Claude logo, the orange starburst symbol with the Claude wordmark, illustrating a guide to Unified Claude in Claude Desktop

Unified Claude: Power-User Guide to Claude Desktop’s New Default

by

Unified Claude merges Chat and Cowork into one home screen in Claude Desktop on third-party platforms. From 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time on November 10, 2026, it is on by default wherever the desktopHome key is unset, and Cowork turns on even if you had disabled it.

Last updated: November 10, 2026

Table of contents

What changed on November 10

Claude Desktop on third-party platforms (3P) is a deployment mode that sends model inference through a provider you configure, such as Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud’s Agent Platform, Microsoft Foundry or your own gateway, according to Anthropic’s Claude Desktop 3P overview. It is aimed at organizations that cannot route data through claude.ai or the Claude API.

Anthropic’s Unified Claude documentation describes Unified Claude as a beta that combines Chat and Cowork into one experience with Cowork’s agentic capabilities, including bash execution, subagents and scheduled tasks. It was opt-in until November 10, 2026.

From that date, a current version of Claude Desktop that starts after 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time (3:00 p.m. Eastern) reads an unset desktopHome key as standard, which turns Unified Claude on. The configuration changelog marks this as a breaking change: Cowork opens even where coworkTabEnabled is false, and the switch happens at the app’s next launch, by the device’s clock. New Enterprise Admin Console organizations start with Unified Claude on.

If you manage Claude Enterprise security settings, our guides to the Claude IP allowlist beta and Claude inference hooks cover related admin controls.

What users see

With Unified Claude on, users type into the message box on the home screen without choosing between Chat and Cowork first. On a device that can run Cowork, each message from the home screen starts a Cowork session with Cowork-level tools. Claude can create and change files in folders the user attaches and can create scheduled tasks.

On a device that cannot launch Cowork’s virtual machine, the same message starts a Chat conversation instead. Earlier chats and Cowork tasks stay, and the sidebar lists them together. The Code surface is unchanged.

How old settings behave now

The configuration reference says desktopHome accepts two values and replaces three older keys. This table summarizes the behavior Anthropic documents:

Setting Before November 10 From November 10
desktopHome unset The three older keys decide Read as standard; Unified Claude and Cowork on
desktopHome: standard Unified Claude on (opt-in) Unified Claude on
desktopHome: off Chat and Cowork off; Code only Chat and Cowork off; Code only
coworkTabEnabled: false Cowork off Ignored while Unified Claude is the default
chatTabEnabled, chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled Control Chat features No effect under standard; deprecated
chatSessionRetentionDays Deletes idle chats Still covers Chat conversations; new Cowork sessions use coworkSessionRetentionDays

Two details catch people out. A value the app does not recognize, such as Standard with a capital S, is read as off. And once desktopHome is set to either value, the app ignores the three older keys entirely.

How to prepare a deployment

Anthropic’s Unified Claude page and installation guide point to these steps:

  1. Decide on a value and set desktopHome explicitly in your MDM profile or bootstrap response. Use standard to keep Unified Claude, or off to keep Chat and Cowork off. In JSON configuration, the key sits under chatSurface, as in {"chatSurface": {"desktopHome": "off"}}.
  2. In the Enterprise Admin Console, turn it on under Capabilities with the toggle “Opt into the new Chat and Cowork unified view.”
  3. If you set chatSessionRetentionDays, also set coworkSessionRetentionDays. Both accept 1 to 3,650 days, and administrators see a configuration warning where the two differ.
  4. Allow Claude Desktop itself, not only browsers, to reach downloads.claude.ai. Devices that can run Cowork download the VM workspace bundle, which is more than 1 GB, when the user starts the first new conversation.
  5. If downloads fail, generate the diagnostic report and check the downloads.claude.ai line in reachability.txt. A proxy that inspects traffic must pass the files through complete and unchanged.

Common download errors include “Couldn’t download Claude’s workspace” and “Failed to start Claude’s workspace,” according to the installation troubleshooting section. Users can retry by starting or opening a Cowork task.

How to limit what Cowork can do

Anthropic notes that the Chat experience is going away, so the way to narrow Unified Claude is through Cowork’s own controls. The configuration reference lists these keys:

  • disabledBuiltinTools blocks built-in tools or rules in Cowork and Code. Adding "Bash" stops shell commands in both.
  • builtinToolPolicy sets per-tool approval. A value of ask prompts the user before each matching call, and a scheduled Cowork task waits at that prompt.
  • allowedWorkspaceFolders limits the folders Claude can use. An empty list allows none, and Anthropic advises against listing a home folder because it holds SSH keys and shell start-up files.
  • scheduledTasksEnabled set to false hides scheduling and stops existing tasks without deleting them.
  • isClaudeCodeForDesktopEnabled still controls the separate Code surface.

Unified Claude is Anthropic’s answer to always-on work agents such as ChatGPT Dots and Microsoft Copilot Cowork. For plan pricing on the first-party side, see our Claude Enterprise cost answer, and for the terminal agent, our Claude Code 2.1.318 guide.

Limitations and dates to track

  • Beta status. Anthropic still labels Unified Claude as beta.
  • November 17, 2026. Users see an in-app warning while coworkTabEnabled, chatTabEnabled or chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled is still set, per the changelog.
  • December 17, 2026. Current releases ignore those three keys from 12:00 p.m. PT, and a device profile holding only settings past their deprecation date has no effect.
  • Retention is permanent. Retention periods delete idle sessions, pinned sessions are not exempt, and opening an old task without continuing it does not reliably keep it.
  • 3P only. This documentation covers Claude Desktop on third-party platforms. Anthropic says standard Claude Desktop with Cowork on a Team or Enterprise plan is simpler to deploy and gets features sooner.

Frequently asked questions

What is Unified Claude?

Unified Claude is a Claude Desktop experience for third-party (3P) deployments that combines Chat and Cowork into one interface. Users type on the home screen without choosing a mode. It is in beta, and Code stays a separate surface.

When does Unified Claude turn on by default?

When a current version of Claude Desktop starts after 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time on November 10, 2026, an unset desktopHome key is read as standard, which turns Unified Claude on. That applies even where coworkTabEnabled is false.

How do I keep Unified Claude and Cowork off?

Set desktopHome to off in your MDM profile, bootstrap response or configuration. That turns off both Chat and Cowork and leaves only Code, which isClaudeCodeForDesktopEnabled still controls. A misspelled value such as Standard is also read as off.

Will users lose their old chats?

No. Anthropic’s documentation says users keep earlier chats and Cowork tasks, and the sidebar lists them together. The Chat retention period still applies to Chat conversations, while new conversations that are Cowork sessions follow the Cowork retention period.

What happens on devices that cannot run Cowork?

Unified Claude still works. If a device cannot launch Cowork’s virtual machine, a message from the home screen starts a Chat conversation instead, and the app falls back to non-VM capabilities.

Sources

Image: Claude logo by Anthropic, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (trademark of Anthropic). FreeAnswers is not affiliated with Anthropic.

Related answers

Leave a Comment