Set Up Pro & Cowork
From here on, you'll need Pro.
Phase 1 worked on the free plan because it was about getting comfortable with Claude — practicing prompts, hearing it talk back in voice mode, having useful conversations. The free plan is fine for that.
From Phase 2 forward, the course shifts. We're not talking with AI anymore; we're putting it to work for you. That requires Cowork — Claude's agent mode that runs on your computer, has access to your files, and actually does things instead of just describing how to do them. Cowork is only available on paid plans.
Claude Pro — what to know.
- $20/month. Month-to-month. No annual commitment.
- Cancel anytime — Settings → Billing → Cancel. You keep working through the end of the paid month, then drop back to free automatically. Your Projects, your chat history, all of it stays. Nothing gets deleted.
- You can try it for one month and decide. If by the end of Phase 2 it doesn't feel like it's earning its keep, cancel. The structure of the course is built so you'll know by then.
Done with the upgrade? Good. The next four screens get Cowork running on your computer.
Install Claude Desktop.
Cowork only runs in the Claude Desktop app — not in your browser, not on the mobile app. (Pro and Max users can send messages to Cowork from their phone, but the work happens on the desktop. We'll cover that later in Phase 3.)
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Download Claude Desktop
Go to claude.com/download in your browser and grab the version for your computer (Mac or Windows). Install it the way you'd install any other app.
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Sign in with the same account you used in Phase 1
Same Google / Apple / email method you picked when you signed up. Same account = same chat history, same Projects, same everything.
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Approve any permission prompts
The first time you launch Cowork, your Mac or Windows machine may ask for permissions — accessibility, screen recording, automation. Allow them. Cowork needs them to do real work on your files.
One thing about scheduled tasks.
Anything Cowork runs on a schedule (a Sunday-morning meal plan, a daily email scan, etc.) only fires while your computer is awake and Claude Desktop is open. Laptop closed overnight = scheduled tasks miss.
If you want overnight or weekend scheduled tasks to fire reliably, a free app like Amphetamine (Mac) or Caffeine / PowerToys Awake (Windows) keeps your computer from sleeping — even with the lid closed, as long as it's plugged in. Worth installing once if you'll lean on scheduled tasks.
Find Cowork in the desktop app.
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Open Claude Desktop
If it's not already running, launch it from your Applications folder (Mac) or Start menu (Windows).
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Look at the top of the app for the mode tabs
You'll see a row of tabs: Chat, Cowork, and Code. Chat is the regular Claude you used in Phase 1. Cowork is the agent mode. Code is for software developers — ignore it for the course.
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Click Cowork
The view switches to Cowork's "Tasks" mode. The interface looks different from chat — there's usually a "New task" button or prompt area, and you'll see panels for Projects, Scheduled tasks, and Live artifacts in the left sidebar.
Pick your permission mode.
Cowork has two modes that control how it handles your approval during a task:
- Ask Before Acting (recommended for now). Cowork pauses and asks you to approve each significant action — opening a file, writing a file, sending a message. Slower, but you see what's happening at every step. Good for new workflows and for the first few weeks while you're learning what Cowork does.
- Act Without Asking. Cowork just runs. Faster, but you have to be paying attention. Good for trusted workflows you've run before.
Start with Ask Before Acting. You can switch later once you know what to expect.
The most important habit in this course.
Before we go any further, learn this one thing — because it changes everything else you'll do for the rest of the course.
The biggest mistake people make with Cowork is treating it like a chatbot. They ask Claude how to do something, then go do it themselves. That's backwards. Cowork is an agent. The whole point is it does things for you.
Before you do anything yourself, ask:
"Before I do this, is this something you could just do for me?"
Make this your default. Not "how do I do X" — "can you do X for me." The whole course is built around this question.
Here's what that looks like in practice. Old habit:
"How do I create a Pantry Inventory file in my Family Manager?"
(Then mom opens Finder, creates a file, types in pantry items, saves it…)
New habit:
"Tell Cowork: 'Create a Pantry Inventory file in my Family Manager Project. Ask me what's in my pantry one section at a time and fill it in for me.'"
(Then mom answers questions while Cowork does the work.)
Push back on the first "no."
Sometimes Cowork will say it can't do something. Don't accept that as the final answer. Always follow up:
"Is there a workaround? Is there a tool or connector I could give you that would unlock this?"
Often the real answer is "yes — once we connect Gmail / give me file access / set up this connector, I can." There are real limits, but the first "no" is usually about access or context, not capability. The skill is asking the follow-up.
This habit is going to feel weird at first. You're used to doing things yourself. Practice it on small things first. Every time you catch yourself about to open a file, click a button, or type something into a form — pause and ask Cowork instead.
Try it — your first Cowork interaction.
Let's practice the habit right now with something tiny. You don't have a Family Manager Project yet (we build that in two lessons), so this first try just lives in a one-off Cowork chat.
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Make sure you're in Cowork mode
Cowork tab selected at the top of Claude Desktop.
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Click "New task" (or just start typing in the prompt area)
A blank Cowork task starts.
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Try this prompt
Paste it in and send:
Cowork will list five things and ask which to try. Pick whichever sounds most useful. Watch what happens.
If Cowork pauses to ask permission for something, that's "Ask Before Acting" working. Read what it's asking, click Allow if it makes sense.
These five aren't the whole story.
The list Cowork gave you is just five examples of what it can do — the range is much wider than that. Want to build a website? Make a professional-looking presentation? Build a simple app for your kid? Sort through years of disorganized files on your computer? Cowork can help with all of that. The scope of what Cowork can do for you goes far beyond what this course will cover, but the What Else Cowork Can Do bonus page walks through some of the common "mom-tasks" Cowork's especially good at. Even that list just scratches the surface.
Where this goes from here.
The next lesson is short — we cover where your Project files live on your computer and the folder pattern we'll use across the course. Then we build your first real Project: Family Manager.
Done. Next: where your stuff lives.
Pro is on, Cowork is running, and you've got the most important habit in the course. Let's set up where everything will live.
Continue to Where Your Stuff Lives →