Last week Cowork stopped being a separate tab. This week the other shoe dropped: Anthropic's help center now says that on October 6, new Cowork tasks on Pro and Max plans run in the cloud, and the option to keep them on your computer is going away. Around it, the ecosystem got busier - Claude Sonnet 5.5 shipped on September 28, the Claude Marketplace opened with more than 2,000 connectors and plugins, plugin developers got a proper submission portal, and Claude Tag learned to use your own connectors inside Slack channels.
October 6: New Cowork Tasks Run in the Cloud
Anthropic's support article on using Cowork across web, desktop, and mobile now carries a heads-up for Pro and Max plans: on October 6, 2026, new Cowork tasks run in the cloud, and the Only on your computer option in Settings > General will be removed. There is nothing to set up. Tasks you already started on your computer stay there, and you can keep working on them until they are done; each one shows a note with a button to download its transcript.
What cloud means in practice: Claude's work runs on Anthropic's servers, your sessions and files are saved to your Claude account, work continues after you close the laptop, and scheduled tasks run with no device online. Your folders do not move. Claude reaches only the folders you have connected, through the desktop app, and only while it is open; when a task needs a file, Claude fetches a copy of just that file, and deleting the session deletes those copies.
Scheduled tasks move to the cloud too, including ones that use files on your computer - but those still need the desktop app open to reach the files. For work that has to stay on one machine, Anthropic points to Claude Code in the desktop app, which runs locally and keeps your folders and history there. You can download a single task's transcript, or your full Cowork history, and open it in Claude Code; projects and scheduled tasks do not carry over.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 Arrives
On September 28, Anthropic launched Claude Sonnet 5.5, the second model in the Claude 5.5 family after last week's Opus 5.5. The release notes describe it as a faster, lower-cost complement to Opus 5.5. On the API it is priced at 2 dollars per million input tokens and 10 dollars per million output tokens - the same per-token rates as Sonnet 5 - with a 1 million token context window and up to 128K output tokens, and it is available on the Claude API, Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Foundry.
For Cowork users the practical detail is in the desktop app changelog: version 2.9939.4 on September 27 added support for Sonnet 5.5. If you run long Cowork tasks that do not need Opus-level reasoning, it is the model to try first.
The Claude Marketplace Opens
On September 23, Anthropic launched the Claude Marketplace, one place for three things that used to live in different corners: connectors and plugins (more than 2,000 at launch, including Atlassian, Google, Microsoft, Notion, and Salesforce), Claude-powered agents and products that organizations can buy with part of their committed Anthropic spend (the post names CrowdStrike, Cursor, Harvey, Legora, Lovable, and Snowflake), and consulting partners from the Claude Partner Network such as Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte.
For a Cowork user, the connectors-and-plugins shelf is the part that matters day to day: it is the same set of tools Claude can use inside a task, now browsable in one catalog. This site's connector guides cover many of the most-used ones, including Notion, Salesforce, and Snowflake.
A Submission Portal for Plugin Builders
Two days later, on September 25, Anthropic opened a directory submission portal for developers on paid Claude plans. You can submit a single remote MCP connector, or a plugin bundle of MCP servers and skills hosted on GitHub. Each submission is validated and safety-scanned as soon as it lands, the portal shows review status and recommended changes, and once approved you choose when to publish. After launch, builders see installs by product surface and version, how often the listing is viewed, and which searches lead to it.
Anthropic calls plugins the main way to build third-party extensions for Claude, and says one discovery experience will roll out across Claude and Claude Code over the coming weeks. Claude supports the latest MCP specification, commonly called MCP 2.0, plus two extensions: MCP Apps for interactive UI inside chat, and Enterprise Managed Auth for zero-touch OAuth. Existing skills, connectors, and plugins in the directory need no changes.
Claude Tag Can Use Your Personal Connectors
Claude Tag, the beta that puts Claude inside a Slack channel, could until now use only the connectors an admin attached to that channel. Since September 24 it can also use your own connectors for requests you make - your calendar, your drive, your CRM accounts - without anyone else in the channel being able to use them. You pick whether to review each response before it posts or let auto mode post unless Claude flags something sensitive. Scheduled routines and anything Claude starts on its own still use only the channel's shared connectors. It is rolling out on Team plans now, with Enterprise to follow.
Smaller Changes in the Desktop App
The September 29 desktop release (2.16120.0) is worth a skim. With Google Drive connected, you can now create a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slides deck from the new chat's Output picker. Video outputs play inline in the file pane with thumbnails in the chat. And for organizations that set tool policies, a connector tool marked "Restrict to Ask" now asks for your approval in tasks on your computer even in "Skip all approvals" mode, for newly started tasks.
Why This Matters for Cowork Users
Two weeks ago Cowork was a place on your computer. After October 6 it is, by default, a job running on Anthropic's servers that reaches back to your machine only when a task needs a file. That is a real upgrade for anything scheduled or long-running, and a real change for anyone who chose "Only on your computer" on purpose. The Marketplace and plugin portal point the same way: the tools a task can use are becoming a shared catalog rather than something each person wires up alone.
Tip of the Week: Get Ready for October 6
The switch is automatic, but a few minutes this week saves surprises next week - especially for scheduled tasks that read files on your computer.
❌ Weak
Do nothing, then wonder why Monday's scheduled report that reads a local spreadsheet did not find the file while your laptop was shut.✅ Strong
List your scheduled tasks. For each one that reads a folder on your computer, either keep the desktop app open when it runs, or move the files it needs somewhere a connector can reach. Finish or download the transcript of any local task you care about, and move work that must stay on one machine to Claude Code in the desktop app.The rule of thumb: after October 6, a task only touches files on your computer while the desktop app is open there. Plan scheduled work around that.
Worth Reading This Week
- → Use Claude Cowork on web, desktop, and mobile - Anthropic Support - The October 6 heads-up and the full "what's changing for Pro and Max" section.
- → Claude Sonnet 5.5 - Claude Platform Docs - Pricing, context window, platforms, and the breaking changes for developers moving from Sonnet 5.
- → Claude Marketplace - Claude Blog - The September 23 launch: connectors and plugins, agents bought with committed spend, and service partners.
- → Build plugins for Claude - Claude Blog - The September 25 post on the directory submission portal, review flow, analytics, and MCP 2.0 extensions.
- → Claude Tag now supports personal connectors in channels - Claude Blog - How review and auto mode work, and when a channel's shared connectors still matter.
- → Claude Desktop changelog - The September 27 and 29 releases: Sonnet 5.5 support, Google file output, inline video, and the tool-policy change.
- → Claude release notes - Anthropic Support - The September 25 and September 28 entries are the ones behind this drop.
Until next time.
— The ClaudeCowork.com team