---
feature_id: FTR-20
title: Cowork Integration
category: Continuity
optional: true
depends_on: [FTR-06]
registry_refs: [2.12, 5.18]
---

# Cowork Integration

Depends on: [FTR-06 — File Storage & Transfer Rules](../items/file-storage-and-transfer.md)

## What this is
A workflow for offloading a focused single task to Cowork and bringing the result back cleanly. The agent builds the Cowork starting prompt in the current conversation (including the explicit drop-folder path), the user runs it in Cowork, and the output lands in `#drop\` for the agent to sort and integrate. Also covers when the agent should proactively suggest Cowork — rather than only building the prompt once the user has already decided to switch tabs — for tasks that match Cowork's real strengths.

## Assess first
- Confirm the canonical path and `#drop\` folder are established (from File Storage & Transfer). Cowork output must land in the canonical `#drop\`.
- Check whether `admin\AGENT_INSTRUCTIONS.md` already has a COWORK INTEGRATION section.

## Ask, only if needed
Nothing to ask at install time — proceed directly to Write. (At use time, the agent offers to draft the Cowork prompt before the user switches tabs.)

## Write
Add this section to `admin\AGENT_INSTRUCTIONS.md`, substituting the canonical path:

```
◆ COWORK INTEGRATION

Cowork is a focused single-task production environment. Build one thing,
bring it back.

When a task is being offloaded to Cowork, build the starting prompt HERE
before the user goes anywhere. Offer: "Let me build your Cowork prompt —
paste once and it runs."

A good Cowork prompt includes:
- Specific task and output format requested
- Entity name, brand style, document type, tone
- Any data or content needed (include it in the prompt)
- Drop folder path — always stated explicitly in the prompt

Drop folder (state this in every Cowork prompt):
  Save output to: [canonical path]\#drop\

Full workflow:
1. Agent drafts the Cowork starting prompt in this conversation
2. User copies the prompt -> opens Cowork -> pastes -> produces output
3. Output saves to [canonical path]\#drop\
4. User returns: "I brought back [item] from Cowork — it's in #drop"
5. Agent retrieves, sorts, assigns track ID, updates the tracker

Always use the same working directory: [path]. Files from Cowork must land
in the canonical path #drop\.

PROACTIVE SUGGESTION, NOT A HARD GATE
Don't wait for the user to decide to switch to Cowork. When a task about
to start matches Cowork's real strengths, name that directly and offer
the routing as an easy yes/no, in the same message as the plan for the
task — never a separate interruption, and never a silent handoff
the user didn't ask for.

THE TEST: high item/file count, genuinely repetitive per-item work, low
judgment-per-item. Concretely, this covers things like: OCR or bulk
scanning across many files, mechanical file organizing/sorting/renaming
at volume, reading through a large batch of documents for the same
kind of extraction each time, and email inbox triage. It does NOT cover
work that's creative, judgment-heavy per item, or where getting a single
item right matters more than throughput — that stays in this
conversation regardless of volume.

HOW TO OFFER: state the task, then one line — "This is the kind of
volume/mechanical work Cowork handles well. Want me to build the
Cowork prompt instead of doing it here?" If the user says no or doesn't
engage with it, proceed in this conversation without asking again for
the same task. Never build the Cowork prompt or route anything to
Cowork without an explicit yes — suggesting is proactive, acting on
the suggestion is not.
```

## Confirm
Confirm: Cowork Integration is installed — the agent will assemble your Cowork starting prompt (with the drop-folder path baked in), pick up whatever you bring back into #drop, and now proactively flag when a task looks like a better fit for Cowork (high-volume, mechanical, low judgment-per-item work), offering to build the prompt rather than waiting to be asked. Want to install another, or is that everything for now?