Which one: chat, Cowork, or Claude Code

Before anything else, one decision. There are three front doors to Claude, and most people waste time in the wrong one. Pick by what you want to happen, not by which sounds most impressive.

The three doors

Chat is the window at claude.ai. You ask, it answers. It can write, explain, plan, and think with you. What it cannot do is reach your files or your computer. Everything stays in the conversation.

Cowork is a desktop app that works inside your actual folders. You point it at a folder, describe what you want, and it does the work: reading your files, editing them, creating new ones, step by step. No terminal, no code. This is the one most people who are not developers should start with.

Claude Code is the same kind of agent, run from the terminal. It gives you more control and is built for real software projects. There is a small learning curve. You do not need it to be productive, but it is there when you outgrow Cowork.

How to choose

You want to...	Use
Ask questions, write, brainstorm in a window	Chat
Get real tasks done on your own files, no code	Cowork
Work inside a code project with full control	Claude Code

If you are not sure, start with Cowork. It covers most everyday knowledge work, and nothing you learn there is wasted when you move on.

The rest of Start Here walks each path top to bottom. Begin with the Cowork track below.