Overview

You already set up connectors in the Chat course, so you know the basic mechanics. Connect a tool like Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, or Notion, and Claude can pull information from it and, in many cases, take action inside it too. All of that still works the same way in Cowork. What changes is how connectors fit into the work you're doing.

What Changes in Cowork

In Chat, when you asked Claude to pull something from Gmail or search your Drive, you were still guiding the process step by step. You'd ask for the information, review it, then decide what to do next. The connector was one step inside a conversation you were managing.

In Cowork, connectors become part of a fully delegated workflow. You describe the outcome, and Cowork uses whatever connectors it needs along the way, alongside your local files, to deliver a finished result. You're not orchestrating each step.

That shift sounds small, but it's the difference between using connectors and having them used on your behalf. They stop being a thing you reach for and start being a quiet part of whatever workflow Cowork is running.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Imagine you've got meeting notes saved on your computer and a Notion page where your team tracks the same project. After a meeting, you want to check whether everything that was discussed actually made it into Notion, and update anything that didn't.

In Chat, you'd upload the notes, ask Claude to compare them with what's in Notion, then go and update the Notion page manually based on what came back.

In Cowork, you'd write a single prompt:

"Compare the meeting notes in this folder with the project page in Notion. If anything was discussed in the meeting but isn't reflected in Notion, update the page directly."

Cowork reads the local files, pulls the Notion page through the connector, cross-references the two, and makes the updates in place. The whole thing happens as a single task pulling together multiple sources into one finished output.

Compound Workflows

The real value of connectors in Cowork shows up when you combine them with everything else. A task can read local files, pull from one connector, cross-reference with another, produce a deliverable, and drop the result wherever it needs to land, all from a single prompt.

A few shapes this tends to take:

• Local files plus a connector. Read a folder of meeting notes and update the matching project page in Notion, like the example above.

• One connector plus another. Cross-reference your Gmail and your calendar to summarise everything that needs attention before the day starts.

• Connector into a local file. Pull recent emails from Gmail, summarise them into a one-pager, and save it as a Word document in your folder.

• All of the above at once. Pull recent customer feedback from a connector, combine it with internal documents in your folder, and update a Notion dashboard with the synthesis.

You don't have to plan the orchestration. You describe the outcome, and Cowork works out which connectors and files it needs to bring together to get there.

When You Need a Connector That Isn't There

If a tool you use isn't in the marketplace, custom connectors can be added through something called an MCP. We won't go deep on that here, but it's worth knowing the option exists if you're using specialised tools that aren't covered by the standard set.

Many plugins also come pre-bundled with the connectors they need. If you install a sales plugin, for example, the connectors it relies on (your CRM, your inbox) often come along with it, so you don't have to add them separately.

Pause Here

If you haven't connected your key tools yet, this is the moment. Gmail and Google Drive are easy starting points and most people get value out of them quickly. Slack and Notion are worth adding if your team lives in either of them.

Then try a Cowork task that combines local files with a connector. Something concrete works best, like cross-referencing a document on your computer with information in your Drive, pulling data from a connector into a spreadsheet that Cowork saves to your folder, or summarising recent emails and dropping the result into a project page. The point is to see how connectors and local files work together inside a single delegated task.

Key Takeaways

• Connectors in Cowork are part of fully delegated workflows. You're not reaching for them step by step like in Chat. They're a quiet part of whatever Cowork is doing to deliver the outcome you asked for.

• The real unlock is compound workflows. A single task can read local files, pull from one or more connectors, and produce a finished output that lands wherever you want it.

• Plugins often bring connectors with them. If you install a role-specific plugin, you'll often find the connectors it relies on come pre-bundled.

• Custom connectors are possible through MCPs. If a tool isn't in the marketplace, there's a route to add it.

• You don't have to plan the connector orchestration. You describe the outcome, and Cowork works out which sources to pull from along the way.