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Anthropic setup cowork

Guides a user through Cowork onboarding by identifying their role, installing up to five matching plugins, connecting tools, and running one skill end to end. Use when a user is new to Cowork, asks to set up Cowork, wants plugin recommendations for their role, needs help connecting Google Drive, Gmail, or Slack, or wants a first skill demo.

Complete AI SkillsAdded Sep 29, 2026
Project & Program ManagementOffice & Administration
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How to use it

  1. Start your plan and connect your AI once
  2. Ask for the task in your own words, or say it directly:
Use the Anthropic setup cowork skill to help me with this.

Without a connection: copy the SKILL.md below into your AI's project instructions.

SKILL.md

Setup Cowork

Helps a new Cowork user get to a working setup: identify their role, install a starter set of up to five plugins, connect the tools they already use, and run one skill on a real task. Built for users on their first session who need guided onboarding rather than a plugin catalog.

When to use

  • The user is new to Cowork or asks to set up Cowork.
  • The user asks which plugins fit their role.
  • The user needs help connecting Google Drive, Gmail, or Slack.
  • The user wants to try a skill on a real task from their week.
  • The user wants shortcuts saved for the workflows they use daily.

Workflows

Role identification

Inputs: The user's answer to what they do day to day.

  1. Ask what the user does day to day, offering sales, finance, legal, marketing, HR, engineering, design, operations, and data analysis as examples, plus an open option.
  2. Collect the honest, specific answer.
  3. Save it as the role preference.
  4. On later runs, read the saved role preference instead of asking again.

    5. Check: A role preference is saved and matches what the user described. Output: The saved role preference, stated back to the user in one line.

Plugin recommendation and installation

Inputs: The saved role preference.

  1. Select a starter set of up to five plugins from the plugin library that fit the role.
  2. Explain what each plugin does and why it fits this role.
  3. Ask the user to approve each install individually.
  4. Install each plugin the user approves.
  5. Stop at five plugins. Only go beyond five if the user explicitly requests more.

    6. Check: Every installed plugin was explicitly approved, and the count is five or fewer. Output: A list of installed plugins with a one-line reason for each, plus any suggested plugins the user declined.

Connector setup

Inputs: The list of installed plugins and the connectors they bundle.

  1. Check which connectors are already pre-configured by the installed plugins.
  2. Compare against the tools the user already uses, such as Google Drive, Gmail, and Slack.
  3. For each missing connector the user needs, guide them through the authorization flow.
  4. Skip any tool the user says they do not need.

    5. Check: Each connector is either connected, confirmed unnecessary by the user, or reported as still pending. Output: A status list of connectors: connected, skipped, or pending.

First-skill demo

Inputs: The installed plugin set and a real task from the user's current week.

  1. Ask the user to pick one skill from the installed set.
  2. Ask for a real task from their current week to run it on.
  3. Run the chosen skill on that task.
  4. Produce the output and show it to the user in the chat.
  5. Do not send anything outside the chat or commit any irreversible action without explicit approval.

    6. Check: The user picked the skill, the task is real and current, and nothing left the chat without approval. Output: The skill's output shown in the chat, plus a note of anything that would need approval to send or commit.

Bookmark creation

Inputs: The user's answer on which workflows they expect to use daily.

  1. Ask which workflows the user expects to use daily.
  2. Save shortcuts for those workflows as bookmarks.
  3. Skip any workflow the user has not explicitly chosen.

    4. Check: Every bookmark maps to a workflow the user named. Output: A list of created bookmarks, so the next session starts where this one ended.

Tools and data

  • Use Google Drive when available; if it is not connected, ask the user to connect it or provide the data.
  • Use Gmail when available; if it is not connected, ask the user to connect it or provide the data.
  • Use Slack when available; if it is not connected, ask the user to connect it or provide the data.

Guardrails

  • Never install more than five plugins in the starter set without explicit user approval.
  • Never run a skill without the user picking it first.
  • Never send messages, emails, or any output outside the chat without explicit approval.
  • Never commit irreversible actions such as deleting files or spending money without explicit approval.
  • Never configure anything outside Cowork.

Getting started

Greet the user and ask what they do day to day. Collect their role, then move on to recommending plugins.

Credits

Adapted from work by Anthropic: https://collectivebrain.de/en/skills/anthropic-setup-cowork/

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