Claude Cowork: merged into Claude on 2026-09-16
Claude Cowork started as Anthropic's native desktop assistant for knowledge work (computer control, scheduled tasks, project management). On 2026-09-16 Anthropic announced that Cowork and chat are one Claude, rolling out on Pro and Max plans first. This page keeps the capability map and says, item by item, where each one lives inside Claude now.
Updated 2026-10-08
Claude Cowork vs Claude Code
After the merge these are no longer two products but two ways of working inside Claude: what was Cowork automates knowledge work, what was Code serves software engineering. Map them feature by feature below.
Claude Cowork
Knowledge-work automation — inside Claude since 2026-09-16, no separate client
- GUI automation: click, fill forms, screenshot
- Scheduled tasks: cron-style workflow automation
- Projects: long-lived tasks with multi-file context
- Plugin marketplace: extend workflow capabilities
Claude Code
Terminal AI coding assistant for software engineers
- Codebase understanding and large-scale refactoring
- MCP tool integration and Hooks automation
- Agent Teams multi-agent parallel collaboration
- Git workflow and CI/CD integration
Both ways of working sit in the same Claude account. QCode's docs say to treat Cowork as governed by your Claude plan and organisation settings and not to budget it as QCode usage. What QCode covers is calling Claude models over the API, for example from Claude Code.
Core Features
The four pillars of Cowork covering everyday automation needs for knowledge workers.
Computer Use
Claude operates desktop apps like a human: browse websites, fill forms, work with Excel/Word, automating repetitive GUI operations.
- Mouse clicks, keyboard input, window switching
- Screenshot analysis to understand current UI state
- Cross-application automation workflows
Scheduled Tasks
Set cron-style scheduled tasks so Claude automatically executes workflows at specified times without manual triggering.
# 设置每日早报任务
cowork schedule daily "9:00 汇总昨日 GitHub PR 变更"
Projects
Cross-session long-lived project context. Claude remembers project background, file structure, and past decisions to continuously track complex tasks.
- Project-level persistent memory
- Multi-file context understanding
- Cross-session task tracking
Plugin Marketplace
Built-in plugin marketplace for one-click installation of professional tools extending Cowork capabilities, covering CRM, calendar, email, and other business system integrations.
- Official picks + community plugins
- Interoperable with Claude Code plugin ecosystem
- Private plugin support
Installation & Configuration
Three steps to the Claude desktop app, where the Cowork capabilities now live. A separate Cowork installer is no longer the official delivery path, and Anthropic's release notes say Cowork is also available on web and mobile.
Download Installer
Per Anthropic's release notes, Cowork became generally available on macOS and Windows through the Claude Desktop app (2026-04-09). Download Claude Desktop for your platform from Claude's website.
Claude Desktop (macOS / Windows)
Complete Setup Wizard
Follow the setup wizard to grant system permissions (screen recording and accessibility permissions are required for Computer Use).
Sign in with your Claude account
Cowork follows your Claude account; whether and how much you can use it depends on your subscription and organisation settings (the new experience has been rolling out to Pro and Max since 2026-09-16). This step does not involve QCode: QCode's docs say not to budget Cowork as QCode usage.
How Cowork relates to QCode
QCode is a per-token API service. Claude models only work on the Anthropic-protocol endpoint; the docs give the base URL https://api.qcode.cc/api (for example as ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL in Claude Code). Cowork is not part of QCode usage.
Important Notes
- Computer Use requires screen recording and accessibility permissions
- Scheduled tasks run automatically while Cowork is in the background
- Anthropic says your chats, Cowork tasks, projects, connectors and skills carry over
- Test Computer Use in low-risk scenarios first
Call Claude models over the API
Cowork itself runs on your Claude subscription. To call models such as claude-sonnet-5-5 or claude-opus-5-5 from Claude Code or other tools that speak the Anthropic protocol, sign up for QCode: billed per token, with each model's price on /models.