35 Comments
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Karo (Product with Attitude)'s avatar

That's a very clear explainer Joel! I just linked to it from the deep dive I published yesterday 🤗 This is such a power move by Anthropic. They showed that they can release Cowork-sized features using their own agents in days.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Thank you! And I saw yours today! Really enjoyed it as well

Sam Illingworth's avatar

Thanks Joel, this is the clearest summary of what Claude Cowork actually is and why it's probably worth the investment in the medium term, if not in the initial short term, for me. I'm also slightly worried about the real risk of prompt injection, especially because everything's going to be going on in the background, so to speak. Also, I'm excited to see what Google might come with as an alternative. Who knows, they might even use Claude's Cowork to build something.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Thank you for saying that! Yeah I’m very careful and have everything set to ask and seek approval before doing anything but even then, I don’t touch anything confidential or financial

Noel Tovey-Grindlay's avatar

I love the idea of Claude cowork, as a Mac user I got excited that it was only on Mac, then I spotted the need for a Max plan 😩.

Using Claude Code to build it is really amazing, this really goes to show that you can build polished projects with Claude (if you know what you're doing). I have built iOS apps, websites and web apps with Claude Code, and I am not a software engineer, just a guy with ideas.

Joel Salinas's avatar

A guy with ideas and no coding skills is me exactly haha! I’d love to connect sometime, Noel!

Yeah at this point I’m keeping an eye on coworkers but to me, not worth 200. Eventually it will have its bugs worked out and come down to 20$

Noel Tovey-Grindlay's avatar

Hopefully it will come to us Pro plan users soon 🤞. Would be great to connect, I am very new Substack but loving meeting new people on a daily basis and nerding out about AI.

Michael Meneghini, MD's avatar

Claude Cowork is fascinating, finally, AI removes execution friction, letting leaders focus on vision, not busywork.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Removing friction is the key! Well said, Michael

Dennis Berry's avatar

Cowork isn’t just another tool, it’s a lens for spotting friction in your workflow

Dan Cucolea's avatar

Great explainer Joel! Cowork looks like the first “real assistant” because it can actually touch files instead of just talking about them. I still can’t justify $200/month just to take it for a spin, so I’m waiting until pricing drops or there’s a lighter tier.

Joel Salinas's avatar

I can’t justify it either but it’ll drop I’m sure

Chris Tottman's avatar

Very polished explainer for Claude - super helpful. Thanks Joel

Joel Salinas's avatar

Thank you, sir!

Jules Ball's avatar

Very interesting I have not tried Claude but I love the learning

Joel Salinas's avatar

It’s my go to. May not be yours but worth exploring

Jules Ball's avatar

I'm definitely intrigued after your post, thank you.

Jemi Crookes's avatar

Really great guidance, Joel. Especially around identifying the friction first and then heeding some the safe usage advice. But it sounds like an exciting advancement! I’m looking forward to testing Cowork on my travel expenses when I’m back at my desk next week 😆

Joel Salinas's avatar

Thank you :) yeah it’s like stock trading or using fire, you can do a lot safely when you understand the risks

Raghav Mehra's avatar

Thanks Joel, a nice commentary of how one can use Claude Cowork, with some risks mentioned outlined I am excited to try these out myself once its rolled out fully ...only wait after its available to Pro users.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Thanks! Do you use Claude Code?

I stick to regular claude for now haha and cursor

Raghav Mehra's avatar

I have used Claude Code for some local use, including managing directories and cleaning my Desktop haha. I mostly use Claude Skills. I have used Cursor a few times yes too but, I think, one of Cursor or Claude Code should suffice.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Makes sense!

Jenny Ouyang's avatar

Claude is really good at productizing things in a way that’s approachable for normal users.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Yes!🙌 especially for those like me who are not genius engineers

Dallas Payne's avatar

Joel, this made me laugh - I built a new website for myself last Saturday too, except in Lovable 😄 Now it's crashing every couple of days because of something I can't quite figure out with the DNS settings... I should have just gone straight to ol' faithful Claude/Cursor 😂 Your new site looks great!

Joel Salinas's avatar

Try putting your error log through Claude

Dallas Payne's avatar

It's been on my list of things to do, but I got dazzled by a different vibe coding project so it keeps getting pushed back, lol. Claude is super helpful at navigating errors, I love using it for that.

Joel Salinas's avatar

Thanks!!! I got the cursor free trial haha all I needed, free is enough once the big build is done

Janna McGregor's avatar

Really smart move by Anthropic. This is similar to how I’ve been using Claude already, but without the file access. I built my own website as well, using Claude to supplement my extremely basic software development skills (and long dormant GitHub account!).

Joel Salinas's avatar

I’d love to check out your site! What is it?

Janna McGregor's avatar

Here it is: https://www.projectjanna.com/

I checked out yours as well, it look like we both created consulting-themed sites. I see a couple similar design choices (e.g., rounded boxes w/ hover action), Claude must have some go-to recommendations!

Joel Salinas's avatar

In a month mine will look like yours and yours like mine 🤣

Joel Salinas's avatar

yes! I really like yours! makes mine seem too cluttered haha

Janna McGregor's avatar

Yours made me think about putting everything on one page - it’s helpful to have a one stop shop instead of hoping people will explore