How Cowork Works
You tell the AI the result you want. It plans the work, uses tools to carry it out step by step, and shows every step in the chat so you can follow, steer or take over.
The layers
Cowork is built in layers. Each one has its own page:
| Layer | In one line | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | Written methods for one kind of task. When a request matches, the AI follows the method | What Skills Are |
| Workspace and its rules | The folder the AI works in, and the rules that apply to every chat there | Workspaces, Rules and Approvals |
| Approvals | Which steps run on their own and which wait for you | Workspaces, Rules and Approvals |
| AI coworkers | A setup for one kind of work: instructions and the skills it uses, named by its job. A package bundles everything one job needs; an institution switches it on for a team and the team works with it as an AI coworker | Your AI Coworkers |
| Models | The AI model that thinks and answers, chosen per chat | Models and Reasoning Effort |
Where the words in these docs differ from the names in the app, see Terms and Interface Names.
What happens when you send a request
- The AI reads your request together with the chat so far, the files you attached and the workspace rules.
- It looks for a matching skill. If one fits, it follows that method instead of working it out from scratch.
- It works in steps. Each step uses a tool: open a page, read a file, click a button, call a website, run a script. Each one appears in the chat.
- It asks you when it should. Reading and looking things up run on their own. Writing through a website function and running a skill's script always wait for your approval; on web pages, the AI is told to ask before anything it cannot undo. See When the AI asks you.
- It delivers the result in the chat, and saves files it made in the workspace.
You can type while it works to change direction, or click Stop. See Steering, Stopping and Taking Back.
Where skills come from
| Place | Who has it |
|---|---|
| Built into Cowork | Everyone |
| This computer | Only you, in every workspace |
| A workspace folder | Everyone who opens that folder. It travels with the folder |
| Published by Micromeet or your institution | Everyone in that scope. Updated automatically |
AI coworkers can be saved on this computer or in a workspace folder. This is how a team works the same way: put a project's skills, AI coworkers and rules in its workspace folder, and everyone who opens it gets them.
Working with several AIs
For big jobs the AI can split the work among helper agents that run in the background at the same time, for example checking many files in parallel. You see them in a task bar above the input box and can pause or stop them. See Workflows and Background Agents.
Next steps
- Workspaces, Rules and Approvals Where the AI works, what it follows and when it asks you
- Give Clear Instructions How to ask so the AI gets it right the first time
- Build Your First Skill Turn a job you did once into a method the AI repeats