Thirsty Insights Resources
Data and Resources for the Beverage Alcohol IndustryGetting Started with Claude Cowork
A step-by-step walkthrough for beverage alcohol professionals who want to put AI to real work - not just chat with it.
What Is Claude Cowork (and Why Should You Care)?
If you've used ChatGPT or Claude's regular chat, you've had a conversation with AI. You type a prompt, you get an answer. That's useful, but it's not transformational.
Cowork is fundamentally different. It's built into a desktop app and gives Claude direct access to files on your computer. You describe a task like "build me a depletion report from these distributor spreadsheets" or "draft a chain presentation for this account" and Claude makes a plan, breaks it into subtasks, executes them, and delivers finished files to your folder.
You're not prompting. You're delegating.
It just launched last month in January. Every week more plugins and connectors come out that makes it more valuable. For instance, this week Anthropic shipped a major update with plugins to tools like Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce-adjacent CRMs, and more.
Our industry runs on spreadsheets, PDFs, decks, and tribal knowledge. Cowork doesn't just answer questions about these files, it creates, edits, and transforms them. Think depletion analyses, pricing models, chain review decks, and compliance docs, generated from your actual data, in your preferred format, aligned to your strategy.
What You Need
| Computer | Mac (any Apple Silicon or Intel) or Windows (64-bit). No mobile or web, desktop app only. |
| Subscription | Any paid Claude plan: Pro ($20/mo), Max ($100 or $200/mo), Team ($25+/seat), or Enterprise. |
| App | Download from claude.com/download install and sign in. |
| Internet | Active connection required. The app must stay open while tasks run. |
Setup in 7 Steps
Install and Switch to Cowork Mode
Download the Claude Desktop app from claude.com/download. Sign in with your paid account. At the top of the app, you'll see a mode selector, click "Cowork" to switch from regular Chat to task mode. That's it. You're in.
Create a Dedicated Working Folder
Cowork needs access to a folder on your computer. Rather than pointing it at your entire Documents folder, create a dedicated workspace. This is a safety best practice as Cowork can read, write, and delete files in any folder you share.
Best Practice - Before your first real task, back up anything in the folder you plan to share. Since Claude has real write access, a dedicated workspace limits the damage if anything goes sideways.
Write Your Context Files
This is the highest-leverage step. Please spend a decent amount of time on these context files - the investment will pay off! Create these as .md (Markdown) files in your context/ folder.
about-me.md
brand-voice.md
working-preferences.md
These files get better over time. After every session where Claude's output missed the mark, update the relevant context file. In a few weeks, Claude will know your business almost as well as your best analyst does.
Set Global and Folder Instructions
Instructions are standing directives that load automatically at the start of every session. Go to Settings -> Cowork and edit your Global Instructions:
You can also set folder-specific instructions for individual projects. For example, a Kroger chain review folder might include instructions about Kroger's preferred deck format, buyer names, and current program details.
Install Plugins
Plugins bundle skills and commands into role-specific packages. In Cowork, click "Customise" in the left sidebar, then "Browse plugins."
Start with Productivity (useful for everyone) and then add role-specific plugins, Sales if you're on the commercial side, Finance for accounting and analysis, Marketing for brand teams, or Data Analysis for working with large datasets.
After installing, click "Customise" on each plugin to tailor the skills to your company's terminology, processes, and standards. This is where the real value lives.
Customize the Sales plugin so Claude understands your three-tier terminology (depletions vs. shipments, PODs, ACV). Customize the Finance plugin with your margin calculations and trade spend formulas. These customizations mean every output speaks your language from day one.
Connect Your Tools
Connectors link Claude to external services so it can pull live data during sessions. Go to Settings -> Connectors and authenticate the tools your team uses — Google Drive, Slack, Notion, Salesforce-adjacent CRMs, etc.
Start with whatever you use most. For most beverage alcohol teams, that's Google Drive (where your depletion reports and pricing files probably live), Slack (where decisions get made), or your CRM.
Run Your First Task
Start a new Cowork session with your workspace folder selected. For your first task, verify your setup works:
If the output reflects your context files accurately, you're ready. Then try a real task, pick something you know how to do well, so you can judge the quality. Someting like:
The Walk-Crawl-Run Framework
Once you're set up, here's how to think about building organizational capability, from quick wins to strategic advantage.
Tribal Knowledge, Accessible to Everyone
Build skills that define your company's acronyms (POD, ACV, MACO, SPA, COGS), leadership groups, hr policies, leader bios, and standard processes.
Every new hire and every cross-functional partner now gets an always-available expert that speaks your dialect.
Time to value: days. Impact: immediate.
Consistent Outputs, Every Time
Encode your visual standards for presentations, your approved financial calculation methods, your preferred report formats. Build skills with your pricing waterfall methodology, your trade spend ROI formula, and your chain review deck template structure.
Now every output... every deck, every pricing model, every analysis, every email reflects how your company actually operates.
AI That Pulls in the Right Direction
Load your company's strategic priorities - the brands you're investing behind, the leverage you hope to achieve, the cost savings you need, the channels you're targeting, the accounts you need to win, the pricing architecture you're building. Now every email drafted, every proposal built, every presentation created is filtered through your organizational strategy.
If you doubt the value of CoWork read that paragraph again...
Safety - Please Read and Understand This
Cowork is powerful, and that power comes with real responsibility. A few non-negotiable safety practices:
- Use a dedicated workspace folder. Don't give Claude access to your entire hard drive.
- Keep backups. Claude can modify and delete files in any folder you share.
- Set guardrails in your global instructions. "Never delete files without my explicit confirmation" should be in every setup.
- Be cautious with web browsing. If Claude reads a malicious document or website, hidden instructions could alter its behavior. Stick to trusted sources.
- Keep the app open. Closing the desktop app kills the session mid-task with no recovery.
- Don't use for regulated workloads yet. Cowork activity isn't captured in audit logs or compliance exports. Treat it as a research preview for now.
First Week Action Plan
- Install the app and switch to Cowork mode.
- Create your workspace folder with context/, projects/, and outputs/ subfolders.
- Write your three context files (about-me, brand-voice, working-preferences).
- Set your global instructions.
- Install and customize one plugin relevant to your role.
- Run the verification prompt to confirm your setup.
- Complete one real task you'd normally spend 30+ minutes on.
The setup takes an afternoon. The compounding returns start immediately.