Where you are now
You’ve been through the beginner’s guide, Claude creates files for you, and you understand how a Cowork session works. But you sense there’s more to it. And you’re right — the real power of Cowork is in the details.
In this guide, you’ll learn to make Claude work the way you want, not just do what you ask.
CLAUDE.md: your secret weapon
In the beginner’s guide, you were introduced to the CLAUDE.md file. But most people underestimate how powerful this is. A well-crafted CLAUDE.md is the difference between a generic assistant and one that knows your business, your style, and your preferences.
Two levels of instructions
There are two places for instructions:
-
Global instructions — apply to every project. You’ll find them in
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md(in your home folder). Put things here that always apply: your name, your language, your general preferences. -
Project instructions — apply to one specific project. Create a
.claude/CLAUDE.mdin your project folder. Put project-specific context here: the target audience, the brand guidelines, technical requirements.
Claude always reads both: first the global instructions, then the project-specific ones.
What belongs in your global CLAUDE.md?
# About me
I'm [name], [role] at [company].
I speak English and French.
Always write in English unless I ask for another language.
# Preferences
- Tone: professional but warm, not too corporate
- Use informal register
- Always give concrete examples when explaining abstract concepts
- If you're unsure about something, say so honestly
- Save files as .docx unless I ask for a different format
# Context
- Our company targets [audience]
- Our brand values: [values]
- Our competitor is [competitor] — always position us differently
What belongs in your project CLAUDE.md?
# Newsletter Q1 2026
## Goal
Monthly newsletter for our 2,400 subscribers.
## Style
- Short and scannable — nobody reads long newsletters
- Start each item with a catchy opening line
- Maximum 3 emojis per newsletter
- Always close with a call-to-action
## Structure
1. Main article (200 words)
2. Two short items (100 words each)
3. Tip of the month (50 words)
4. Event or announcement
## Previous editions
Check the files in this folder for the style and tone
of previous editions.
Pro tip: Ask Claude to improve your
CLAUDE.md. Say: “Read my CLAUDE.md and suggest improvements based on our previous conversations.” Claude can spot patterns in what you repeatedly ask for and turn them into permanent instructions.
Skills: Claude’s built-in expertise
Skills are more than “recipes” — they’re comprehensive instruction sets that tell Claude how to produce professional output. Cowork ships with an entire library of skills, activated automatically when needed.
Core skills
| Skill | What it does | When it’s used |
|---|---|---|
docx | Word documents with professional formatting | Any .docx request |
xlsx | Excel with formulae, formatting and charts | Any spreadsheet request |
pptx | PowerPoint with layout and design | Any presentation request |
pdf | Read, create, split, merge PDFs | Any PDF task |
Specialised skills
Beyond document creation, Cowork has skills for specific domains:
Data & analysis: dataset exploration and profiling, statistical analyses, Python visualisations, interactive HTML dashboards, SQL queries for any database.
Marketing: content creation (blogs, social media, email), campaign planning with calendars, competitive analysis, SEO audits, brand voice monitoring.
Product management: feature specs and PRDs, roadmap management, stakeholder communications, user research synthesis.
Finance, Legal, Sales, Customer Support — each with their own specialised skills.
How do you invoke a skill?
You don’t need to do anything special. Claude automatically recognises which skill is relevant based on your request. But you can also be explicit:
Use the marketing content creation skill to write a blog post
about the benefits of AI for small businesses.
Or via a slash command:
/draft-content write a blog post about AI for small businesses
Connectors: deeper integration
In the beginner’s guide, you learned what connectors are. Now let’s actually use them.
Smart combinations
The power lies in combining connectors with your files:
Asana + Excel:
Export all my open Asana tasks to an Excel file,
grouped by project, with deadlines and priorities.
Highlight tasks due this week in red.
Slack + Summary:
Search the #marketing channel for all messages from the past week
about the new campaign. Create a summary with the key decisions
and outstanding questions.
