks that depend on external data availability, check outputs manually the first few runs to validate behavior.

Alternative for advanced automation: n8n (open source) can trigger Cowork Desktop via the n8n-nodes-claude-desktop community node, enabling more sophisticated scheduling and conditional logic.

Improved Browser Automation

Browser automation capabilities have been enhanced for more reliable web research, form interaction, and content extraction.

Direct Excel and PowerPoint Integrations

Beyond generating .xlsx and .pptx files from scratch, Cowork can now directly edit existing Excel and PowerPoint files — modifying content, adding sheets/slides, and updating formulas in place.

Practical use case: Build a reusable PPTX template from your existing company presentation (brand colors, house structure), then generate each new presentation from notes in 3 steps. See the reusable template workflow.

Agent Teams (Research Preview)

Agent Teams lets multiple Claude agents work on a task simultaneously. Instead of one agent processing 50 documents sequentially, you can split the work across several agents, each handling a portion, and get results faster.

When to Use Agent Teams

Situation	Example
Large document batches	Analyze 50 supplier invoices at once
Multi-source research	Research 10 competitors simultaneously
Parallel categorization	Sort 200 files by type and date at the same time
Complex synthesis	Combine data from multiple file types into one report

For tasks with 5-10 files or simple sequential operations, standard Cowork without Agent Teams is usually sufficient.

How to Invoke Agent Teams

Ask Cowork to use multiple agents explicitly:

Process all PDF invoices in ~/Cowork-Workspace/input/invoices/
Use parallel agents to analyze each invoice simultaneously.
Extract: Date, Supplier, Amount, Payment Terms, VAT
Compile into a single Excel at ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/invoice-analysis.xlsx

Or for research:

Research these 8 competitors: [list]
Use separate agents for each company.
For each: products, pricing, target market, main differentiators.
Compile into ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/competitor-analysis.docx

SMB Use Cases

Accounting: Process a month’s receipts in a fraction of the time
Procurement: Compare quotes from multiple suppliers simultaneously
Compliance: Check multiple contracts against a compliance checklist in parallel
Content: Generate variations of a document for different client types at once

Limitations

Agent Teams is in research preview. Coordination between agents can occasionally be imperfect, one agent may not correctly pass context to another. For critical work, verify the assembled output carefully. The feature works most reliably with clearly scoped, parallel tasks rather than tightly interdependent workflows.

Cross-Session Memory (via Desktop Commander)

By default, each Cowork session starts fresh, Cowork doesn’t remember preferences, client names, or context from previous sessions. With Desktop Commander installed, you can solve this with a memory.md file.

How It Works

Create ~/Cowork-Workspace/memory.md with your recurring context
At the start of each session: “Read ~/Cowork-Workspace/memory.md first. Then [your request]”
Cowork loads your preferences and context before starting work

Recommended memory.md Structure

# My Cowork Memory

## Business Context
- Business type: [your type]
- Main clients: [names and key info]
- Preferred document formats: [list]

## Communication Preferences
- Tone with clients: [formal/casual]
- Language: [French/English/both]
- Things to never do: [list]

## Recurring Tasks
- Weekly: [what you do each week]
- Monthly: [what you do each month]

## Important Details
- VAT number: [if relevant for invoices]
- Standard payment terms: [your terms]

Templates by Business Type

Tradesperson (plumber, electrician, builder)

# Memory — [Your name], [Trade]

## Clients
- Client Dupont: apartment at [address], prefers afternoon calls, always requests itemized quotes
- Client Martin: villa renovation ongoing, needs formal invoices

## Standards
- Quote format: always include labor and materials separately
- Payment terms: 30 days net
- Default VAT rate: 20%

Retail (shop, boutique)

# Memory — [Shop name]

## Inventory Priorities
- Fast movers: [top 5 products]
- Seasonal: [periods and categories]
- Reorder threshold: [quantity]

## Supplier Preferences
- Primary supplier: [name, contact, lead time]
- Backup: [name]

Professional Services (consultant, accountant, coach)

# Memory — [Your name], [Profession]

## Active Clients
- Client A: monthly strategic consulting, formal reports in Word
- Client B: needs bilingual documents (FR/EN)

## Document Templates
- Proposal: see ~/Cowork-Workspace/templates/proposal-template.docx
- Report: [structure preferences]

Requires: Desktop Commander extension (see Getting Started Step 8).

Customize Cowork

The Customize tab in Claude Desktop is where you extend and personalize Cowork. You’ll find it in the main app navigation. Three main areas: Skills, Connectors, and personalizations.

Skills — Extra Capabilities

Skills add specific powers to Cowork, invoked via slash commands. Think of them as specialized tools you activate when needed.

