Setting Up Claude CoWork

This step-by-step guide walks you through everything needed to get your team up and running with Claude CoWork — from creating your workspace to completing your first collaborative AI session.

Prerequisites and Requirements

Before setting up Claude CoWork, ensure you have the following:

Step 1: Creating a Team Workspace

A workspace is your team's central hub in Claude CoWork. It contains all shared conversations, prompt libraries, knowledge bases, and settings.

1. Navigate to the CoWork Dashboard

   Log in to your Anthropic account and click CoWork in the top navigation bar, or go directly to cowork.anthropic.com.

2. Click "Create Workspace"

   On the CoWork dashboard, click the Create Workspace button in the top-right corner. This opens the workspace creation wizard.

3. Configure Workspace Details

   Fill in the workspace name, description, and select your default region for data residency. Choose a name that clearly identifies your team or project.

4. Select Your Plan

   Choose between Team (5-50 members) or Enterprise (unlimited members with advanced security features). You can upgrade later without data loss.

5. Confirm and Create

   Review your settings and click Create Workspace. Your workspace will be provisioned within seconds.

{
  "workspace": {
    "name": "Acme Engineering",
    "description": "AI collaboration workspace for the Acme engineering team",
    "region": "us-east-1",
    "plan": "team",
    "settings": {
      "default_model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
      "max_tokens_per_request": 4096,
      "data_retention_days": 90,
      "allow_file_uploads": true
    }
  }
}

Step 2: Inviting Team Members

Once your workspace is created, invite your team. You can add members individually by email, in bulk via CSV, or through SSO directory sync.

Individual Invitations

1. Open Team Settings

   From your workspace dashboard, click Settings → Team Members.

2. Click "Invite Members"

   Enter one or more email addresses separated by commas. Each person receives an invitation email with a link to join your workspace.

3. Assign Initial Roles

   Select a default role for each invitee: Admin, Member, or Viewer. You can change roles later.

Bulk Import via CSV

For larger teams, prepare a CSV file with the following format:

email,role,team
alice@acme.com,admin,engineering
bob@acme.com,member,engineering
carol@acme.com,member,design
dave@acme.com,viewer,management
eve@acme.com,member,engineering

Upload the CSV in Settings → Team Members → Bulk Import.

Step 3: Configuring Roles and Permissions

Claude CoWork uses a role-based access control (RBAC) system with three built-in roles. Enterprise plans also support custom roles.

Step 4: Setting Up Shared Resources

Before your team starts using CoWork, set up these foundational shared resources:

Knowledge Base

Upload documents that give Claude context about your team and projects. Good candidates include:

• Project READMEs and architecture documents
• Coding standards and style guides
• Product requirements documents (PRDs)
• Internal glossaries and terminology guides
• Process documentation (how you do deployments, on-call, etc.)

# Upload a single document
cowork kb upload --file ./docs/architecture.md --tag "architecture"

# Upload an entire directory
cowork kb upload --dir ./docs/ --recursive --tag "documentation"

# List knowledge base contents
cowork kb list

# Search the knowledge base
cowork kb search "authentication flow"

Initial Prompt Templates

Create a few starter templates that your team can use immediately. Here are three recommended starting templates:

# Meeting Summary Generator
# Category: Productivity
# Variables: {{meeting_notes}}

Summarize the following meeting notes into a structured format:

## Action Items
List each action item with the assignee and due date.

## Key Decisions
List decisions that were made during the meeting.

## Discussion Points
Brief summary of main topics discussed.

## Follow-ups
Items that need further discussion or research.

Meeting Notes:
{{meeting_notes}}

Step 5: Integrating with Existing Tools

Slack Integration

1. Install the CoWork Slack App

   Go to Settings → Integrations → Slack and click Connect. Authorize the app in your Slack workspace.

2. Configure Channel Access

   Select which Slack channels can invoke Claude. You can limit access to specific channels for security.

3. Set Up Commands

   The Slack integration adds the /claude slash command. Team members can type /claude [prompt] in any authorized channel.

GitHub Integration

1. Connect Your GitHub Organization

   Go to Settings → Integrations → GitHub and authorize CoWork to access your repositories.

2. Select Repositories

   Choose which repositories CoWork can access. You can grant access to all repos or select specific ones.

3. Enable Automated Actions

   Toggle on features like automatic PR summaries, code review suggestions, and issue triage.

Jira Integration

1. Connect Your Jira Instance

   Navigate to Settings → Integrations → Jira. Enter your Jira site URL and authenticate with an admin account.

2. Map Projects

   Select which Jira projects should be accessible to Claude. This allows features like sprint summary generation and ticket drafting.

Step 6: Security and Compliance Settings

Configure security settings to match your organization's requirements before going live.

Essential Security Settings

• SSO/SAML: Enable single sign-on with your identity provider (Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace)
• MFA: Require multi-factor authentication for all team members
• Data Retention: Set how long conversation data is retained (30, 60, 90 days, or custom)
• IP Allowlisting: Restrict access to approved IP ranges (Enterprise only)
• Audit Logs: Enable comprehensive logging of all workspace activity

{
  "security": {
    "sso_enabled": true,
    "sso_provider": "okta",
    "mfa_required": true,
    "data_retention_days": 90,
    "ip_allowlist": ["10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12"],
    "audit_log_enabled": true,
    "sensitive_data_detection": true,
    "conversation_export_restricted": true
  }
}

Step 7: Your First Team Session

Now that everything is configured, run your first collaborative session to verify the setup and introduce your team to CoWork.

1. Create a Shared Conversation

   From the dashboard, click New Conversation and select Shared. Name it "Team Onboarding Session" and invite all team members.

2. Test the Knowledge Base

   Ask Claude a question that requires knowledge from your uploaded documents. For example: "Based on our architecture docs, what database do we use for user authentication?"

3. Try a Shared Prompt

   Open the Prompt Library (sidebar icon) and run one of the templates you created. Have a team member verify the output matches expectations.

4. Test Integrations

   If you set up Slack, have someone run /claude summarize the last 10 messages in this channel. For GitHub, check that PR summaries are appearing.

5. Review Analytics

   After the session, visit the Analytics dashboard to confirm usage is being tracked correctly. You should see conversation counts, token usage, and active user metrics.