The Interface Tour

You've got Cowork open. Let's look at what you're working with.

Before you start a conversation

When you first open Cowork, you see the left sidebar and a big empty centre area with a text box at the bottom. We covered the sidebar in the last lesson: New task, Search, Scheduled, Ideas, Customize, and your Recent sessions.

The centre is where everything happens. You type at the bottom, and Cowork responds above. It works like any chat interface, but there's a key difference: when Cowork reads, creates, or edits files, you'll see exactly what it's doing right here in the conversation. Full transparency.

Once you start a conversation

The right-hand side of the screen stays hidden until you start chatting. Once you do, three panels appear:

• Progress shows checkmarks as Cowork works through a task. For longer tasks, you can see how far along it is.
• Your folder (shown by name) displays the project folder you're working in and key files like instructions. This is how Cowork knows which files it can see.
• Context tracks the tools and referenced files used in this task. It's a quick way to see what Cowork has been reading and working with.

You don't need to interact with any of these panels. They're there so you can see what's happening behind the scenes.

Settings

Click your name in the bottom left corner to open the settings menu.

You can ignore this for now. It's where you'll find account settings, language options, and links to help. Nothing here that you need for getting started.

The mental model

Here's the simplest way to think about the interface:

1. Left sidebar: Navigation, starting new tasks, and Customize (for later)
2. Centre: Your conversation with Cowork
3. Right panels: Progress, your folder, and context (only visible during a conversation)

You talk to it in the centre. It works with your files. The sidebar and right panels are there to keep you informed, not to add complexity.

Try it

Open Cowork, point it at a folder on your computer, and type something simple like "What files are in this folder?" Watch how the right-hand panels appear and update as Cowork works.

You can't break anything. Cowork will always ask before making changes to existing files. So click around freely.