Quickstart · 6 min read
Cowork is the version of Claude that does work, not just talks about it. On the desktop you can shape it three ways - teach it what you know (Skills), hand it the keys to your apps (Connectors), and bundle the lot for your team (Plugins). This page is a friendly tour, then a checklist you can run today.
Open Claude (desktop app or claude.com), look at the left sidebar, click
Customise. You’ll see three tabs: Skills, Connectors,
and Personal plugins. Each has a + button that opens a directory
of installable things.
Three layers, from “what Claude knows” to “what Claude can do” to “packaged for your team.”
A skill is a small package of instructions and knowledge that Claude picks up automatically when it’s relevant. Think of it as “always-on context for a topic.”
| What it is | How to add it | When it kicks in |
|---|---|---|
| A reusable instruction set | Customise → Skills → + → Browse skills → Install |
Automatically - Claude reaches for it when the task matches its topic. |
| Brand voice / writing style | Install a writing-style skill, or create your own with sample copy. | Whenever you ask Claude to draft, summarise, or edit. |
| Domain knowledge | Install a skill that knows your industry’s lingo and norms. | When the conversation drifts into that domain. |
| Your own playbook | Create a custom skill describing how your business does something. | Best for SMBsEncode “how we onboard a client” or “our quote template” once, reuse forever. |
A connector hooks Claude up to one of your apps. It can fetch live data (yesterday’s sales, this month’s open deals) and, with permission, take action (log an activity, draft an invoice).
| Connector | What it unlocks | Good first prompt |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Read CRM records, create contacts/deals, log activities and tasks. | “Summarise this week’s new deals by stage and owner.” |
| PayPal | Pull transaction context, draft invoices, review and respond to disputes. | “Create a $450 invoice to acme@example.com for May design work.” |
| QuickBooks | Generate P&L and cash-flow reports, benchmark vs similar businesses, import transactions. | “Build a profit-and-loss for last quarter and flag anything unusual.” |
| Drive · Gmail · Calendar · Slack · GitHub … | The standard productivity stack. Read, search, draft, schedule. | “Find the Acme contract in Drive and pull the renewal date.” |
Anthropic also publishes a public connectors directory showing every service available; new ones land regularly.
A plugin is a bundle. It packages skills + connectors + slash commands + sub-agents together so Claude shows up as a specialist for one role or workflow. Install one and the whole workflow comes with it.
| Plugin shape | What’s inside | Who installs it |
|---|---|---|
| Role plugin (e.g. “Engineering”) | Skills for the role, connectors to the tools that role uses, helpful slash commands. | The individual on that team. |
| Workflow plugin | Step-by-step playbook + the connectors needed to run it end-to-end. | Anyone running that workflow. |
| Company plugin | Your house style, your data sources, your rules. | Everyone on the team - one install, consistent outcomes. |
A small win you can take today.
The three connectors most worth their salt for a small business. Click through for a guided setup.