Yeah, about Sonnet 4.6, I did non-exhaustive comparison, and realized the outcome doesn't change much. Just the extended thinking really takes a longer time :)
You are not alone. I was helping others work around the issue when they didn't even have Claude Cowork or Code features; surprisingly you could already achieve a lot of these things just by using Chat and the Projects functionality.
Personally, I feel like what I observed was that, from doing all these things using Chat and Projects functionality, I don’t know if it’s just me personally, but over the recent couple of months, say from February 2026 and onwards, I feel like the chat capabilities have been slowly degrading, on purpose or maybe if it’s intentional or not.
Its ability to do those things now that I guess Claude Cowork or Code is an option in a desktop app, which I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s intentional to make you utilize the other two.
The team setup section is often the missing piece in individual-focused Cowork guides. When multiple people share the same project context, the shared instruction file becomes a contract rather than a personal shortcut - it defines what the agent knows by default for everyone on the team. Worth noting the order matters too: getting the base context right before adding integrations prevents a lot of back-and-forth debugging later.
Thanks for putting this together Jenny. I have never tried Co work and i think now i should . To move past claude code on VS which is already a lot is just so much more time 😅
Thank you Chintan! Yeah, like you, I personally prefer using Claude code. But a lot of people I talk to only accepts the desktop version, so I need to help them get started :)
The 'get Claude to know you first' bit is the part most people skip. They jump straight into plugins and skills without setting up their CLAUDE.md and wonder why everything feels generic.
What I've found is that once you do get it set up properly, usage goes through the roof. And that's where the Pro rate limits start to sting. I ended up writing about the rate limit maths here https://reading.sh/how-to-get-3x-claude-rate-limits-for-30-a-month-1d3fdb8658df because $20/month stops making sense the moment your setup actually works.
Curious whether you've seen that pattern with your readers too. The better the setup, the faster they burn through limits?
Thank you, Jenny! This is exhaustive, in a good way :) I alternate back and forth between using the free versions of Claude and GPT, but lately I am using Claude more. It may be time to consider upgrading to the Paid version of Claude. Will be referring back to this wonderful primer if I do!
Immediately got lost in Cowork and haven’t touched Code yet. My first step was just connecting whatever I could and testing to see what it could do in Chrome for me, but it burns through usage tokens so quickly it’s sort of a drag.
Yes, Dana, the issues you mentioned, burning tokens and getting lost in Cowork, are both major problems. People at my workplace complain about them a lot as well.
I’ve seen many guides online showcasing what Claude Cowork can do, but most of them are using Max plans. That allows them to run long autonomous tasks without worrying too much about token usage and daily limits.
If you're just starting out, avoiding Cowork at the beginning can actually help a lot.
Glad to hear that @Loe & Behold! I have not unsubscribed from ChatGPT yet because I need their API for embeddings, but like you, I‘ve been using it less and less daily.
Let me know if you have specific questions about it :)
Thank you for writing this guide, Jenny. I found it very useful and well structured. It also made me finally check out Cowork 🙈, which had been on my list for quite some time. Clear onboarding guides like this can be very valuable when experimenting with new AI tools and workflows.
I always learn so much from you, Jenny!
The piece about Sonnet 4.6 not needing Extended Thinking really got me... thinking :)
Thank you so much Mike!
Yeah, about Sonnet 4.6, I did non-exhaustive comparison, and realized the outcome doesn't change much. Just the extended thinking really takes a longer time :)
Is it me or i swear chat wasn’t always so basic until these past couple of months.
You are not alone. I was helping others work around the issue when they didn't even have Claude Cowork or Code features; surprisingly you could already achieve a lot of these things just by using Chat and the Projects functionality.
Personally, I feel like what I observed was that, from doing all these things using Chat and Projects functionality, I don’t know if it’s just me personally, but over the recent couple of months, say from February 2026 and onwards, I feel like the chat capabilities have been slowly degrading, on purpose or maybe if it’s intentional or not.
Its ability to do those things now that I guess Claude Cowork or Code is an option in a desktop app, which I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s intentional to make you utilize the other two.
