From assistant to automation partner
In the beginner’s guide, you got to know Claude as a file creator. In the intermediate guide, you learned to steer it with instructions and connectors. Now we go a step further: Claude becomes an autonomous partner that executes tasks — even when you’re not around.
Building your own skills
The built-in skills are powerful, but the real magic begins when you create your own. A skill is essentially a folder containing a SKILL.md file that gives Claude detailed instructions for a specific task.
Anatomy of a skill
A skill is nothing more than a folder with an instruction file:
📁 my-skills/
📁 newsletter-generator/
📄 SKILL.md
📁 invoice-checker/
📄 SKILL.md
📄 template.xlsx ← optional: reference files
The SKILL.md file contains everything Claude needs to know. Here’s a concrete example:
---
description: "Generate a monthly newsletter from provided items"
---
# Newsletter Generator
## When to use
Use this skill when the user asks to create,
write, or generate a newsletter.
## Style rules
- Write in English
- Tone: warm and personal, never corporate
- Short sentences and active verbs
- Maximum 800 words total
## Structure
1. **Subject line**: catchy, max 60 characters
2. **Opening**: 2 sentences that hook the reader
3. **Main article**: 200 words, with subheadings
4. **Two short items**: 100 words each
5. **Tip of the month**: practical and actionable
6. **Closing**: personal, with call-to-action
## Format
- Output as `.html` (for email clients)
- Inline CSS, no external stylesheets
- Responsive design for mobile
## Quality control
Before presenting the final result:
- Check all sections are present
- Count the words — no more than 800
- Ensure every link has descriptive text
- Proofread for spelling errors
Using the skill-creator
You don’t need to write skills manually. Cowork has a built-in skill-creator that helps:
Create a new skill that helps me generate
weekly team reports. The report should pull
data from Asana, summarise by project,
and highlight blockers.
Claude then walks you through the process step by step.
Scheduled Tasks: Claude on autopilot
This is where things get really interesting. With scheduled tasks, you can give Claude assignments that run automatically — daily, weekly, or at any time you choose.
How does it work?
A scheduled task has three elements: a prompt (what should Claude do?), a schedule (when?), and a trigger (automatic or manual?).
Examples of scheduled tasks
Daily news digest:
Create a scheduled task that every weekday at 8am
summarises the day's most important AI news.
Search the web for the latest developments
and create a brief overview (5 items, 2 sentences each).
Weekly project status:
Create a weekly task on Mondays at 9am that:
1. Fetches my open Asana tasks
2. Groups them by project
3. Flags tasks that are behind schedule
4. Generates a status overview as HTML
Monthly competitive check:
Create a monthly task on the 1st at 10am that:
1. Visits the websites of [competitor A] and [competitor B]
2. Identifies new features or pricing changes
3. Generates a comparative report
One-off tasks
Not everything needs to recur. You can also schedule one-time tasks:
Remind me tomorrow at 2pm to send the proposal to the client.
Plugins: ready-made extensions
Plugins are bundles of skills, connectors and tools that you can install all at once. They’re designed for specific workflows and domains.
What’s in a plugin?
A typical plugin combines skills (specialised instruction sets), connectors (links to external tools), and reference files (templates, examples, configuration).
Available plugin categories
Cowork offers plugins for various domains:
Data & Analytics — dataset exploration, analysis, visualisation and validation. SQL query writing, interactive dashboard building, statistical analyses.
Finance — month-end close management, journal entry preparation, account reconciliation, variance analysis, financial statement generation.
Legal — NDA screening, contract review, GDPR/CCPA compliance navigation, risk assessment, meeting briefings.
Marketing — content creation, campaign planning, competitive analysis, SEO audits, brand voice monitoring.
Product Management — feature spec writing, roadmap management, stakeholder communications, user research synthesis.
Sales — account research, call preparation, outreach drafting, competitive intelligence, daily briefings.
Customer Support — ticket triage, knowledge base articles, response drafting, research, escalation packaging.
Installing plugins
If you ask for something that requires a plugin, Claude automatically suggests installing the relevant one.
MCP Servers: the bridge to everything
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the technology behind connectors. In practice, you don’t need to worry about it — it works behind the scenes. But for power users, it’s good to know that MCP is the reason Claude can talk to Asana, Slack, Google Drive, and potentially any other service.
Discovering new connectors
If you ask Claude to do something with a service that doesn’t have an active connector, Claude automatically searches for an available one:
Can you check my Trello board?
If a Trello connector is available, Claude suggests activating it. If not, it looks for an alternative approach — for example, via the browser.
Advanced workflows
Multi-step automation
Combine everything you’ve learned for complex workflows:
Every Monday at 9am:
1. Fetch my Asana tasks for the week
2. Search Slack for messages that mention me
3. Check my calendar (if connected)
4. Create a prioritised weekly overview
5. Save it as HTML in my work folder
Templates as a starting point
Create templates that Claude can use as a base:
In my folder there's a file called "quote-template.docx".
Use it as the basis for a new quote for [client].
Fill in the variables based on this information: [details].
Building in quality control
Add verification steps to your workflows:
Write a report about [topic].
Before you finalise:
- Check all figures by recalculating them
- Verify all claims via a web search
- Reread the report for inconsistencies
- Give a self-assessment: what's strong, what could improve?
Best practices for power users
Document your workflows. When you find a good workflow, turn it into a skill. That way, you don’t have to explain it every time.
Build incrementally. Start simple and add complexity. A scheduled task that does one thing well every day is more valuable than one that half-heartedly attempts ten things.
Always review. Automation is powerful, but human oversight remains important. Schedule a review moment for anything that goes public or influences decisions.
Share what works. Skills and plugins can be shared with colleagues. If you’ve built a skill that works well, turn it into a plugin and share it with your team.
This guide was written with the help of Claude in Cowork — naturally.