The Complete Guide to Claude: Chat, Cowork, Code, and Design 🛠️

Claude is not just one tool. It is four different products, each built for a different type of work. They all run on the same AI model, but they give you different levels of control and automation.

• Chat - Writing, ideas, conversation. Web, mobile, desktop. Free tier available.
• Cowork - Task automation, file management, browser control. Desktop app only. Pro+.
• Code - Build software and apps with plain English. Terminal / IDE. Pro+.
• Design - Visual design and prototypes. Web (claude.ai). Pro+.

No coding or design skill needed for any of them. If you are new, start with Chat, then add Cowork for automation, Code for building, and Design for visuals.

The conversational interface at claude.ai and in the mobile and desktop apps. Type a message, Claude responds. Your personal AI assistant for writing, brainstorming, problem-solving, and creating documents.

Where to access: Web at claude.ai, iOS and Android, and the macOS / Windows desktop app. Free tier has limited daily messages. Pro is $20/month, Max is $100/month.

Key features:

• Projects - Saved workspaces where you upload files and set custom instructions once. Every new chat in the project starts with full context. Free users get up to five projects.
• Artifacts - A side panel opens with a live preview for code, documents, diagrams, and interactive components. Export as .docx, .pptx, .xlsx, .pdf.
• Memory - Claude remembers context across sessions and tells you when it is using a memory. Manage at Settings > Capabilities > Memory. Use Temporary Chat for no-trace conversations.
• Extended Thinking - Shows step-by-step reasoning before the final answer. Useful for math, logic, and coding.

What you can do: Write blog posts, emails, captions, marketing copy. Brainstorm. Analyze uploaded documents and PDFs. Summarize research. Draft proposals. Translate. Outline presentations.

Tip: Use Projects for anything recurring. Upload your brand guide once and every conversation in that project starts with the right tone.

Cowork is basically Chat, except it actually goes off and does the work for you. It can access files on your computer, control your browser, manage emails, and run scheduled tasks while you are away.

File and folder access: Give Claude access to a folder and it can read, edit, create, and organize files in it. Say "organize my Downloads folder by type" and it actually does it. It can create Word docs, spreadsheets, PDFs, and presentations directly on your machine.

Claude in Chrome: A Chrome extension that gives Claude direct browser access. It can see your screen, click buttons, fill forms, navigate pages, and extract data. Install from the Chrome Web Store, open the desktop app, start a Cowork session, and it connects automatically.

Scheduled tasks: Schedule prompts to run on a recurring basis. Examples:

• "Every morning at 8am, summarize my unread emails."
• "Every Monday, compile a report of last week's analytics."
• "Every day at 6pm, organize new files in my Downloads folder."

MCP Connectors: Plug-and-play integrations for Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, Notion, GitHub, and more. Add custom ones too. Settings > Customize > Connectors.

Skills and plugins: Pre-built Skills for Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and PDF. Installable plugins for specialized capabilities.

Best for: People who want Claude to actually do the work, not just describe how.

A coding agent that builds websites, apps, browser extensions, and automations. It writes, tests, and fixes code on its own. You talk to it in plain English. No coding knowledge required.

How it works: Runs in your terminal. Open a terminal, navigate to a project folder, type claude, and describe what you want. Claude reads your codebase, plans across files, executes changes, runs tests, and iterates. It asks permission before making changes.

Install: Paid plan required. Works on macOS, Windows (via WSL2), and Linux.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Then cd into a project folder and type claude.

What you can build without knowing how to code:

• Websites - landing pages, portfolios, blogs, full web apps
• Mobile apps - iOS and Android via React Native
• Browser extensions
• Automations and scripts
• APIs and backends
• Dashboards, scrapers, and data pipelines

Agent teams: Coordinate multiple agents in parallel. An orchestrator dispatches workers that share results. One refactors the data layer, another updates tests, a third reviews the PR.

Memory: Project-specific context lives in a .claude/ directory inside your project. Coding conventions, architecture decisions, and patterns get saved so Claude gets better at your codebase over time.

Important: Claude Code asks permission before modifying files or running commands. Always review before approving.

Your creative partner for pitch decks, mockups, app interfaces, marketing collateral, 3D designs, and interactive prototypes. Launched April 17, 2026 as a research preview on Claude Opus 4.7.

Where to find it: Inside claude.ai. Look for the palette icon in the left sidebar. Chat on the left, live canvas on the right.

What you can create:

• Pitch decks - Outline to complete, on-brand presentation in minutes.
• App mockups - Realistic wireframes and interactive prototypes for mobile and web.
• Marketing materials - One-pagers, social graphics, flyers.
• 3D prototypes - Code-powered prototypes with voice, video, shaders, and 3D elements.
• Design systems - Claude can read your codebase and build a design system using your brand colors, typography, and components.
• UI explorations - Generate multiple directions and compare side by side.

Refining: Output is live HTML, so it is clickable and interactive. Comment inline, edit text on the canvas, or use adjustment sliders to tweak spacing, color, and layout in real time. Upload images or point Claude at your website with the web capture tool.

Exporting: Share as an internal URL, save as a folder of files, or export to Canva, PDF, PPTX, or standalone HTML.

Hand off to Claude Code: From the top-right menu, click "Hand off to Claude Code." This sends your design to Code to build the actual working version. Fastest way from prototype to production.

Tip: Start with a text description, get a rough draft, then iterate. Faster to refine something that exists than to describe every detail upfront.

Workflow 1: Launch a Product Landing Page

1. Chat - Brainstorm positioning, messaging, and audience. Upload competitor examples.
2. Design - Describe the layout. Get a clickable prototype.
3. Code - Hand off the design. It builds the working page with responsive CSS, forms, and animations.
4. Cowork - Monitor analytics and schedule a weekly report.

Workflow 2: Build a Content Machine

1. Chat - Plan strategy, generate topics, outline first batch of posts.
2. Cowork - Schedule Claude to draft a new blog post every Monday and save it to a folder. Add another task to repurpose each post into social captions.
3. Design - Create branded social graphics for each post.

Workflow 3: Client Pitch Deck

1. Chat - Upload the brief and brainstorm the structure.
2. Design - Build the deck with your brand colors and layout.
3. Cowork - Export as PPTX and have Cowork email it to the client.

You do not need to use all four at once. Start with Chat, add Cowork for automation, Code to build, and Design for visuals. Layer them in as your needs grow.

• Free ($0) - Limited Chat only.
• Pro ($20/mo) - All four products. The sweet spot for getting started.
• Max ($100/mo) - Significantly more usage and priority access to the latest models.
• Team ($30/user) - All four plus admin controls and collaboration.

Pricing may change. Check claude.ai/pricing for the latest.