Use Claude Cowork to Prepare a Reviewable Project Handover Pack

What you will make

You will prepare a handover pack from three fictional project files: a status note, a task list, and a risk note. The pack will include a short brief, an owner checklist, and a source index. It will keep missing facts visible.

This is a documentation-based guide. Anthropic describes Claude Cowork as a multi-step knowledge-work experience that can work with files and produce formatted deliverables. The current experience is rolling out into one Claude home for some accounts, so your labels and controls may differ. The files and output below are illustrative. No Cowork run is claimed.

Before you start

You need a paid Claude plan with the relevant Cowork surface available, a disposable project folder, and permission to use its contents. Cowork can read and write files, so start with copies and do not connect sensitive apps for this exercise.

Create a folder named handover-demo with these files.

status.txt

Project: Atlas onboarding refresh
Status date: 2026-10-08
Completed: draft welcome email and first checklist
In progress: review the checklist with support
Blocked: final owner for the reporting step is not confirmed

tasks.txt

1. Support reviews the checklist. Target: 2026-10-12. Evidence: comments in the shared draft.
2. Operations confirms the reporting owner. Target: not stated.
3. Product checks the welcome email. Target: 2026-10-14. Evidence: approved copy.

risks.txt

Risk: the reporting step may be missed during the first customer handover.
Cause: no confirmed owner.
Mitigation: name an owner before the checklist is published.
Status: open.

The missing reporting owner and the absent target date are intentional.

Three steps

1. Ask Cowork to inspect and plan

Open Claude and choose the available Cowork or task experience. Add only the handover-demo folder through the approved file control. Paste this brief:

Prepare a project handover pack from the files in handover-demo.

Before changing any file, return:
- the files you found;
- the proposed output files;
- the facts that are missing or contradictory;
- the actions that would read or write files.

Do not use the browser, connectors, web search, or network. Do not delete, rename, or overwrite the input files. Do not invent an owner, date, status, approval, or completed result. Wait for my approval before writing output files.

If the surface offers Auto or another automatic approval mode, keep the task in a mode that lets you review actions. The exact controls vary by account.

2. Approve a bounded deliverable

After checking the plan, paste:

Create only these new files inside handover-demo:

1. handover-brief.md with project purpose, current status, completed work, in-progress work, blocked work, and open questions.
2. owner-checklist.md with one row for each task. Keep "not stated" when the source has no target or owner.
3. source-index.md with each source filename and the claims taken from it.

Use the source wording where possible. Mark every missing owner or date as OPEN. Do not modify the three input files. Do not browse, send messages, create calendar items, or connect an app. Stop after writing the three files and show their names.

Inspect the proposed changes and the file list before accepting them. Cowork’s ability to write files does not remove the need for review.

3. Check the handover pack

Use this review brief:

Review the three output files against the original input files.

Return PASS or CHECK for each claim. CHECK anything that is inferred, unsupported, or missing a source filename. Confirm that:
- the reporting owner remains OPEN;
- its target date remains not stated;
- the open risk and mitigation are preserved;
- no input file changed;
- no output says that the project is ready to publish.

Do not rewrite the files. Show the exact item that needs a human decision.

Open the files yourself before sharing the pack. A clean handover is not evidence that the project is ready.

Illustrative output

handover-brief.md should say that the reporting owner is OPEN and that the target date is not stated. owner-checklist.md should retain the 12 October and 14 October targets while leaving the second target open. source-index.md should point to status.txt, tasks.txt, and risks.txt.

This description is an editor-written expectation, not Cowork output.

Acceptance checks

The workflow passes when:

The three input files are unchanged.
Exactly the three named output files are created.
Every factual statement has a source filename.
The reporting owner and target date remain OPEN or not stated.
The risk and its mitigation appear in the handover brief.
No browser, connector, message, calendar action, or network step was used.
A reviewer can identify the next human decision from the pack.

If something goes wrong

Cowork cannot see the folder. Confirm that the folder was added through the current file control, then ask it to list the files before asking for a deliverable. Do not assume a missing list means the folder is empty.

Cowork edits an input. Stop the task, restore the disposable copy, and compare the input files with a saved baseline before continuing.

A missing owner is filled in. Ask for the source sentence. If none exists, restore OPEN and add it to the human decision list.

Cowork tries to browse or use a connector. Decline the action and repeat the no-browser, no-connector boundary. Untrusted documents and websites can contain instructions aimed at the agent.

Limits and privacy

Use copies and fictional material first. Keep browser access, connectors, and write permissions off unless the process owner has approved them. Anthropic warns that external content can contain prompt injection and that browser actions carry extra risk. Review every output before sharing or scheduling follow-up work.

Evidence label

Documentation-based guide with fictional files and an illustrative output. No Claude Cowork execution, file-change result, safety outcome, or measured benefit is claimed.