Oh interesting... I haven't used Chat and Projects too much recently so couldn't tell. But I won't be surprised if they do so.
The team setup section is often the missing piece in individual-focused Cowork guides. When multiple people share the same project context, the shared instruction file becomes a contract rather than a personal shortcut - it defines what the agent knows by default for everyone on the team. Worth noting the order matters too: getting the base context right before adding integrations prevents a lot of back-and-forth debugging later.
Ran into this exact sequence issue when testing the Dispatch setup alongside Cowork. Good guide. https://thoughts.jock.pl/p/claude-cowork-dispatch-computer-use-honest-agent-review-2026
Thanks for putting this together Jenny. I have never tried Co work and i think now i should . To move past claude code on VS which is already a lot is just so much more time 😅
Thank you Chintan! Yeah, like you, I personally prefer using Claude code. But a lot of people I talk to only accepts the desktop version, so I need to help them get started :)
Great guide Jenny!
Thank you JP!
Amazing, you have made it super simple.
Thanks for putting this together.
You are welcome Sharyph! Glad you like it :)
The 'get Claude to know you first' bit is the part most people skip. They jump straight into plugins and skills without setting up their CLAUDE.md and wonder why everything feels generic.
What I've found is that once you do get it set up properly, usage goes through the roof. And that's where the Pro rate limits start to sting. I ended up writing about the rate limit maths here https://reading.sh/how-to-get-3x-claude-rate-limits-for-30-a-month-1d3fdb8658df because $20/month stops making sense the moment your setup actually works.
Curious whether you've seen that pattern with your readers too. The better the setup, the faster they burn through limits?
Yes I see that too, in my own use case. It often gives me this error “You're out of extra usage · resets 5pm"
I think that’s why so many guides are based on max plan, because they have to, otherwise they can’t even finish the tutorial.
Thank you Jenny, that's a really good resource!
Thank you so much Karo!
Thank you, Jenny! This is exhaustive, in a good way :) I alternate back and forth between using the free versions of Claude and GPT, but lately I am using Claude more. It may be time to consider upgrading to the Paid version of Claude. Will be referring back to this wonderful primer if I do!
Yeah, I'm really only using GPT for very basic stuff now :)
Claude paid version would make sense, especially if you use lots of external data sources and want to work locally.
Immediately got lost in Cowork and haven’t touched Code yet. My first step was just connecting whatever I could and testing to see what it could do in Chrome for me, but it burns through usage tokens so quickly it’s sort of a drag.
Yes, Dana, the issues you mentioned, burning tokens and getting lost in Cowork, are both major problems. People at my workplace complain about them a lot as well.
I’ve seen many guides online showcasing what Claude Cowork can do, but most of them are using Max plans. That allows them to run long autonomous tasks without worrying too much about token usage and daily limits.
If you're just starting out, avoiding Cowork at the beginning can actually help a lot.
Thanks for sharing this, Jenny! After unsubscribing from ChatGPT, I’m getting more serious about learning Claude and Cowork. 💡🙏🏼
Glad to hear that @Loe & Behold! I have not unsubscribed from ChatGPT yet because I need their API for embeddings, but like you, I‘ve been using it less and less daily.
Let me know if you have specific questions about it :)
Very helpful. Thank you Jenny.
You are very welcome! Glad it is helpful for you :)
Saved to go through tonight - incredible info and advice
Appreciate this, Mel!
I am getting ready to upgrade to Claude Pro and found your article very helpful. Thank you
Amazing! Glad it’s helpful for you.
Thank you for writing this guide, Jenny. I found it very useful and well structured. It also made me finally check out Cowork 🙈, which had been on my list for quite some time. Clear onboarding guides like this can be very valuable when experimenting with new AI tools and workflows.
Thank you Stefania!
A lot of features by Claude can feel busy, it clicks only when you use it with something relatable for a while.
I’m glad it made you finally check out cowork :)
Thank you for sharing this, Jenny. I always appreciate how you break complex AI tooling into something that actually feels usable.🩷🦩
You are very welcome Pinkie! Hope this will be useful when you decide to switch to Claude :)