Cowork vs Routines: when to use which

Complete Combining Computer Use and scheduled tasks first; this lesson builds on having seen Cowork operate software on a schedule, so you can weigh it against the repository-based Routines you learned earlier and choose between them.

As a non-developer, your hands-off automation lives in Cowork: it is the no-code path for everyday chores, and you never touch a code project. Routines are the developer-adjacent option, tied to a folder of code. So the very first question is not which app, it is whether a code project sits at the center of the task.

A Routine is a Claude Code feature built around a repository (the folder of files that make up a software project), which it reads, updates, and reports on every run. A Cowork scheduled task needs no repository at all; it handles summaries, digests, and reports.

Routines themselves come in two flavors, so you can recognize them: a cloud Routine runs on Anthropic's servers and fires even when your laptop is off, while a local one runs on your own machine. Both are still folder-based developer work, so both stay on the Routine side of the line.

Here is the before and after: Keeping a software project's documentation current every Friday is a Routine, because the task lives inside a code repository. A weekly summary of your Google Calendar is NOT a Routine, even though Calendar has a Connector, because no code project is involved, so it belongs on a Cowork scheduled task.

Now try it: list the recurring tasks you would automate and ask the repository question for each. A code project at the center routes to a Routine; no repository means a Cowork scheduled task, where you then check whether its tool has a Connector (read directly) or only a screen (add Computer Use).

Ask "is there a code repository?" first, because a code project means a Routine and no code project means Cowork, where you then ask "Connector or screen?"

Help me decide, for each of my recurring automations, whether to build it as a Claude Code Routine or a Desktop Cowork scheduled task.

The first question I want to apply: is the task built around a code repository (a software project Claude would work inside)? If yes, it is a Routine. If no, it is a no-code chore and belongs on a Cowork scheduled task. Only for the Cowork ones, ask a second question: does its tool have a Connector (read directly) or only a screen (add Computer Use)?

Here are four things I want to automate:
1. A Monday summary of my Google Calendar for the week
2. A weekly documentation update for my team's code project after the week's merged changes
3. A daily digest of new files added to my Google Drive
4. A weekly status pulled from an old internal portal that has no download button and no Connector

For each one:
- First say whether a code repository is at the center of the task.
- Choose "Routine" or "Cowork scheduled task" and explain why in one sentence using the repository question.
- For the Cowork ones, then say whether its tool has a Connector (so Claude reads it directly) or only a screen (so Cowork adds Computer Use), and note that screen-only automation needs more supervision.

What good looks like

• Item 2 is routed to a Routine because it is built around a code repository
• Items 1, 3, and 4 are routed to Cowork scheduled tasks because none involve a code repository, even though Calendar and Drive have Connectors
• Each choice is justified by the repository question first, not by whether a Connector exists
• For the Cowork items, Claude adds the second split: Calendar and Drive read through a Connector, the screen-only portal needs Computer Use
• The reasoning would let you route a fifth task on your own