"The install layer for Claude Cowork" is a phrase we use a lot. It is worth showing rather than asserting. So here is the whole process, from a kit you have not opened yet to a workflow that runs on its own. No jargon, no assumed knowledge, just the order things happen in and the two or three places people tend to get stuck.
If you have ever bought a tool, felt the rush of the idea, and then watched it sit unused, this is written for you. The distance between "I should automate this" and "this is automated" is smaller than it looks. Most of the time it comes down to doing the steps in the right order.
What you are actually installing
A kit is not software you download and run. It is three things bundled together: a set of plain-language instructions that tell Claude how to do a specific job, a project structure that keeps the work organized, and a documented connection to the tools you already pay for. That is the whole of it.
Claude Cowork is where the kit runs. Think of Cowork as the workshop and the kit as the jig you clamp into it. The jig does not replace the workshop, and the workshop does nothing useful until you load a jig into it. When we say we are the install layer for Claude Cowork, this is what we mean. We make the jig, we write the instructions, and we hand you the thing that clicks into place.
Because a kit is instructions and connections rather than a program, installing one is closer to setting up a new hire than to installing an app. You are not waiting on a progress bar. You are telling a capable worker where things are and what "good" looks like.
Before you start
This is the section that goes out of date fastest, so here is what is true as of today, pulled from Anthropic's own documentation.
Claude Cowork runs on a paid Claude plan. As of July 23, 2026, it is available on the Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans. The free plan does not include Cowork, and Pro is the lowest tier that has it.
Cowork is available in the Claude Desktop app for macOS and Windows, on the web at claude.ai, and in the Claude mobile apps for iOS and Android. Web and mobile are in beta and rolling out gradually, starting with the Max plan. Your sessions run remotely and follow your account, so you can start work on one surface and pick it up on another.
For installing and running a kit, use the Claude Desktop app on macOS or Windows. Here is why. A kit reads and writes your own files and often uses local connectors or plugins, and those capabilities reach your computer through the desktop app, even though the session itself runs on Anthropic's servers. Live artifacts and any plugin that includes a local connector are desktop only right now. You can steer a running session from the web or your phone, but the desktop app needs to be open on your machine for Claude to touch your local files. (Verified against Anthropic's Cowork documentation on July 23, 2026. Plans and surface availability change often, so check the current requirements before you buy.)
So the short version: a paid plan, the desktop app open on your computer, and an internet connection. Nothing else.
The install order
When you own more than one kit, or you are staring at a catalog wondering where to begin, use the install order: cash first, then hours, then you.
Cash first means you install the kit that touches money before the one that touches your calendar. A workflow that recovers a lost sale or chases an unpaid invoice pays for itself immediately, and it makes every install after it easier to justify.
Hours next means that once the money workflow is running, you install the one that gives you back the most time. This is where the Hour Audit comes in. List every task you repeated last week, score each one on how many hours it eats and on how often it comes back, multiply the two numbers, and the highest score is your next install.
You last means the polish, the personal-preference automations, the nice-to-haves. They are worth doing. They are just not worth doing first. Cash, then hours, then you. In that order, every install funds and motivates the next one.
Step by step
Open the kit. Everything you need is inside it, and the order you read it in matters.
Read the Setup Guide before the Project Instructions. The guide tells you which connections the kit needs. The instructions assume you have already made them. Reading the two in the wrong order is the single most common reason a first install stalls, because Claude tries to do the job before the tools are wired up.
Make the connections. In practice this means granting Claude access to a folder on your computer and connecting the tools the kit names, such as your email, your spreadsheet, or your store. You approve each one, and you can revoke any of them later.
Run the workflow once against real work, not a test case. A fake example teaches you almost nothing. Point it at something from your actual week, then watch what it does. Cowork shows you its plan and its steps as it goes, so you are never guessing what happened.
Read what it did, then adjust the instructions, not the workflow. If the output is ninety percent right, the fix is almost always a sentence in the instructions rather than a rebuild. Tell it what "good" looks like in plain language and run it again. Two or three passes is normal, and it is a sign the process is working, not failing.
What "done" looks like
Done is not "it ran." Done is "it ran, I checked it, and I would let it run again without watching." Most people stop at the first and never reach the third, and that gap is exactly where the value leaks out.
The test is trust, not output. When you have run a workflow enough times that you would happily let it fire on a schedule while you are asleep, it is installed. Until then it is a demo you keep re-watching. The point of a kit is to get you to that trust line quickly, because that is the line past which the automation actually buys back your time.
Most kits reach that line in one or two sittings. Some money workflows get there in a single afternoon. Others, especially the ones wired into several tools, are worth spreading across a couple of sessions so you can test each connection properly.
When it does not work
Three failures are worth naming, because between them they cover almost everything that goes wrong on a first install.
A connection that was never actually made. The kit asked for access to a tool or a folder and the grant did not go through, so Claude is working half-blind. The fix is to walk back through the Setup Guide and re-check the connections one by one.
An instruction that assumed context you never gave it. The kit was written for a general case and your business has a wrinkle it did not know about. The fix is a sentence. Tell it the wrinkle in the Project Instructions and rerun.
A workflow pointed at the wrong task. This is the Hour Audit failure. The automation works fine, it is just automating something that did not deserve to go first. The fix is to step back and re-pick.
None of these is the model's fault, and all three are fixable in minutes rather than hours. If you are still stuck past that point, that is exactly what our get-it-working guarantee is for.
Frequently asked questions
What is Claude Cowork?
Claude Cowork brings Claude's agentic abilities to everyday knowledge work, with no coding required. Instead of answering one prompt at a time, it can take on a multi-step job, run it on Anthropic's servers, and hand you finished work. We cover it in more depth on our What Is Claude Cowork page.
How do I install a kit in Claude Cowork?
Open the kit, read the Setup Guide before the Project Instructions, make the connections it names, then run the workflow once against real work and adjust the instructions until you trust the output. The full walkthrough is above.
How long does a kit take to install?
Most kits install in one or two sittings. Simple money workflows can be running in a single afternoon, and kits wired into several tools are worth spreading across a couple of sessions.
Is Claude Cowork secure?
Cowork runs in an isolated environment and only touches the files and tools you connect to it. We wrote a full piece on exactly what does and does not leave your machine: Claude Cowork Security: What Actually Leaves Your Machine.
What is the difference between building an agent and installing a kit?
Building an agent means designing, wiring, and maintaining the automation yourself. Installing a kit means starting from one that already works and pointing it at your business. Most operators do not need to build. They need to install. That is the whole idea behind how our self-install kits work.
I build the automations in this store, one workflow at a time, and I test every one in my own business before it ships. Now that you know how the install works, the easiest place to try it is a free kit: shopautomations.ai/collections/free-kits