Anthropic has flipped the default for Claude Cowork. New tasks now run only in the cloud for Pro and Max users, and the "Only on your computer" setting has been removed, according to Anthropic's help center. Tasks that need local files still reach them through the desktop app, but the session itself runs on Anthropic's servers.

This is the culmination of a fast evolution: cloud sessions arrived July 7, a built-in browser for Cowork landed August 26, and on September 16 Anthropic merged chat and Cowork into a single interface for Pro and Max. Scheduled tasks now run on their cadence even when the computer is asleep or the desktop app is closed, which turns Cowork from a local agent into a genuinely always-on one.

The tradeoffs matter: browser traffic goes out from the machine running the desktop app, and local-file access still requires the app open — Anthropic only reaches folders the user connects. For a market newly obsessed with agent autonomy, cloud-by-default is the infrastructure move that makes Cowork's promises real.