# Everything Workbench

CoWork OS is the GUI-first, CLI-capable local AI super app and everything app for everyday work. It is meant to cover more than office-style files: coding, terminal work, email, research, web design, documents, spreadsheets, decks, PDFs, agent spawning and management, automations, inbox work, channels, devices, skills, and long-running tasks all live in one governed workspace. The desktop app is the primary review and workbench surface; `cowork` adds a terminal entrypoint for starting local tasks against the same runtime.

The Everything Workbench is the proof point for that positioning: ask for an artifact, open it in-place, review or edit it, then ask the agent for follow-up changes without leaving the task. For everyday work, CoWork should be the app you reach for instead of a separate coding app, mail app, browser preview, Word processor, spreadsheet tool, or slide deck editor. External-open actions remain available when a specialized native app is still the better tool for advanced edge cases.

## Broader Positioning

Use CoWork OS as the app where personal agentic work starts and stays:

- code, review repositories, run local project tasks, and keep real terminal tabs beside the agent
- create reusable agents, spawn parallel work, and monitor agent runs from visual surfaces
- research, summarize, draft, and maintain knowledge
- design and revise web pages and frontend experiences
- create and work with Word-style documents, Excel-style spreadsheets, PowerPoint-style decks, PDFs, and local files
- automate recurring work across channels, connectors, devices, and schedules
- coordinate long-running personal or company operations with memory, skills, approvals, and runtime visibility

The artifact workbench strengthens this positioning because generated files become part of the same agentic loop instead of dead-end downloads.

## Core Model

The workbench model is shared across supported artifact types:

1. A task creates or updates a local file.
2. The task feed shows a compact artifact card instead of a plain file link.
3. The main **Open** action opens the artifact in a resizable right sidebar when an in-app surface is available.
4. The fullscreen button promotes the same artifact into a focused workspace.
5. The follow-up composer stays with the artifact so the user can request changes in context.
6. The preview refreshes after the follow-up finishes and the relevant file changes.
7. Dropdown actions still provide external app, browser, folder, and copy-path options.
8. Live websites can open in the Browser Workbench so interactive browser-use tasks happen beside the task instead of in a hidden or external browser.
9. Terminal tabs can open under the composer so direct CLI work happens in the same workspace as the task, artifacts, browser, approvals, and files.

This keeps the agent next to the work product. A spreadsheet can be selected and copied, a DOCX can be edited and saved, a deck can be reviewed slide by slide, a generated page can be opened in a sandboxed preview, and a PDF/LaTeX pair can be inspected from the same task surface.

## Supported Artifact Workspaces

- **Documents**: Word-style outputs render as document cards. DOCX opens directly in an editable sidebar/fullscreen document surface with Google Docs-style controls, save, copy, external-open, and follow-up refresh. Other Word-style formats use best-effort preview or external actions. See [Document Artifacts](document-artifacts.md).
- **Spreadsheets**: Excel workbooks and CSV/TSV files open in an editable sheet workbench with selection, row/column selection, copy, zoom, add row/column, save, and follow-up context. Native/app-owned spreadsheet formats keep card and external actions. See [Spreadsheet Artifacts](spreadsheet-artifacts.md).
- **Presentations**: PPTX decks open in a slide viewer with thumbnails, navigation, zoom, speaker notes, text-first loading, cached slide images, and follow-up refresh after requested edits. Legacy PowerPoint formats keep external actions. See [Presentation Artifacts and PPTX Preview](pptx-generation-and-preview.md).
- **Web pages**: Generated HTML/HTM files and built React output open in a sandboxed iframe preview with browser/folder/copy actions. Fullscreen mode supports follow-up edits and defers refresh until the updated output is ready. See [Web Page Artifacts](web-page-artifacts.md).
- **Live websites**: Browser-use tasks open a visible in-app Browser Workbench by default. The agent and user share the same right-sidebar/fullscreen Browser V2 webview, with navigation controls, desktop/tablet/mobile viewport testing, snapshot refs, diagnostics, downloads/uploads, screenshots, annotation, and visible cursor movement during actions. See [Browser Workbench](browser-workbench.md) and [Browser V2 Architecture](browser-v2-architecture.md).
- **Terminal tabs**: Direct CLI work opens in xterm.js + node-pty terminal tabs under the message box, with native macOS shell and Windows `cmd.exe` behavior, keyboard shortcuts, Tab completion, interactive prompts, resizing, and closeable tabs. See [Terminal Tabs](terminal-tabs.md).
- **PDF and LaTeX**: Source-first LaTeX workflows preserve the editable `.tex` file and pair it with the compiled PDF in one artifact workbench when a local TeX engine is available.
- **Uploaded PDFs**: PDF attachments are imported into `.cowork/uploads/...`, summarized into a compact attachment block, and read more deeply on demand with `parse_document`. The attachment block preserves the workspace-relative path, page count, extraction status, OCR/scan signals, and a short excerpt without inlining the full PDF into every prompt. Visual/layout PDF questions use `read_pdf_visual` instead.
- **Uploaded videos**: MP4, MOV, and WebM attachments are imported into `.cowork/uploads/...`, sampled into representative frames, and analyzed through image-capable model input. The extracted contact sheet and representative frame are stored under `.cowork/video-frames/...` and emitted as inline image artifacts in the task timeline. See [Video Attachments](video-attachments.md).
- **General previews**: The format-aware file preview popup remains available for files that do not have a dedicated artifact workbench.

## Positioning Boundary

Use CoWork OS as the default app for everyday generated knowledge work:

- draft and revise reports, memos, summaries, one-pagers, and DOCX files
- create and adjust spreadsheets, CSVs, tables, and lightweight workbook outputs
- review generated decks and request slide changes through follow-up prompts
- inspect generated HTML pages and built React output without leaving the task
- test live websites and local web apps in the in-app browser while watching the agent click, type, scroll, inspect the page, and validate responsive breakpoints
- run direct terminal sessions without leaving the task workspace
- keep the task timeline, artifact, and follow-up request in one context

Use external apps only when the work needs advanced native behavior:

- Excel pivot tables, complex charting, macros, and deep workbook modeling
- Word track changes, comments, embedded objects, and high-fidelity layout repair
- Keynote/PowerPoint direct slide authoring beyond review and agent-requested edits
- Pages, Numbers, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides native cloud behavior

The product promise is "one app for the everyday work most people currently split across coding tools, mail clients, browsers, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and chat." CoWork keeps specialized external-open paths for advanced native workflows, but the default loop is create, review, edit, test, and revise in one place with the agent beside the work.

## Related Docs

- [Features](features.md)
- [Getting Started](getting-started.md)
- [Document Artifacts](document-artifacts.md)
- [Spreadsheet Artifacts](spreadsheet-artifacts.md)
- [Presentation Artifacts and PPTX Preview](pptx-generation-and-preview.md)
- [Web Page Artifacts](web-page-artifacts.md)
- [Video Attachments](video-attachments.md)
- [Browser Workbench](browser-workbench.md)
- [Browser V2 Architecture](browser-v2-architecture.md)
- [Terminal Tabs](terminal-tabs.md)
