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Foundations

Cowork glossary — terms that mean something specific

Sixteen terms that show up in every Claude Cowork conversation, defined the way Tinkso uses them in client work. Anchor IDs for deep-linking from outside.

Updated 2026-04-25Read 4 min

A short, opinionated dictionary of the words that show up in Cowork conversations. We define them the way Tinkso uses them in client work — not the way every blog post does. Each entry includes the term, a two-sentence definition, and a link to where it lives in the bible. Anchor IDs are stable, so you can link directly from email, decks, or other docs (for example /bible/foundations/glossary#mcp-connector).

Agent#

A Claude run that plans, takes actions, and reports back, rather than just answering. In Cowork, every multi-step prompt is an agent run. See: What is Cowork.

Approval gate#

The user-confirmation step Cowork inserts before destructive or ambiguous actions. Tinkso recommends keeping approval gates on for the first 30 days of any deployment. See: First 30 minutes.

CLAUDE.md#

A markdown file in the workspace folder that Cowork reads on every session to learn house rules: tone, file naming, formats, things never to do. The shared written contract that survives memory resets. See: CLAUDE.md and memory.

Connector / MCP connector#

A small software bridge that lets Cowork talk to a SaaS app (Slack, GitHub, Notion, Asana, Salesforce, etc.) using the Model Context Protocol. Some are first-party from Anthropic; others are built per engagement. See: MCP connectors.

Context window#

The size of the prompt and history Cowork can hold in a single run. Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6 support up to 1M tokens (in beta) — roughly 1,500 pages of material. See: Models and context.

Cowork tab#

The middle tab in the Claude desktop app. Gives Claude file access to one folder you grant it. Different from Chat (no files) and Code (developer-oriented).

Memory#

Cowork's persistent storage of facts across sessions. Memory survives restarts; it does not survive account changes. Per-user, not per-workspace.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)#

The open spec Anthropic uses for connectors. If a SaaS has an MCP server, Cowork can talk to it. See: the marketing-side primer at What is MCP.

Plan#

Cowork's pre-action step where it lists what it will do, then waits for approval. Skipping plan-mode is the most common cause of Cowork "did the wrong thing" complaints.

Plugin#

A bundle of skills, prompts, and connector configs that Claude Code or Cowork can install in one step. Tinkso ships custom plugins per client engagement.

Prompt#

A natural-language instruction. In this bible, "prompt" includes any specifying detail (folder paths, formats, constraints) — not just the question. See: Prompt anatomy.

Quota / usage limit#

The rolling envelope of model usage on a Cowork seat. Resets every five hours by default. See: Usage limits.

Research preview#

Anthropic's term for "still cooking." Cowork left research preview at GA on April 9, 2026; some sub-features (memory, scheduled tasks) shipped after.

Skill#

A reusable instruction set Cowork can invoke (for example, a "month-end close" skill). Skills are how you scale a successful prompt across a team. See: Skills and plugins.

Sub-agent#

A Cowork run launched by another run for a sub-task — for example, "summarise each file individually before combining." Useful for long jobs and for keeping the parent run focused.

Workspace folder#

The single folder you grant Cowork access to. Tinkso's pattern is one workspace per function, with inbox/, output/, and archive/ inside. See: The workspace pattern.

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Last reviewed: 25 April 2026 · The Cowork Bible · Tinkso