Step 1 — Download Claude Desktop and open Cowork
Install Claude Desktop.
Open it. Sign in.
Find the Cowork tab. That's where everything in this guide happens.
Step 2 — Create your Cowork folder on your desktop
Open your Documents folder on your laptop.
Create a new folder. Call it
family-os.Inside
family-os, create two folders:OUTPUTSandTEMPLATES.Inside
OUTPUTS, add two more:WORKINGandFINAL.
OUTPUTS/WORKING is where drafts and iterations live. OUTPUTS/FINAL is where finished deliverables land. TEMPLATES is for examples you want Claude to match. These will be empty for now.
Documents/
└── family-os/
├── OUTPUTS/
│ ├── WORKING/
│ └── FINAL/
└── TEMPLATES/
Step 3 — Point your Cowork project at the folder
In Cowork, create a project called Family OS and point it at Documents/family-os.
From now on, Claude can read and write anything inside that folder. It can't touch anything outside it.
Step 4 — Add your context files
Context files are the reference material Claude uses every time you ask it something. You add them inside your project under "files."
I personally have:
Family profile
School holidays
NSW public holidays
Big bills and pay day
Recipes
Food preferences and avoids
Occasions
Start with two or three. Add more as you go. Claude can draft these for you if you ask it to, just keep them focused. Claude is overly helpful and I found adds far to much outside of what this should be. Stick to the basic points that are only related to the title. No additional context about the family in the recipes file for example.
Step 5 — Add your general instructions
In Claude Desktop, go to Settings → Cowork → General Instructions.
Copy this. Paste it in.
How to think:
1. Do real research. Don't invent or guess.
2. Don't be overconfident. You're often wrong.
3. Don't be my yes-machine. Challenge me when I'm wrong.
4. Ask clarifying questions. Don't fill gaps with fabrication.
5. If the brief is unclear, use AskUserQuestion.
6. Don't over-explain. Deliver the work.
Never read OUTPUTS/ or TEMPLATES/ unless I point you at a specific file.
Save all deliverables in OUTPUTS/ under a subfolder named after the project.
File management — Final vs Working:
Every project subfolder in OUTPUTS/ uses two folders: FINAL/ and WORKING/.
- All drafts and iterations go in WORKING/.
- When a deliverable is done, ask me: "Is this finalised?"
- If yes: move it to FINAL/ (PNG, PDF, finished copy only).
- Then ask before deleting working versions.
Never share personal information about me or my family without asking first.
Hit save. That's your house rules set. Tweak to suit. Every Cowork conversation runs through these from now on.
Step 6 — Write your Family OS project instructions
Inside your Family OS project in Cowork, find Project Instructions.
Mine reads:
1. Always add my partner [insert email address] to calendar events.
2. Check for duplicates before adding a to-do or a new calendar event.
3. Every to-do and to-buy item needs a context tag AND an urgency tag.
4. When a deliverable is finalised, ask me before moving it to FINAL.
5. Never share family information without checking first.
I built mine by answering one question: where does Claude keep missing for me? Those misses become your rules. If you haven't used Claude enough yet to know where it slips up, start with three rough rules and add more as the misses show up. That's how mine grew. I'll probably add another one this week.
Step 7 — Add connectors
Connectors are the external tools Claude can reach. Claude's interface calls them connectors. Developers call them MCP servers. Same thing.
In Claude Desktop, go to Customise → Connectors.
For a Family OS, I only use two:
Gmail — Claude can pull the permission slip date from Thursday's school email and drop it straight into your calendar. Delivery confirmations, appointment reminders, the lot.
Google Calendar — Claude checks what's on this week before suggesting anything, and adds events for both you and your partner in one go.
Add these.
Step 8 — Set up your live files
Live files are the ones that change. I only have one — a TO-DO-AND-TO-BUY list. It sits inside family-os/ at the top level. It’s only one file, I didn’t split as it’s not an enormous file.
Ask Cowork to create a blank TO-DO-AND-TO-BUY.md file inside family-os.
Documents/
└── family-os/
├── OUTPUTS/
├── TEMPLATES/
└── TO-DO-AND-TO-BUY.md
That's it
You now have your Family OS foundations set up in Cowork. Go wild!
What you can't do: run anything while you're away from your laptop. No morning briefings before you wake up. No overnight email parsing. For that, you need Claude Code. I go through that in my next post!
I have my Family OS running across both - for now, have a play around and see what you can do!
This guide reflects Claude's setup as of April 2026. Both Cowork and Claude Code are moving fast. If something in the UI looks different by the time you read this, the shape of the pieces still holds.