Course → 2.1 Connectors
Lesson 2.1 of the Free Claude Cowork Course · 20 minutes
Overview
Module 2 begins where the real leverage lives: your actual tools. Connectors let Cowork read your calendar, search your Slack, pull from Google Drive, and work with the systems your job already runs on — set up in minutes, with no code. Just as important, this lesson covers the permission model, so you connect deliberately instead of maximally.
What You’ll Do
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Connect one real tool (calendar or file storage is the easiest start)
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Run a task that crosses the boundary: connected data in, local file out
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Learn the permission model — what a connector can see and what it can’t
The Lesson
Say “start lesson 2.1”. You’ll pick one tool you use daily and walk through connecting it, then run the lesson’s cross-boundary task — for example: read tomorrow’s calendar and produce a prep document in your course folder. The lesson’s rule of thumb for what to connect: start with the tool that would save you the most time this week, add others only when a real task needs them. More connections aren’t better; the right connections are.
Try It Now
With your first connector live, brief Cowork on one task that was impossible last lesson — something that needs your real calendar, files, or messages. Keep the output local and review it as usual.
What’s Next
← Previous: 1.5 Agents and Parallel Work
Next: 2.2 Plugins and Skills →
New here? Download the full course free on GitHub.
Rolling this out for a whole team? See our live team training.
New here? Download the full course free on GitHub.