They’re Here! Meet Claude Cowork and Claude Code

By Shannon Glennon, AI Technology Transformation Specialist, Syracuse University ITS 

Claude now has two new tools available: Claude Cowork and Claude Code. One acts like a project manager, working through tasks on its own. The other builds things: websites, tools, working software. Here’s what each one does and how to try it. 

Cowork: Hand Off a Task, Get Back a Finished Result 

Cowork takes a task, works through it in multiple steps on its own, and hands you a finished result. It can also run on a schedule, doing work even when you’re away from your desk entirely. 

Here’s an easy one to try: say a department has a busy Teams channel, and scrolling through every post each Monday to catch the important stuff becomes time-consuming. Set it up once:  

  1. Open the Claude desktop app and switch from “Chat” to “Cowork” using the toggle in the chat window. (Note: Cowork is currently available only in the desktop app.) 
  2. Connect the Teams channel you would like summarized. 
  3. Tell Cowork what you would like it to do: “Every Monday at 8 a.m., summarize the past week’s activity in this channel and save it as a document.” 
  4. Review the plan Claude proposes, then approve it. 

        From then on, the summary shows up on its own, no reminders needed. 

        Claude Code: Describe a Website, Get a Website 

        Claude Code writes real, working code: websites, tools, pages you can click through. You describe what you want it to do and how you want it to look, and Claude Code builds it, then keeps adjusting based on what you ask for. 

        Try it on something small, like a newsletter signup page: 

        1. Open Claude Code using the toggle at the top of the left sidebar. Claude Code is available both in the desktop app and on claude.ai. 
        2. Describe what you want: “Build a simple signup page with fields for name, email and how often someone wants to receive the newsletter.” 
        3. Tell it what happens after someone signs up (for example, saving the entry to a spreadsheet). 
        4. Review what it builds and ask for changes in plain language until it matches what you pictured. 

              Getting Access 

              1. Go to getclaude.syr.edu. 
              2. Watch the training video for each tool. 
              3. At the top of the page, you’ll see “available to request.” Click “Request Claude Cowork” or “Request Claude Code.” 
              4. Access usually shows up within about an hour.