By Shannon Glennon, AI Technology Transformation Specialist, Syracuse University ITS
Cowork takes on a whole task, works through it in multiple steps, and saves the finished result where you can open it. Before the steps, a quick look at the / key.
Typing / in the chat box opens a menu of shortcuts. It lists commands like /setup-claude, plus the skills from any plugin you install, so you can run them without writing out a prompt.
Here are three steps to help you get started with Cowork. Each one begins the same way: click the Cowork toggle in the chat window to switch from Chat to Cowork. If you haven’t requested access yet, start at getclaude.syr.edu.
- Run /setup-claude for a guided setup
In a new Cowork chat, type /setup-claude and press Enter. Claude walks you through the setup. You pick your role and install a plugin matched to it, and its skills show up in your / menu. Claude then offers to pull up the connectors the plugin uses, such as Microsoft 365. Say yes, because connectors give those skills your real data to work with.
- Give Cowork a place to work
If you’d like Cowork to work in a OneDrive folder, you’ll need the desktop app, which is currently the only place that option is available. Select “Project or folder,” and choose the OneDrive folder that holds your files. Cowork can find what it needs there without you uploading files one at a time, and it saves its finished work in that folder as a real file you can open, share or keep editing.
- Try your first task
Pick something from your actual to-do list. With the Cowork toggle selected, choose your Project or folder, then describe the result you want. A few to try:
- Work with files: “Read the documents in this folder and create a new spreadsheet with one row per file: the title, the date, and a one-sentence summary. Save it in this folder and leave the original files as they are.”
- Work with your calendar: “Look at my calendar for next week and create a prep agenda for each meeting. Save each one in this folder.”