Official Skills (Anthropic)

Skill	Slash Command	What It Does
PDF	`/pdf`	Advanced PDF processing and extraction
Word	`/docx`	Enhanced Word document creation and editing
PowerPoint	`/pptx`	Richer slide generation and formatting
Excel	`/xlsx`	Advanced spreadsheet operations
Canvas Design	`/canvas-design`	Visual layout and design creation
Algorithmic Art	`/algorithmic-art`	Pattern and visual generation
Skill Creator	`/skill-creator`	Create custom skills for your specific needs

How to Use Skills

/pdf Extract all tables from the contracts in ~/Cowork-Workspace/input/contracts/
     Save each table as a separate CSV in ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/

Skill Chaining

Combine skills in sequence for multi-step operations:

/pdf Extract the data from these receipts
/xlsx Organize it into a monthly expense tracker with totals and categories
Input: ~/Cowork-Workspace/input/receipts/
Output: ~/Cowork-Workspace/output/expenses-[month].xlsx

Community Skills

Beyond official skills, the community builds and shares skills:

Resource	What You’ll Find
github.com/anthropics/skills	Official Anthropic skill repository
claudemarketplaces.com	Community-contributed skills
skills.sh	Skills with one-line install
skillhub.club	Curated skill collections

Install any skill from the Customize tab: search by name or paste the skill URL.

Connectors — Connect External Tools

Connectors let Cowork interact with tools beyond your local files. Three connector types:

Type	What It Does	Setup
Web Search	Searches the web (alternative to Chrome)	Toggle in Customize tab
Desktop (local files)	Access files outside your workspace	Via Desktop Commander
Custom JSON	Connect to any service with a JSON definition	Advanced users

Permission Levels Per Tool

Each connector tool can be set independently:

Permission	Behavior
Allow	Cowork uses this tool automatically without asking
Ask	Cowork asks your permission each time before using
Block	Cowork never uses this tool

Example: Set web search to Ask so Cowork confirms before going online. Set local file reading to Allow for seamless file access.

Setting Up Connectors (No Coding Required)

Go to Customize tab → Connectors
Browse available connectors
Click a connector → set individual tool permissions
Save, connector is active immediately

Note: Desktop Commander (a connector) is covered separately in Getting Started Step 8. It’s the recommended first connector for most users.

The Customize Tab Ecosystem

Area	Find It In	Key Action
Skills	Customize → Skills	Install, manage slash commands
Connectors	Customize → Connectors	Add tools, set permissions
Desktop Commander	Customize → Extensions	Enable cross-session memory
Personalizations	Customize → Profile	Default behaviors, language settings

Note: The Customize tab UI may evolve as Cowork exits research preview. Feature locations described here reflect the February 2026 interface.

What Cowork CANNOT Do

Code Execution

❌ Cannot run: Python, JavaScript, shell scripts
❌ Cannot execute: Installed applications
❌ Cannot use: Command-line tools

Workaround: Use Claude Code for code execution tasks.

Network Operations

❌ Cannot make: API calls, HTTP requests
❌ Cannot access: Remote databases
❌ Cannot sync: Cloud storage directly

Workaround: Download cloud files locally first, or use Chrome for web access.

System Operations

❌ Cannot change: System settings
❌ Cannot install: Software
❌ Cannot access: Other applications' data

Workaround: These operations must be done manually.

Security-Sensitive Operations

❌ Cannot handle: Passwords, credentials
❌ Cannot process: Encrypted files
❌ Cannot access: Protected system folders

Workaround: Keep sensitive data out of Cowork workspace.

Environment Constraints

❌ Cannot work: With VPN active (VM routing conflict)
❌ Cannot run: On Linux (macOS and Windows only)
❌ Cannot operate: In background (requires app foreground)
❌ Cannot persist: Sessions across app restarts

VPN Issue: Cowork’s VM conflicts with VPN network routing. This is the #1 reported issue. Solution: Disconnect VPN before using Cowork. See Troubleshooting for details.

Capability Decision Tree

Need to do something with files?
├─ Yes → Is it within your granted folder?
│        ├─ Yes → Can Cowork read the file type?
│        │        ├─ Yes → Cowork can help ✅
│        │        └─ No (audio/video/encrypted) → Manual process needed
│        └─ No → Grant access or move files first
│
└─ No → What do you need?
         ├─ Execute code → Use Claude Code
         ├─ API integration → Manual or Claude Code
         ├─ System changes → Manual operation
         └─ Web research → Cowork + Chrome ✅

Best Practices for Capabilities

Maximize Success

Match task to capability — Check matrix before starting
Prepare inputs — Ensure files are in readable formats
Specify formats — Be explicit about output requirements
Test small first — Verify with few files before batch

When to Choose Alternatives

If You Need	Use Instead
Code execution	Claude Code
API integration	Claude Code + scripts
Cloud file sync	Native cloud apps
Audio/video	Specialized tools
Real-time data	Manual process

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