Cowork

Cowork and Claude Code are two modes of the same brain. They share everything in ~/.claude/ — agents, memory, settings, rules. The difference is posture.

Two Modes

Shared State

Both modes read and write to:

Handoff: Cowork → Code

When work starts in Cowork (planning, strategy, research):

1. Cowork produces a deliverable: plan, architecture, stories
2. Cowork creates GitHub issues for actionable items
3. Cowork writes to Dispatch/Cowork note
4. Code reads Cowork note at session start
5. Code picks up the issues and executes

Example

[Cowork session]
Abdout: "Plan the hogwarts notification system"
→ Research patterns, design architecture, write stories
→ Create issues: databayt/hogwarts#10, #11, #12
→ dispatch.sh cowork "Notification system planned. 3 issues created."

[Claude Code session]
Captain: reads Cowork note → sees plan → starts executing #10

Handoff: Code → Cowork

When Code finishes work that needs strategic review:

1. Code writes to Dispatch/Cowork
2. Code creates a GitHub issue if follow-up is needed
3. Cowork picks up in the next Desktop session

Cowork Use Cases

Ali (QA + Sales)

> "Summarize this week's hogwarts progress for pitch materials"
> "Draft proposal for King Fahad Schools — open source, sharing economy angle"
> "Research schools, sponsors, investors in Sudan/MENA"

Samia (R&D)

> "Translate these UI strings to Arabic"
> "Write help documentation for the admission module"
> "Research best practices for school notification systems"

Abdout (Planning)

> "Plan the notification system architecture"
> "Review the weekly revenue report"
> "Design the multi-tenant billing flow"

Session Start Protocol

Every Cowork Session

1. Check Dispatch/Cowork note for Code's output
2. Review GitHub issues for completed/blocked items
3. Plan next moves

Every Code Session

1. dispatch.sh read inbox — check Abdout's instructions
2. dispatch.sh read cowork — check for Cowork handoffs
3. gh issue list --state open — check work queue
4. Proceed with highest priority

The Key Insight

Cowork doesn't need to know how to code. Claude Code doesn't need to strategize. They share a brain through files, notes, and issues.

Abdout switches between them like switching between thinking and doing. Both are Captain — one thinks, one acts.