Plans, approval, and steering

Cowork doesn't just charge ahead. Before it does the work, it shows you a plan and waits for your approval. You're always in the driver's seat.

The plan, then approval

Once you describe a task, Claude lays out how it intends to tackle it, step by step. Read it. If it looks right, approve it and Claude runs. If it doesn't, say so before anything happens: "Don't touch the archive folder" or "Group by date instead of type." Adjusting the plan up front is cheaper than fixing the result later.

Steering mid-task

You're not locked in once it starts, either. As Claude works, steps tick off and you can watch what it's doing. Notice it heading somewhere you don't want? Jump in and course-correct right there: tell it to stop, skip a step, or change approach. It folds your note in and keeps going.

The two permission modes

Cowork gives you two ways to control how much it checks in:

• Ask before acting — Claude pauses for your approval before each meaningful action. Slower, but you see everything coming.
• Act without asking — Claude proceeds on its own. Faster, but riskier, since you're not reviewing each step.

While you're learning, stay on "Ask before acting." You'll build intuition for what Cowork does before handing it a longer leash.

One guardrail holds no matter what: permanently deleting a file always requires your explicit Allow, even in "Act without asking." Cowork can't quietly delete things.

Next: a quick recap, then your first real task.