Claude Cowork comes to the Chrome side panel!

Hey everyone, it's Shiichan! I found news that's especially great if you work a lot in the browser: the Claude in Chrome side panel just got a lot more useful!

Claude Blog claude.com

What was announced?

On the Claude Blog, Anthropic announced that the Claude in Chrome side panel is now a Claude Cowork session! Conversations are saved to your history, and your skills and connectors work right there in the browser. Even better, a task you start in a tab can be picked up and finished on the Claude desktop, web, and mobile apps!

Claude in Chrome is a browser extension that lets Claude see the page you're on and take actions in it, like clicking links, typing text, navigating between pages, and filling out forms, all using your existing logins. Many tools you use every day connect directly to Claude through connectors, but others, like internal dashboards, legacy systems, and vendor portals, don't. With Claude in Chrome, Claude can work in those apps through the browser instead.

The story so far

Until now, a session in the side panel was separate from the ones in the Claude apps, so context and conversations didn't carry over between them.

What changes

Now the side panel runs the same Claude Cowork session you use on desktop, web, and mobile for longer, multi-step work. Since sessions live with your account rather than a single device, you can start work in a browser and pick it up later somewhere else.

Say you're putting together a budget spreadsheet and need to pull invoices from several vendor portals. You can ask Claude in Chrome to collect the amounts and dates, and it will open the tabs, read each invoice, and build the spreadsheet. Then you can pick the session up in the desktop app to add files from your computer, or import last month's budget and ask what's changed, so you keep your context as you move across surfaces.

Dive Deep

Any AI agent that acts in a browser carries the risk of prompt injection. Malicious actors hide instructions in web content, such as a page, an email, or a document. These instructions may not be visible to you, but they can redirect Claude to take actions you never intended.

Since the pilot, Anthropic has added a check on Claude's own actions. Turn on "automatically approve" and Claude works through a task without stopping for permission at every step. Before anything consequential, like submitting a form, sending a message, or downloading a file, a separate check reviews the action against what you originally asked for and blocks anything that doesn't match. That means fewer interruptions while still keeping oversight in place.

Claude still asks before certain irreversible or costly actions, like making a purchase or sharing personal data. These measures meaningfully reduce the risk, but they can't eliminate it entirely. Prompt injection is a moving target, so the team keeps hunting for new attacks and building what they learn into each model release. They recommend starting on sites you trust, and there's a safety guide with more best practices.

Getting started

Install Claude in Chrome from the Chrome Web Store, sign in, and open the side panel. The new side panel is available on Max and Team plans today, and is rolling out to Pro users over the coming weeks. On Enterprise plans, it's off by default, and admins can turn it on and limit it to approved domains.

You'll still need the desktop app to work with files on your computer or with other applications. Claude in Chrome doesn't run on other Chromium browsers or on mobile yet.

Wrap-up

• The Claude in Chrome side panel is now a Claude Cowork session, so conversations, skills, and connectors carry over in the browser
• A task started in a tab can be finished on desktop, web, or mobile, since sessions live with your account, not a single device
• "Automatically approve" cuts down on interruptions, while a separate check reviews consequential actions before they happen
• Max and Team plans get it today, Pro is rolling out over the coming weeks, and Enterprise admins can turn it on

This one's for anyone who bounces between browser tabs and the desktop app all day!