Anthropic has announced a built-in browser for Claude Cowork, giving the desktop version of its assistant a separate place to navigate websites, read pages and complete form-based work. The company says the feature is rolling out during the week of 26 August to Pro, Max and Team plans, while Enterprise administrators can enable and manage it immediately.
The change is significant because it separates two different kinds of computer-use task. Claude in Chrome remains intended for work on pages already open in a user’s personal browser, such as a CRM record, inbox or document. The new Cowork browser is intended for jobs that require a browser but do not require access to a user’s existing tabs, bookmarks or active sessions.
A browser owned by the assistant
In the Cowork desktop app, Claude can now open a browser panel alongside the task and carry out actions including navigation, reading, clicking and typing. Anthropic positions that setup for work such as collecting numbers from a dashboard, researching material for a report or working through a vendor portal with no dedicated connector.
That distinction matters for teams adopting browser agents. A shared browser can make it convenient to hand an agent an already-authenticated web task, but it also expands the information available to the agent. Anthropic says the Cowork browser is separate from the user’s own browser, so Claude does not automatically see personal tabs, bookmarks or passwords.
Users who need a site login can transfer credentials on a site-by-site basis from Chrome, Edge or Firefox on macOS, and from Firefox on Windows and Linux. Anthropic says banking, email and single-sign-on sites are excluded unless the user chooses to include them. This is a different boundary from a browser extension, where the agent is deliberately connected to the page and account context already open in the user’s browser.
Availability is plan and device dependent
The feature is being introduced to Claude’s desktop app on macOS, Windows and Linux, although Anthropic labels Linux support beta. The company says it will turn on by default once the rollout reaches a Pro, Max or Team user. Enterprise access is available now, with controls in the Cowork settings area for organisations.
Claude’s browser runs in the desktop application. A user can start a task from the web or a phone and have it drive the browser if the desktop app is open and online. Conversely, users working only in a web browser without the desktop app still need Claude in Chrome when they want to give Claude browser access.
For buyers, the announcement is less about a new model capability than a packaging decision around autonomy. Cowork can now be assigned web-based tasks without the user first installing an extension or sharing the contents of a personal browsing session. The practical benefit will depend on whether the target systems permit this kind of automated access and whether the organisation’s identity and data policies allow credentials to be imported.
Controls reduce risk without removing it
Anthropic explicitly warns that its built-in browser is exposed to the same prompt-injection risks as other agents that act on the web. A webpage can contain instructions designed to divert an assistant away from the user’s task, including instructions embedded in otherwise ordinary content. The company says the browser uses the action checks already used for Claude in Chrome, which assess proposed actions against the user’s request.
Those safeguards can reduce the chance that an agent follows hostile page content, but Anthropic says they cannot eliminate it. Its guidance is to begin with websites that users trust. That caveat is important: a separate browser improves isolation from a person’s normal browsing context, but it does not make an external website a trusted instruction source.
Teams considering the feature should distinguish between access control and task control. Site-by-site credential transfer and enterprise settings help constrain which systems the browser can reach. They do not by themselves prove that every action the agent proposes is appropriate for the underlying business process. High-impact workflows may still need confirmation points, constrained accounts and audit review.
How it fits alongside Claude in Chrome
Anthropic is keeping Claude in Chrome as the default for users who already use it. That product remains suited to work where the relevant page is already open and the user wants Claude to operate in that exact context. Cowork’s built-in browser is instead a separate workspace for delegated web work, and users can change the preferred option in Cowork settings.
The split gives organisations a clearer choice than treating browser access as one undifferentiated permission. A support team might use the built-in browser with a restricted vendor account to collect invoices, while an account manager may choose the extension only when updating a record in an already-open CRM session. The two approaches have different convenience, authentication and exposure trade-offs.
Anthropic’s announcement does not promise that the new browser will work with every website or remove the operational checks required for autonomous actions. It does, however, make browser use part of the Cowork desktop experience and places it closer to the company’s broader push towards agents that can carry out multi-step tasks. For Claude customers, the immediate question is not simply whether the feature is available, but which workloads are appropriate for a separate, managed browser session.