What this is, and what you'll have.
Claude is an AI assistant, like ChatGPT. Cowork is the grown-up version of it: instead of just answering questions in a chat box, it opens your files, does real multi-step work, and runs on a schedule while you're packing orders. This is your plain-English reference for setting it up. Use it before you start, during setup, and every time you get stuck.
The four levels of AI
Where you are now, and the one rung almost nobody has climbed to.
Open → 03 · LearnThe four words
The whole Cowork vocabulary, in store terms. No jargon.
Open → 06 · Install10-minute setup
Download, connect Drive and Gmail, run your first test prompt.
Open → 07 · ExecuteRun three tasks
Small wins that show Cowork actually doing real work.
Open → 08 · ScaleUse cases
Nine real plays, ranked by impact. Start with three this week.
Open → 12 · DecideNext 48 hours
Three things to do now, plus the builds we handle for you.
Open →Write down every task that ate your day.
Every "where's my order?" you answer twice. Every "do you have this in medium?" Every product description you write from scratch. Every thing you re-explain to a new VA. Every report you build by hand. Keep the list nearby. It's your shortlist for what to automate first.
Hours on back-office admin
Most owners are stuck on the bottom rung.
There are four ways to use Claude. Each one does more of the work for you. Cowork is the top, and it's the one almost nobody has climbed to yet.
Copy-paste
You ask Claude to write a product description. You copy it, paste it into Shopify. Useful, but you're still doing all the moving.
Your store, remembered
You set up a Project (a saved workspace inside Claude) and tell it your brand, your products, your voice, once. Now the output sounds like your brand, not a generic bot.
Thinking partner
You bring a problem, a stalled launch, a brutal review, a jump in ad costs. Claude brings questions, options, and a plan. You decide together.
Cowork, it does the work
Claude opens your Drive, reads your files, answers the support tickets, drafts the supplier reorders, replies to the reviews, writes the product listings, and saves it all to the right folder, on a schedule, while you're shipping orders.
Rule Think it through in chat. Build it in Cowork. The rest of this guide gets you to Level 4.
The Cowork vocabulary, in store terms.
You don't need to be technical. You need four words. Each one hands Cowork more of your world, from a single connection to a whole crew that already knows the job.
Built-in bridges to the tools you already use. Set them up once in Settings → Connectors and sign in once to give permission. From then on Cowork can read those files and add to them for you, only what you point it at.
The custom phone line. MCP (short for Model Context Protocol) is how you connect the tools that don't have an official connector yet, your store platform, your help desk, your ad accounts. A bit more technical, and you can skip it on day one. You won't need it for your first wins.
Pre-written instruction sets for one specific job. When Cowork sees a matching task, it loads the skill automatically. Some are built in; the best ones you build yourself.
Bundles of skills and connectors packaged around one job. Install one and get a whole set of ready-made helpers at once, nothing to wire up.
Chat vs Cowork, when to use which.
This is the most important call you'll make every day. It decides your speed, your output quality, and how much of your monthly usage budget you burn through.
- Questions, ideas, and back-and-forth
- One topic at a time
- You upload the files yourself
- Answers stay in the chat window
- Barely touches your budget, so it's cheap
- Multi-step tasks, executed start to finish
- Reads and writes your Drive, Gmail, calendar
- Saves files directly to the right folder
- Runs on a schedule while you're packing orders
- Uses more of your budget, save it for real work
The rule I live by.
Think it through in chat. Build it in Cowork.
When you have a new workflow in mind ("I want a weekly content system"), open chat first and go back and forth until you know exactly what you want. Then switch to Cowork and hand it the finished job: "Build this. Pull from my Product Ideas doc. Save to my Social folder." Jump straight to Cowork with a half-formed idea and you'll waste money on the meter (the usage cap you set in Setup) and get sloppy output. Chat is for thinking. Cowork is for doing.
Every good prompt has four pieces.
Getting generic answers? One of these is missing. You're not searching Google, you're briefing a new team member on their first day.
Who to be
Claude is a generalist until you give it a job. Then the answers get sharp.
