Anthropic merges memory between chat and Claude Cowork

Anthropic announced yesterday that it is consolidating the memory system that serves both the standard Chat product and Claude Cowork, a move that addresses a major frustration when working with AI agents: having to re-explain context the model already knows. From now on, what you have taught the model in a conversation will remain available when you execute a task in Cowork, without re-entering details such as number of participants, conference location or speaker list.

Continuous memory instead of reset at each transition

Until now, Chat and Cowork behaved as two separate products that shared a brand. Users who developed ideas over time in Chat had to start from scratch when they moved to the execution phase, restating all context. The change turns Claude into a single continuous assistant: memory is updated in real time during a conversation, not only at its end, making the shift from exploration to execution smoother.

Full control over stored content

Anthropic also now reveals what is stored in memory and allows users to read, edit or delete any topic. By default, the system blocks storage of sensitive information, including health data, race, ethnic origin, religious belief, political views, gender identity and similar categories. Users who still wish to retain such topics can enable a “include sensitive topics in memory” toggle, and the application will issue a warning each time a sensitive topic enters memory.

Strict red lines

There are categories that Claude will never store, regardless of settings: national ID numbers and social security numbers, criminal records, immigration status, and any data that violates the accepted use policy. These restrictions apply to all plans—Free, Pro and Max—as well as to browser, desktop and mobile versions. On iOS and Android, updating to the latest version is required to receive the feature.

Practical step toward a true agent

The update does not alter pricing or add new reasoning capabilities, but it removes daily friction that caused many users to abandon Cowork in favor of manual copy-and-paste. For users who spend hours each day in Claude, the difference is between a tool that remembers context and one that must be reminded of it repeatedly.