Plan, Approve, Execute

Cowork plans before it touches anything

The defining safety property: Cowork does not modify files until you approve a plan. Send a goal, get back a numbered, file-by-file plan, redirect or approve, then it executes. This is the same idea as Claude Code's Plan Mode but baked into the entire experience instead of an opt-in toggle.

The approval flow is graduated by risk. Reading files inside the working folder — automatic. Creating new files — automatic. Modifying existing files — asks before the first modification. Deleting files — always asks, every time. Network access (WebFetch) — only if you've enabled the relevant connector. Computer Use (driving applications) — only if Computer Use is on.

Iteration is the second loop. After Cowork delivers, you stay in the same session and refine: "trim the executive summary to 100 words," "add a confidence-level column," "rewrite this section in plain language." Cowork reads its own output and revises in place. Multi-round refinement is the normal mode of work.

Code

What a Cowork plan looks like·text

# Goal:
"Analyze the 30 transcripts in /inbox/interviews and produce a
 prioritized product requirements doc."

# Cowork's plan:
1. Read all 30 transcript files in /inbox/interviews
2. Extract themes and pain points from each
3. Categorize and count frequency across transcripts
4. Rank themes by frequency × severity
5. Write /output/product-requirements.md with:
   - Executive summary (200 words)
   - Prioritized requirements with evidence quotes
   - Frequency matrix table
   - Raw theme taxonomy appendix

[Approve]  [Redirect]  [Cancel]

Iterate without restarting·text

# After Cowork delivers:
"Good start. Trim the exec summary to 100 words. Add a 'confidence
 level' column based on transcript count. Move methodology to an
 appendix."

# Cowork reads its own /output/product-requirements.md, revises in
# place. Diff is visible. Iterate again as needed:
"Move the top three requirements above the fold. Add bold to the
 highest-confidence items."

Cowork plans before it touches anything

Code

External links

Exercise

Progress

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