Research on the differences between the Code and Cowork tabs within Claude Desktop - two agentic modes that serve different purposes within the same application.

Documents

DocumentDescription
Claude Code vs Cowork ComparisonDetailed comparison of the Code and Cowork tabs in Claude Desktop

Key Finding

Claude Desktop has three tabs: Chat, Code, and Cowork. Both Code and Cowork are agentic modes that share the same underlying architecture (AI model, virtualization sandbox, permission model). Code is designed for software development with full terminal access, while Cowork is designed for knowledge work and file management with a user-friendly GUI. You cannot switch between them mid-conversation.