Your world
Claude has zero memory in a new chat. Context turns generic into yours.
What "done" looks like
Length, structure, how many versions. Don't say it and Claude decides, usually wrong.
How it sounds
What makes it sound like you wrote it, not a robot. And what to avoid.
Act as the email marketing manager for my direct-to-consumer skincare brand. We sell a simple 4-product routine to women 28-45 who care about clean ingredients and real results, not hype; repeat customers are our lifeblood, and we're not a luxury brand or a discount brand. Write 3 subject line options and a short launch email for our new night cream, under 150 words, ending with one clear call to action. Warm and honest, like a founder who actually uses the product, not salesy, not corporate.
Truth Short prompts equal generic answers. Every. Single. Time. The more context you give, the better the output.
A Cowork prompt is an assignment, not a question.
You're not asking, you're handing off a task. Every Cowork prompt needs four things. Miss one and Cowork guesses.
Where's the input?
Folder name, doc title, date range. “Emails from the last 7 days.” Vague sources → vague results.
What to do
One clear action. Two tasks? Two prompts. “Draft a reply to each return request.”
What it looks like
Bullets, a table, a Google Doc? Say it, or Claude picks, sometimes badly.
Where it goes
Save to a folder, send as a draft, paste here. Be exact.
Money & usage.
Set this up before you experiment. You will not accidentally rack up a giant bill, and here's exactly how to make sure.
A single store running daily support triage, reviews, and weekly campaigns rarely comes close to a $50 cap after the first month. You can raise it any time.
Set yours in 2 minutes.
Open Settings in Claude Desktop
Gear icon, bottom left.
Click Usage
You'll see current spend, your cap, and auto-reload settings.
Set your monthly cap
Starter recommendation: $50 to $100 while you learn. Raise it any time. Hit the cap and Claude just stops. No overages, ever.
Turn on email notifications
So you see every top-up. Keeps you fully in control.
Three rules Use chat (not Cowork) for anything conversational. Start new chats instead of running one forever. If you could have answered it with a Google search, you don't need Cowork for it.
Ten minutes, start to finish.
Don't move to step two until step one is done. If a step errors, check the FAQ before you panic.
- 1Claude Desktop: one app you install on your computer. That is the whole thing.
- 2Cowork: a tab inside that app. It is the mode that does the work.
- 3Claude in Chrome: a free browser add-on (install once) that lets Cowork use websites that don't connect directly, like your Google reviews.
- ✓A Mac, or a Windows PC on the Pro version (not Home). Not sure? Search "about your PC" and look at the edition.
- ✓A Claude Pro plan (the right one for most single stores), plus a monthly usage amount you set a limit on.
- $Roughly $20/mo for Pro, plus a $50 to $100 usage cap you set while you learn. Hit the cap and it just stops. No surprise bills.
Download Claude Desktop
Search Claude download desktop app and click the official result from Anthropic (the company that makes Claude). Install it like any app.
Switch to the Cowork tab, then set your budget
Open Settings and switch to the Cowork tab. Then, under Settings → Usage, set a monthly spending cap of $50 to $100 while you learn, raise it anytime. Hit the cap and Claude just stops. No overages, ever.
Connect your three starters
In Settings → Connectors, connect Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Calendar. Sign in to each once. Turn on email notifications while you're there.
Point it at your Drive, not your Desktop
Point Cowork at your Google Drive folder on this computer, the one that syncs online (no folder like that? Install "Google Drive for desktop" first and it creates one). Not Downloads. Not Desktop. That folder is its workspace.
Run your first test
Type this in the Cowork box:
Go into my Google Drive and tell me the names of the 5 most recently modified files.
Real file names come back? You're live. If it errors, go back to Connectors and sign in to Google Drive again.
Keep customer and payment data out of it.
Never point Cowork at card numbers, full customer payment records, or employee SSNs. That data stays in Shopify and Stripe, full stop. It's a hard privacy and card-security line you never cross.
