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Module 1 · Lesson 1.5 · 11 min

Claude, Cowork and Claude Code: Choosing Your Tool

Know which tool in the Claude family fits each job, without jargon.

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Module 1

Agentic AI, Explained for Owners

Think like a manager of AI, not a user of it

Bruno Ashford

1.1 From chatbot to agent

What actually changes

	Chatbot	Agent
Works in	One reply	A loop of steps
Uses your files	Only what you paste	Opens, reads, writes
Gives you	Text to process	Finished work
You ask for	Content	An outcome

1.1 The agent loop

Plan, act, check, repeat

1ReadYour request and context
2ActUse a tool on your files
3CheckLook at the result
4RepeatUntil done or it needs you

1.2 The Autonomy Ladder

Three rungs of trust

1SuggestIt drafts, you act
2Act with approvalIt works, asks first
3Act aloneIt works, you review later

1.2 The rule

The cost of a mistake sets the rung, not how clever the AI looks.

Bruno Ashford

1.3 The 4Ds (Anthropic AI Fluency framework)

A management routine for AI

D1DelegationSplit the task, keep the judgment
D2DescriptionBrief it like a new hire
D3DiscernmentReview like a manager
D4DiligenceOwn what goes out

1.3 Description

The five-part brief

Two minutes of briefing saves twenty of fixing.

Goal: what done looks like
Context: who, why, which files
Rules: standards, tone, never do
Output: format, length, where to save
Check: report what you read and changed

1.3 A truth that hurts

Most bad AI output is a bad brief.

Bruno Ashford

1.4 Where AI earns its place

Score every task

Score	1	5
Impact	Saves minutes	Saves hours or speeds revenue
Risk	Invisible, easy fix	Reaches client, money, legal
Ease	In someone's head	Written, digital, repeatable

Opportunity score = Impact x Ease / Risk

1.4 Never delegate

Some calls stay human

The agent can prepare the facts. You make the call.

Hiring and firing
Final pricing on big deals
Legal or medical judgment
Apologising to an upset client

1.5 Choosing your tool

Three desks, one office

Tool	Best for	Setup
Claude chat	Thinking, one-off writing	None
Cowork	One-off tasks on your files	Desktop app, paid plan
Claude Code	Repeatable, shareable processes	Install, paid plan or API

Recap

Pick the task, set the rung, brief it well, check it like a manager. The tool comes last.

Bruno Ashford

01 / 12

Use ← → to move. The marker highlights text and the pencil draws on the slide; navigation locks while you annotate. Undo removes the last mark, Esc exits.

1Claude chat: think, write, decide

The chat app on web, desktop and mobile. Best for thinking out loud, one-off writing, analysing a document you upload, and preparing decisions. It is the fastest way to get an answer. It is not where repeatable work on your files should live.

2Cowork: an agent for your files, no terminal

Cowork is Claude's agent mode for everyday knowledge work, available in the Claude desktop app and other Claude apps on paid plans. You describe a multi-step task, give it access to a folder, and it organises files, builds spreadsheets and documents, and reports back. Best for owners and team members who want agentic help without any setup.

3Claude Code: your AI department

Claude Code runs in your terminal (and also in the desktop app and code editors). It works inside a folder you choose and gives you the most control: a company handbook it reads every session (CLAUDE.md), skills, specialist subagents, connections to your tools, permission rules and scheduled runs. This is where we build most of the course, because it is where repeatable business systems live.

4Match the job to the desk

One-off question or draft: chat. One-off task on files, no setup: Cowork. Repeatable process you want to run the same way every week, share with the team and eventually automate: Claude Code. You can ask Claude to help you place each task.

Prompt for Claude

Here are my top 3 tasks from my Opportunity Matrix. For each one, tell me whether it fits best in Claude chat, Cowork or Claude Code, and why, in one sentence each. Assume I want repeatable processes to be consistent and shareable with my team.

5Check your plan

Claude Code and Cowork need a paid plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise) or, for Claude Code, a Console account billed by API usage. The free plan does not include them. We go through the options and costs in detail in Module 2, lesson 2.1, before you install anything.

CSVOpportunity MatrixWorksheet MDThe 4Ds Delegation Cheat SheetCheat sheet

Owners lose weeks trying to force one tool to do everything. They write novels into a chat window when they needed an agent on their files, or they open a terminal for a one-off question that chat would have answered in ten seconds.

Anthropic offers three ways to work with Claude that matter for a business: Claude chat, Cowork and Claude Code. They are not competitors. Think of them as three desks in the same office, and in this lesson you learn which desk each task belongs on.

Key points

Chat for thinking and one-off writing.
Cowork for one-off file tasks without a terminal.
Claude Code for repeatable, shareable, automatable processes.
Paid plan needed for Cowork and Claude Code.
Most of this course happens in Claude Code.

Avoid

Running recurring processes in chat and re-explaining them every week.
Opening the terminal for a question chat could answer in seconds.
Assuming the free plan includes Claude Code.
Choosing a tool before choosing the task.

Real-world example: a law firm

The managing partner uses Claude chat to think through a tricky client letter. His paralegal uses Cowork to sort a folder of 300 scanned documents into matters and dates, with no setup. The firm's operations lead uses Claude Code to run the weekly billing summary as a documented skill that reads the firm handbook and produces the same report every Friday. Three desks, three jobs, one firm.