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How to use Claude desktop

The Claude desktop app gives you three ways to work: Chat, Cowork and Code. All three run on the same models. What separates them is where the work runs, what it can reach on your computer, and what is still there when the session ends.

Download for your agent (.md)

A plain-text version of this guide to give an AI agent, as an attachment or in a project's instructions, so it can pick the right surface for a task and knows each one's limits.

Chat

For thinking something through, drafting, or a one-off analysis of a file you attach.

Runs ina container Anthropic hosts
Cowork

For multi-step work across your folders and apps, and work that should keep going without you.

Runs inan Anthropic sandbox, or a VM on your computer
Code

For changing code in a repo, and anything that needs your computer's own shell, credentials or services.

Runs inyour terminal, or an Anthropic VM

Where the work runs
YOUR COMPUTER ANTHROPIC CLOUD Your files folders on your computer you upload and download up to 30 MB per file Chat code runs in a per-chat container files last as long as the conversation reads and writes cannot delete Desktop app relays connected folders only while the app is open Cowork · cloud sandbox per session, allowlisted keeps running with the laptop closed; sandbox is wiped at session end connected folders only Cowork · local code runs in a local VM model calls only full disk asks permission Code · terminal your shell, git, tools model calls only no access to your files Code · cloud VM per session GitHub repo clones, pushes a branch
Each box is where commands execute; each arrow is how that mode reaches your files. The gold path is the only one that crosses from the cloud to your computer, and it exists only while the desktop app is open to relay it. Every mode also sends your prompts, and the files Claude reads, to the model; that traffic is not drawn.

Side by side
ChatCoworkCode
Where commands run A container Anthropic hosts, one per conversation. Cloud: an Anthropic sandbox per session. On your computer: a VM on your machine. Terminal: directly on your computer. Cloud: an Anthropic VM per session.
Your files Only what you attach, up to 30 MB each. Folders you connect. From the cloud, only while the desktop app is open. Deleting needs your approval. Terminal: any path, with permission prompts. Cloud: the GitHub repo, or a repo uploaded with claude --cloud.
Network Open by default on individual plans. Team and Enterprise admins can restrict it. Cloud: through a proxy with an allowlist; no private or local addresses. On your computer: your organization's policy. Terminal: whatever your computer reaches, including localhost and VPN. Cloud: through an allowlisted proxy.
Reaches your apps Connectors such as Gmail and Dropbox. Connectors, plus Chrome and screen control through the desktop app. MCP servers, and anything your shell can call.
Kept afterwards The conversation, its files, artifacts, projects and memory. Artifacts, memory, scheduled tasks, and whatever was written back to your folders. The sandbox is discarded. Files and commits on disk, with CLAUDE.md as project memory. Cloud work comes back as a branch.
Runs without you No. Yes. Cloud sessions continue with the laptop closed; scheduled tasks run with no device online. A terminal session lasts as long as the terminal. Cloud sessions run on their own.
Version control Artifact versions only. Artifact versions. No git of its own. Git, natively.

Using them together
Chat questions and drafts same account and projects Cowork coordinates and assembles handoff out result back A shared folder notes both sides can read picked up written back Code versioned repo work
A pattern that holds up: let Cowork coordinate and assemble, let Code do versioned or compute-heavy work in a repo, and have them meet in a shared folder of written handoffs rather than relying on either session remembering. Chat is for thinking something through before or after.

Limits to know
Cowork
  • Work kept only inside the cloud sandbox is discarded when the session ends. Save what you need to your own folders.
  • From the cloud, your folders are reachable only while the desktop app is open.
  • Deleting files in your folders needs your approval.
  • Cloud sessions can't reach services running on your own computer, such as a localhost address.
  • Browser and screen control need the desktop app, and the Claude extension for Chrome.
  • Artifacts are private until you share them. Send the file itself to anyone who needs it.
  • Cowork artifacts created on or after August 19, 2026 don't open in the mobile app.
Chat
  • 30 MB per file, in or out.
  • Nothing on your computer is visible unless you attach it or connect a service.
  • Each conversation has its own container; a new chat starts without the last one's files.
Code
  • A terminal session runs with your own user permissions. Isolation (the sandboxed Bash tool, a container, a VM) is opt-in.
  • Cloud sessions need a connected GitHub account, or a repo uploaded with claude --cloud.
  • A terminal session ends when the terminal closes. Use a cloud session or a scheduler for long jobs.

An independent guide from PearlQuant, not affiliated with Anthropic. Product details come from Anthropic's help pages as checked in September 2026 and change over time, so check them before relying on a specific limit: Cowork architecture · Cowork on web, desktop and mobile · Claude Code environments · Files in Chat.