Use Cowork for the other 90%: support replies, marketing, listings, supplier work, reviews, onboarding, and admin. When you pull sales or order reports, pull the numbers, never the raw card data.
Pick one. Run it today.
Three small wins that show Cowork doing real work. Do one, look at the output, and you'll get it. Always have Cowork show you a draft before it sends anything.
Your morning plan
A short brief of what's on today and what to watch, before you open the laptop.
Check my Google Calendar for today. List everything scheduled (launches, restock deadlines, meetings, ad reviews). Then give me 3 priorities for the day. Keep it short. Send it here, no doc needed.
A spec doc into product copy
Turn a product spec doc you already have into ready-to-paste listings.
Open [doc name] in my Google Drive. Read it. Pull the 5 products a customer would care about most and write a short, benefit-led product description for each (under 80 words), plus one Instagram caption idea per product.
Label the chaos
One pass over your inbox so every email lands where it belongs.
Go through the last 7 days of my Gmail inbox. For every email, apply the right label: Support, Orders, Returns, Suppliers, Finance, Read Later. When done, tell me the count per label and flag any you were unsure about.
Use cases, answered.
Each play is a real, running workflow. Expand it for what you need first and the exact words to paste into Cowork, then adjust the folder names. Start with the first three this week.
One command Some prompts start with /schedule daily 9:00am. That's a real command you type. It tells Cowork to run the task on its own at that time. Put it on the first line, then write your task on the lines below.
dailyThe support inbox that sorts & answers itself
Labels every new message and drafts replies to the ones that need you.
- Before you schedule it
- Gmail connected, plus Claude in Chrome for the labeling pass
- Your labels created: Support, Orders, Returns, Suppliers, Finance, Read Later
- An “AI Workspace” folder in Drive for the daily summary
/schedule daily 9:00am Use Claude in Chrome to open Gmail. Check all unread emails from the past 24 hours. For each one: 1. Read the sender, subject, and first lines. 2. Apply the right label (Support, Orders, Returns, Suppliers, Finance, Read Later). 3. If it needs a personal reply, a 'where's my order', a return or exchange, a product question, a supplier issue, draft a reply in my voice, under 200 words. Save as draft. Do not send. Then save a summary 'Inbox Summary [today's date]' in my AI Workspace folder: who each draft is for, one line each, and anything flagged for me.
dailyThe morning orders brief
Yesterday's sales, orders that need you, and low-stock, before you open the laptop.
- Before you schedule it
- Claude in Chrome, logged into your Shopify admin
- Optional: your Google Calendar connected for launches and restock deadlines
/schedule daily 8:00am Use Claude in Chrome to open my Shopify admin. Give me a short morning brief: yesterday's total sales and order count vs the day before, any orders that need attention (on hold, high-value, failed payment, or an address that looks off), any product now low or out of stock, and any refund or chargeback waiting on me. Then give me the 3 things to handle first today. Keep it short. Send it here.
weeklyThe review desk
Reads the week's new reviews and drafts a reply to every one, in your voice.
- Before you schedule it
- Claude in Chrome, logged into your reviews (Shopify product reviews, Trustpilot, or Amazon)
- Your Brand Guardian skill set up so replies sound like you (it's in "The AI team" section, it's what keeps everything in your voice)
/schedule weekly Monday 10:00am Use Claude in Chrome to open my product reviews. Read every new review from the past 7 days and draft a reply in my voice for each (save as draft): - Positive: warm, specific thanks that names the product, invites them back for the next drop. Under 60 words. - 3-star or lower: gracious, takes ownership, offers to make it right, moves it to email. Never argue. Flag anything about a safety issue, an allergic reaction, or a product defect for me personally. Save a 'Reviews [week of date]' summary in my AI Workspace folder.
weeklyThe campaign + content engine
Writes the week's email campaign and 5 captions in your voice, Sunday night.
