TOOLS & SKILLS
10 Cowork Plugins That Replace Departments 🛠️
Anthropic shipped 30+ Cowork plugins. Most people are using zero. Each one turns Claude into a specialist for one specific role. Install Sales, Claude does.
First, what a plugin actually is
A Cowork plugin turns Claude into a specific kind of worker. Install the Sales plugin, Claude does your sales. Install Finance, Claude does your bookkeeping. Install Marketing, Claude runs your marketing.
Each plugin comes pre-loaded with the skills, prompts, and workflows that role actually needs. They know which connectors to pull from. They know what good output looks like. You don't have to teach Claude how to be a salesperson. You install the Sales plugin and Claude already knows.
Most are free. You install them once and they're available across every Cowork chat from then on. There are 30+ in the directory and Anthropic is shipping new ones every month.
Install any plugin in 60 seconds
Same flow every time. Once you do it once, you'll fly through the rest of the list.
Cowork plugins only live inside Cowork (not regular Claude chat). If you don't see Cowork in your sidebar, you may need to enable it in settings or update your Claude app.
You'll land in the Cowork workspace. Look for the “Customize” button (usually top-right or in the settings menu).
The plugin directory opens. You can browse by category or search by name. All the plugins in this guide are in there.
One click. No setup. Some plugins will ask you to connect specific apps (the Marketing plugin asks for Canva, the Finance plugin asks for QuickBooks). Connect them as it asks.
Repeat for every plugin on this list. They stack. You can have 5 plugins installed and Claude will pull from whichever one fits the task you're working on.
Plugins worth installing today
Each one below has the same shape. Who it's for. What it actually does. The exact prompt to run on it first. The connectors that make it sing.
Wakes up to a morning brief pulled from overnight Slack, email, and calendar. Preps every meeting with the right context. Creates tasks straight from messages and threads.
Connectors it pulls from: Gmail, Slack, Google Calendar, Notion or Asana.
One query searches Gmail, Slack, Notion, Google Drive, and Asana at the same time. Finds the thing in seconds.
Connectors it pulls from: Gmail, Slack, Notion, Google Drive, Asana, and any other workspace tool you've connected.
Researches prospects, drafts follow-ups, flags deals stuck in your pipeline, and builds competitive battlecards. Replaces a junior sales rep.
Connectors it pulls from: HubSpot, Attio, Apollo.io, Gmail, LinkedIn.
Drafts content in your brand voice, plans campaigns, runs competitive briefs, and pulls performance numbers across channels.
Connectors it pulls from: Canva, HubSpot, Instagram, Mailchimp, Klaviyo.
Enforces a consistent brand voice across every piece of content you generate in Cowork. Social posts, emails, sales pages, long-form. All on-brand.
Stacks with: Marketing, Sales, anywhere you're writing for your audience. Install this one and every other content output gets sharper.
Turns a prompt or rough brief into polished design systems, slide decks, interactive prototypes, or one-pagers. Production-ready in minutes.
Stacks with: Marketing, Sales. Skip Canva for internal decks (Gamma + Claude Design is faster).
Preps journal entries, reconciles accounts, generates financial statements, and runs variance analysis. Most of the work an outsourced bookkeeper does.
Connectors it pulls from: QuickBooks, Stripe, PayPal, Mercury, Brex, Ramp.
Reads the document. Flags risk in green, yellow, and red. Surfaces the clauses that actually need human review and separates them from boilerplate.
Not a replacement for a lawyer on high-stakes deals. Use this for the 80% of contracts where you'd otherwise skim and sign.
Writes job descriptions, drafts offer letters, builds onboarding plans, and runs performance review summaries. The HR department most small businesses can't afford.
Stacks with: Small Business (below). Together they cover the full hire-to-paycheck flow.
15 pre-built skills covering the full operating system of running a small business. Plans payroll, chases invoices, closes the month, runs full marketing campaigns, and triages leads. Connects to QuickBooks, PayPal, HubSpot, Canva, DocuSign, and your Google or Microsoft suite.
If you only install one plugin on this list, install this one. Launched May 13, 2026. Built specifically for owner-operators running every department themselves.
Install order by who you are
Don't install all 10 at once. Install the 3 that match your situation first. Layer the others as you go.
Start with Brand Voice so everything else you generate sounds like you. Then Marketing for content production. Then Productivity for the morning brief and meeting prep. Add Sales if you do outreach. Add Claude Design when you start building offers.
Install Small Business first. It already covers 60% of what you do. Then Finance for the books. Then HR when you're hiring. Add Legal for contract review. Add Marketing once everything else is stable.
Productivity for daily workflows. Enterprise Search for stop-losing-things. Brand Voice so the docs and emails you write match your company voice. Add the role-specific plugin (Sales, Marketing, Finance) that matches your function.
How to actually use them every day
If you have to click 4 times to get into Cowork, you won't use it. Pin the Claude desktop app to your dock or taskbar. Open Cowork as your first move every morning.
Same prompt, same time. Productivity plugin pulls it from your overnight inbox, Slack, and calendar. 5 minutes of reading replaces 45 minutes of catch-up.
Stop doing the work yourself if a plugin can do it. Invoicing chase email? Small Business plugin. Brief for next month's campaign? Marketing plugin. Contract review? Legal plugin. Build the habit of asking “which plugin owns this?” before you start.
Content and paid ads are distribution engines for your core value proposition. Don't create content just for engagement—engineer every hook to qualify high-intent buyers, demonstrate immediate proof, and lead into a frictionless capture mechanism. Track cost-per-qualified-lead (CPQL) over vanity impressions.