Set Up Claude Cowork
Knowledge workers ready to move past chat
Prerequisites: Module 01. Paid Claude plan. Desktop app installed.
Last verified 2026-07-28
Learning objectives
- Explain what Cowork is and how it differs from chat and Projects
- Build the standard Cowork folder structure (context, outputs, templates)
- Write three core context files (about-me, writing style, my-company)
- Set global instructions so Claude reads the right files automatically
- Run a first full Cowork task end to end
What's in this module
5 lessons · 6 exercises · ~5 min reading
Starts withWhat Cowork actually does~1 minExecutive summary
You will learn how Cowork works and how to set up the folder and context files that make it effective. End state is a complete personal Cowork setup: folder structure, three context files, global instructions, and one real task delivered. After this module you can delegate multi-step file work to Claude with one-line prompts, because your context does the explaining.
Sources
- Claude Help Center, "Get started with Claude Cowork", the canonical setup walkthrough: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-get-started-with-claude-cowork
- Claude Help Center, "Use Claude Cowork safely". Read before pointing an agent at a folder of real work; this is the vendor's own risk guidance: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13364135-use-claude-cowork-safely
- Claude Help Center, "Claude Cowork architecture overview", what is actually running, for anyone who wants the model behind the interface: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/14479288-claude-cowork-architecture-overview
- Pre-work option: Introduction to Claude Cowork on Anthropic Academy: https://anthropic.skilljar.com
- Ruben Hassid, "Cowork" (setup guide): https://ruben.substack.com/p/claude-cowork-20
Prefer the live room?
This module also runs inside our in-person bootcamps and workshops in Copenhagen.
More in Track B
Claude to Sound Like You
How to capture your writing voice, taste, and hard rules in one compact file any AI can use.
Stop Writing Like AI
The patterns that make text read as machine-written, from negative parallelism to banned vocabulary.
Stop Prompting Claude
Why maintained context files beat repeated prompting, and how to manage them with Obsidian.