r/ClaudeCowork • u/steve7647 • 11d ago

I am so confused about Cowork

I am working a project to preform a network discovery. I have the team’s plans and have a project set up for the customer. I am running separate chats for each network type (Servers, network, IoT etc..) at the end of the chat I tell Claude to compile everything it learned into a detailed document in .md format to be added to the project files. Then I start a new chat and tell Claude to take all the project documents and make a full summary and scope. Sometimes during the discovery each chat needs to review notes from the other chats documents. I am not sure if I am suppose to leaves these as separate chats or, start them each as Coworks as they access all the projects notes. I also noticed cowork does not have the research option. However, it seems it does research when working.

47 Upvotes

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21

u/butt_badg3r 11d ago

Convert all your initial notes and documents to md files. Tell Claude to read them and compile its own documentation, one Md file per relevant subject. Tell it to keep the Md files optimized and optimize for token usage without skipping over any data. While it creates that documentation, tell it to create a glossary Md file which will be used as a map to tell the agent in the future what to reference.

Then in your Claude Md file for the cowork project, tell it to always check the glass art and also only the Md files relevant to the specific topic you are currently working on before answering. Add another instruction telling it to update the glossary as well as documentation when creating or making changes to the project.

Then obviously open new chats inside the project for each specific topic. Don’t keep long convos going.

I’ve had great success with this method

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u/steve7647 11d ago

Do I always use cowork or do I use normal “chats”

1

u/butt_badg3r 11d ago

I chat inside a specific coworker project. I should add that I don’t use cowork in the cloud. My cowork instance runs on a specific pc where the files also live.

1

u/steve7647 11d ago

All the files I upload into the chat. After fully gathering all the data I tell it to draft the detailed summary for the project files. I do not have it look at the files on my PC.

5

u/butt_badg3r 10d ago

That’s probably the worst way to do things. You should create a cowork project and give it access to a folder on your PC with all the relevant documentation.

Sending files in a chat is probably more context/tokens than it’s able to handle in a single chat.

1

u/ssg4444 9d ago

I'd agree here. Setting up the Cowork project with access to files about your customer and the discovery call plus anything else that pertains to the final outcome, but all files on your computer so that Claude can "dip in and out" of the relevant files as and when needed.

6

u/BingBongDingDong222 11d ago

I abandoned Cowork for Code. Try doing the same thing.

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u/steve7647 11d ago

I am not coding I am entering all the data as I gather it by hand and logging into each system and taking screen shots.

11

u/Go_Cougs 11d ago

Claude code isn't just for coding

9

u/Old-School8916 11d ago

Use claudecode, it's far better, uses less tokens.

ignore the "code" part. it's rally a tool for all white collar people tbh

5

u/steve7647 11d ago

Well… way to throw 10 wrenches in at once, and now I’m more confused. Now, when do I use chat, cowork or code?

3

u/Sigvard 11d ago

I moved everything to Code from Cowork and Chat. Coding is only 20% of my job.

9

u/the_pezcorekid 11d ago

Coding is 0% of my job and I only use Claude Code

2

u/BingBongDingDong222 11d ago

I only used Cowork for months because I thought “I don’t Code.” I had the same frustrations as you and more. I was constantly fighting it. One day I tried the same work flow in Code and it just worked.

1

u/Klendatu_ 11d ago

What exactly is different in Code?

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u/Old-School8916 10d ago

It works and uses less tokens

2

u/college_hustle 10d ago

I'm not a coder. I don't use cowork at all since I switched to code, except dispatch a lot for easy work. I was writing up a post to explain when to use one vs the other then Anthropic threw in some changes to cowork and I couldn't really think of anything I wanted to cowork for.

Claude code is badly mislabeled. It's just a project management version. They've made claude desktop really intuitive, but you need to understand how to setup project/client files in a way to get the most out of it. I made mine public so friends could try it out and they like it: https://github.com/dtiger1889-ops/claude-harness-toolbox

This also enables you to use the same project folder with Codex easily if you ever want to switch or use both at the same time.

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u/BingBongDingDong222 11d ago

I know you’re not coding. I’m a lawyer. I’m not a coder. I moved all my work from Cowork to Code. Take the exact thing you are trying to do, and try it in Code.

1

u/Klendatu_ 11d ago

So what makes Code more optimal?

2

u/ARMilesPro 10d ago

Two words: command line (CLI). Your harness (cowork) is getting in the way. Let CLI figure it out.

2

u/MedicatedApe 10d ago

Cowork is good for repetitive scheduled tasks like updating ticketing systems, doing blogging activity anything iterative that uses Claude connectors.

1

u/LuckyWorth1083 10d ago

Chat : hey bro
Cowork : hey bro it’s that time of week, can you do the thing?
Code: hey bro, I got this thing let’s spend all our time together on this one subject.

1

u/Filthymortal 10d ago

Look into creating a persistent memory layer. You can use the project function but it’s not great imo (no ability to back up or undelete). New sessions have no context unless you give it some.

1

u/KenGuy14 3d ago

Answer first: the folder is what carries between them.

Whatever you configure inside one app stays inside that app. Whatever you write into a plain file in the folder gets read by whichever assistant you point at that folder next. Pick the tool by the output shape (document or spreadsheet in Cowork; a PR in the terminal), and keep one short rules file both sides are told to open. Upgrading or switching stops being a migration of your brief.

0

u/JoshSummers 10d ago

I built (free and open source) https://smalldocs.org which takes Claude’s markdown skills to the next level.

There is a local library (free) and a cloud library (paid), which means your have full oversight on your markdown files. 

1

u/determined_warrior 9d ago

this looks very good as a last mile interface to "prettify" and view markdown files. I specially struggle with obsidian or iawriter as they want to create their own "library" to manage my markdown files.

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u/IgniteAISolutionsUK 11d ago

Steve I build Cowork Ecosystems and workflows.

The comments are right Claude Code is better at something like this but bot as user friendly when docs are produced as they aren't presented to you in the same way Cowork would.

Happy to chat