- Before you schedule it
- Google Drive connected · your Brand Guardian skill set up first (see "The AI team" section)
- A “Campaign Ideas” doc in Drive, dump 20+ products, angles, and promos you've been sitting on
- A “Marketing Content” folder for the output
/schedule weekly Sunday 7:00pm Open my 'Campaign Ideas' doc in Google Drive. Use the next idea (mark it used). With my Brand Guardian skill, write this week's campaign: (1) 3 email subject lines and a short campaign email (under 200 words) with one clear call to action, and (2) 5 social captions in my voice (under 150 words each) with a suggested posting day. Save as 'Week of [next Monday] Content' in my Marketing Content folder.
weeklyThe supplier reorder draft
Turns your reorder points into ready-to-send purchase orders for each supplier.
- Before you schedule it
- A “Reorder Points” doc in Drive: each SKU, its reorder point, its target, and this week's stock on hand
- A supplier list with who supplies what and their order email
- Gmail connected for the drafts
Open my 'Reorder Points' and 'Suppliers' docs in Google Drive. For every SKU at or below its reorder point, calculate the quantity to order back up to target and group by supplier. For each supplier, draft a separate itemized purchase-order email in Gmail addressed to their order contact. Save as drafts, do not send. List what you drafted and anything ambiguous.
weeklyThe SOP sweep
Flags any checklist or SOP that's gone stale, so your systems don't rot.
- Before you schedule it
- All your SOPs in one clearly-named Drive folder, fulfillment, returns, customer support, packing, restocking
/schedule weekly Friday 3:00pm Go to my SOPs folder in Google Drive. Identify any document not modified in 90+ days. List them with a one-line note on what likely needs a refresh. Save as 'SOP Review [date]' in my AI Workspace folder.
on demandThe VA onboarding manual
Reads every SOP and builds a 30/60/90 plan for a new support VA or ops hire.
- Before you run it
- Your SOPs, role descriptions, and training docs in one Drive folder
- An “HR” folder for the output
Go to my SOPs folder in Google Drive. Read every doc on customer support and order fulfillment. Build a 30/60/90-day onboarding plan for a new support VA (Week 1, Month 1, Month 3): what they should know, what they can do alone, how I'll know they're on track. Include a first-week checklist with a day-by-day focus (product catalog, tone of voice, Shopify admin, returns policy, when to escalate). Save as 'Support VA Onboarding Manual [date]' in my HR folder.
on demandThe wholesale inquiry builder
Turns a wholesale or B2B inquiry + your line sheet into a tailored quote.
- Before you run it
- A “Wholesale” folder with your line sheet, wholesale pricing, MOQs, and terms
- The inquiry email in Gmail (or paste it in)
Read the wholesale inquiry from [name] in my Gmail. Open my Wholesale folder for our line sheet, pricing, MOQs, and terms. Draft a warm reply: restate what they're after (products, rough quantity, their store), recommend the best-fit assortment, give per-unit wholesale pricing and the MOQ, state lead time and terms, end with one next step to place the order. My voice. Save as a Gmail draft and a copy in my Wholesale folder.
on demandRepurpose the launch
Turns one launch, podcast, or batch of reviews into weeks of content.
- Before you run it
- A transcript, notes, or source doc in a Drive folder (a product launch brief, a podcast you did, a founder Q&A, or a batch of five-star reviews)
Go to my Content Source folder in Google Drive and read the most recent transcript or notes. Pull the 10 most compelling moments (a product story, a customer transformation, the founder's why). For each: the insight in 1-2 sentences + an Instagram caption in my voice (under 150 words, ends with a question). Then draft 3 product-page FAQ answers from what customers asked. Save as 'Content Bank [date]' in my Marketing Content folder.
Looking at all this and thinking “not this week”? We'll wire it up for you. Free 20-minute plan first, yours to keep, no pitch.
Book a free call →What to schedule, and when.
Set the schedules once. Then the work shows up done, in your Drive, in your drafts, before you sit down.
