From a Simple Add On to a Full Work Session

Anthropic turned the Claude Chrome extension into a space for full Claude Cowork sessions, according to the company's official announcement on August 12, 2026 confirmed by 9to5Mac, Engadget and The Decoder. Previously limited to one off interactions, the browser side panel now supports the same kind of work session that used to be restricted to the desktop app or Claude's web version.

Continuity Across Browser, Desktop and Mobile

Because sessions are now tied to the user's account rather than a single device, a task started in a Chrome tab can later be picked up in the desktop app, the web version, or on mobile, with conversation history preserved. According to Anthropic, this lets someone start a task in the browser during the workday and finish it later on a different device without losing accumulated context.

Skills and Connectors Now Working Directly in the Browser

For the first time, skills, plugins and custom connectors now work inside the browser with no additional setup, according to TechBriefly. One example cited by Anthropic itself: when putting together a budget spreadsheet that needs invoice data scattered across several vendor portals, a user can ask Claude, inside Chrome, to open the necessary tabs, read each invoice, and build the spreadsheet automatically.

A Gradual Rollout, Starting With the Higher Paid Tiers

The Claude Cowork Chrome side panel debuted first for Max and Team subscribers, with access expanding to Pro plan users over the weeks following launch. Enterprise accounts can also have the feature enabled, but it depends on manual activation by an account administrator, according to Engadget.

Why It Matters for Brazilian Agencies and SMBs

For teams that already research prices, collect vendor data, or fill out spreadsheets using multiple browser tabs, having an AI assistant operate directly in Chrome's side panel cuts the need to switch between different tools throughout the workday. At the same time, since the feature now reaches connectors and custom skills from within the browser itself, it is worth reviewing which integrations and internal system access permissions are enabled for each team member before expanding Cowork use into workflows that involve sensitive client data.