Google Drive + Analysis:
Read the document "Q4 Results" from Google Drive and create
a comparative analysis with the file q3-results.xlsx
in my folder. Present the results as a dashboard.
Connector security
An important principle: Claude always asks permission for actions (sending messages, creating tasks) but not for reading. This means you can freely ask Claude to retrieve information, and it only stops to ask permission when it wants to do something.
You can fine-tune this behaviour in your CLAUDE.md:
# Connector rules
- Asana: may create and update tasks without asking
- Slack: may NEVER send messages — reading only
- Google Drive: may read files, not edit
Browser automation: Claude on the web
One of Cowork’s most powerful features is Claude’s ability to control a web browser — open pages, fill in forms, gather information, and take screenshots.
What can Claude do in the browser?
- Visit websites and read information
- Fill in forms (with your permission)
- Take screenshots and analyse them
- Navigate across multiple pages
- Extract information from tables and lists
Practical examples
Price comparison:
Go to the websites of [supplier A] and [supplier B].
Compare their prices for [product]. Put the results
in a clear comparison table.
Research:
Find the latest 5 press releases from [company] on their website.
Summarise each in 2-3 sentences and give me an overview
of the key trends.
Important: Claude always asks for permission before clicking buttons that trigger irreversible actions (ordering, sending, publishing). You always remain in control.
Smart file management
Working with multiple files at once
Claude can process multiple files simultaneously. This is powerful for batch tasks:
In my folder are 12 invoices as PDF files. Read them all,
extract the amount, date and supplier, and compile everything
into a single Excel overview.
Choosing the right output format
| Purpose | Best format | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Report for colleagues | .docx | Everyone can open and edit it |
| Data analysis | .xlsx | Formulae and filters keep working |
| Presentation | .pptx | Ready to use in meetings |
| Dashboard | .html | Interactive, no software needed |
| Publication | .pdf | Fixed layout, professional |
| Quick sharing | .md | Readable everywhere, light and flexible |
Iterative working
The best Cowork workflow is iterative: start with a rough first version, then refine. Claude remembers the context of your entire conversation, so you don’t need to re-explain everything each time.
Advanced prompting techniques
Role-based prompting
Give Claude a role for better results:
You are an experienced copywriter specialising in B2B marketing
for the technology sector. Write a LinkedIn post about
[topic]. Target audience: IT managers at mid-sized companies.
Few-shot examples
Give an example of what you want:
Rewrite these product descriptions in our house style.
Example:
BEFORE: "Our product offers enterprise-grade security solutions."
AFTER: "Your data, safe — no fuss. That's what we do."
Now rewrite:
1. "We deliver cutting-edge AI-powered analytics."
2. "Our platform integrates seamlessly with your existing workflow."
Forcing step-by-step thinking
For complex analyses:
Analyse our sales data and give me advice.
Work in this order:
1. First examine the data and describe what you see
2. Identify the top 3 trends
3. Compare with last quarter
4. Give concrete recommendations
5. Create a summary slide
Think out loud at each step.
Common mistakes to avoid
Mistake 1: Prompts that are too vague
Poor: “Make a presentation about our company.”
Better: “Create a 10-slide presentation about [company] for an investor meeting. Focus on growth, market position and financial outlook. Professional tone, with charts where possible.”
Mistake 2: Not iterating
Your first result is rarely perfect — and that’s fine. The power is in the dialogue. Give feedback, ask for adjustments, let Claude refine.
Mistake 3: Forgetting context
If you regularly give Claude the same context (“we’re a Belgian company”, “write in English”), that information belongs in your CLAUDE.md.
Mistake 4: Cramming everything into one prompt
For complex tasks, it’s better to work step by step. Claude retains the conversation context, so you can build up gradually.
Next step
Ready for the next level? In the expert guide, you’ll learn to create your own skills, set up scheduled tasks, use plugins, and deploy Claude as a full automation partner.
This guide was written with the help of Claude in Cowork — naturally.