Runs before you open
- Support triage, drafts replies to WISMO, returns, and product questions
- Morning orders brief pulled from Shopify
- Review watch, flags any new product review
- Inbox organizer, labels every new email
Runs around your rhythm
- Sunday 7pm, next week's campaign + social captions
- Monday 8am, the weekly sales recap
- Friday 3pm, SOP sweep + end-of-week catch-up
Runs at the top of each month
- P&L snapshot from Shopify and Stripe
- Supplier price-creep report
- Best-seller and restock review
Run these when you need them
- A wholesale quote for a new inquiry
- A new-VA onboarding plan
- A product-launch recap
Rather not set all these schedules yourself? We wire the whole cadence for you. Free 20-minute plan first, yours to keep.
Book a free call →The AI employees behind a modern store.
Every one of these is an automated skill or workflow that replaces hours of human work. You can build your own version of each, or have us build the whole crew.
The Chief of Staff
Sweeps the last 48 hours across your inbox, orders, reviews, and sales. Hands you one prioritized rundown so you start the day already knowing what needs you.
The Support Lead
Drafts replies to every WISMO, return, and product question in your voice. You skim and approve. Your inbox stops running your morning.
The Brand Guardian
Writes every post, email, and product description in your voice, holds your do's and never-says. The one skill everything else runs through.
The Review Responder
Replies to every new product review, warm to the good, calm and fixing-it to the bad. Nothing posts without your nod.
The Supplier Desk
Reads your stock levels, drafts the purchase orders, watches for price creep across suppliers. You review and send.
The CFO
Pulls a monthly financial picture from Shopify and Stripe, revenue, margin, and ad spend, so you see the trend before it becomes a problem.
The Brand Monitor
Scans what competing brands are posting and what's trending, so you're never caught flat-footed on your own feed.
The HR Director
Builds onboarding plans and first-week checklists for new VAs and hires from your own SOPs. An HR manager for an afternoon.
Start with three: Chief of Staff, Support Lead, and the Brand Guardian. That alone gives most owners back 10+ hours a week. Everything else layers in as you grow.
Want the whole crew wired up for you? We build your store's set of skills, connected and scheduled, in about a week.
Book a call →The questions every owner has.
Your next 48 hours.
Three specific things to do before the next rush. Do these and you're already ahead of almost everyone who read this.
Complete in order.
Install Cowork + set your budget
Download the desktop app, sign in, connect Drive, Gmail, and Calendar, set your monthly cap at $50 to $100, turn on email alerts. Run the confirmation test prompt.
Do the 5-minute exercise
Write down every task you do in a typical day. That list is your shortlist for what to automate first.
Run one of the three starter tasks
Your morning orders brief, a doc into product ideas, or the inbox cleanup. Pick one, run it, look at the output.
The things this guide doesn't cover.
The guide gets you self-sufficient on the everyday wins. These are the higher-leverage builds most owners want next, and they're the parts where doing it yourself quietly breaks or eats a weekend:
- A review-response agent that replies to every new review across Amazon, Google, and Trustpilot, in your voice, on autopilot.
- A full brand and voice system so every post, email, reply, and product description sounds unmistakably like your store.
- End-to-end automations that run a whole workflow start to finish, not just draft it.
- Your Shopify, help desk, and ShipStation wired in through custom connections.
- Multi-channel rollouts across your store, wholesale, and marketplaces.
- A quarterly tune-up as your catalog, promos, and season change.
Which one are you? Do it yourself if you've got an evening and like tinkering. Book a call if you'd rather it just be wired up and working this week.
We find the one automation that pays for itself, then wire the rest: the connections, your store's set of skills, the schedules. You show up, review, approve.
- A free 20-minute call with Andres (the founder, not a salesperson). We map the three tasks that eat your week, name the first one to automate, and write you a plain 1-page plan.
- The plan is yours to keep, even if we never work together. No pitch on the call.
- Straight pricing. Most first builds are a one-time flat fee, plus your Claude subscription. You get the exact number on the call.
- You stay the owner. We work inside your own accounts, access revocable in one click, and we never touch your customer or payment data.
- Fix-it-or-refund. If your first automation isn't clearly saving you time in 30 days, we fix it or refund the build.
Not ready to talk? Email us the 3 tasks that eat your week and we'll reply with which one we'd automate first and roughly what it'd cost, no call needed.