The Claude app has offered three modes. Anthropic is merging Chat and Cowork right now, so yours may look a little different.12
- Chat: a conversation. It can't touch your files.1
- Cowork: a helper that works on a task while you go make coffee. It makes finished documents, spreadsheets, and slides, using folders you connect.12
- Code: a helper that works right inside a folder on your computer. You okay or check each change.1
All three live in the same app. Cowork and Code need a paid plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise).23 Neither one needs the terminal.23
Heads-up: Anthropic is turning Chat and Cowork into "one Claude." It decides by itself if you want a quick answer or a bigger task. No Chat or Cowork buttons? You've got the new version.2
One person's path
One of our editors started in Chat. He moved to Cowork when it came out. Soon after, he moved to Code. Now he only uses Code. In his view, it does everything the other two do, and more.
But most regular folks he's helped stopped at Cowork. And that's a great place to stop. Not everyone needs a pickup truck. Sometimes a nice car is plenty.
Who should stop where
| Stay at… | If you… | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | Mostly ask questions, write emails, and brainstorm | Fast answers. Nothing touches your computer |
| Cowork | Want finished files, tidy folders, research reports, or chores on a schedule | Hand off a task, walk away, come back to finished work. Tasks run on Anthropic's computers, apart from yours2 |
| Code | Do the same jobs a lot, want to see exactly what changed in each file, or want to build little tools or web pages | You see every change before it happens. You also get a memory file you write yourself (see the Memory guide)34 |
Why Cowork is the comfy stopping point: it runs in a walled-off space on Anthropic's computers. It can only use folders you've connected. And it must ask before it deletes files for good.2 Code works on the files on your computer directly. So it pays to be a bit more careful.3
Signs you're ready for the next step
- Chat → Cowork: you keep copying Claude's answers into a document by hand. Or you think, "I wish it could just make the file."
- Cowork → Code: you keep typing the same setup instructions. Or you want to check changes before they happen. Or you want Claude to build you a little tool, like a simple web page.
Try Code without fear (10 minutes)3
- Make a new, empty folder called "Code practice." Don't point Code at your whole Documents folder.
- In the app, click the Code tab at the top center. (Asks you to upgrade? You need a paid plan.)
- Choose Local. Click Select folder. Pick "Code practice."
- Next to the send button, set the mode to Manual. Now Claude shows you each change and waits for Accept or Reject. Nothing changes until you say so.
- Try this: "Create a simple one-page website about my garden club, as a single HTML file I can open by double-clicking." Accept the change. Then double-click the file. Ta-da!
- Want to look before you leap? Use Plan mode first. Claude suggests a plan without changing anything.3
Skip "Accept edits" and "Auto" until you feel at home. Those let Claude make changes without stopping to ask each time.3
