Step 8 of 8
The panel beside the chat is where the work lands.
When Claude makes something substantial, a letter, a table, a slide deck, a small tool, it opens in its own panel beside the conversation instead of scrolling past in the chat, and that panel is an artefact.
Why it matters.
An artefact is a thing, not a reply. You can edit it, ask for changes without losing what was good, go back to an earlier version, download it as a Word document, a PDF or a slide deck, and share it with a link. Your settings file from step 4 was an artefact, and so will be most of what Claude makes for the clinic.
What you can do with one.
- Ask for changes in the chat. Make the second paragraph shorter. The artefact updates, and the earlier version is kept.
- Edit it yourself. In a document or a slide, click in and type, the same as any editor.
- Go back. The version list at the top of the panel steps through every draft.
- Download it. Documents as Word or PDF, slides as PowerPoint. The file is yours to keep.
- Share it. An artefact is private until you share it, and then it's one link.
You: Draft a thank you letter to Dr Smith for the referral.
Claude: Here is a first draft, in the clinic's voice.
Dear Dr Smith,
Thank you for referring …
The three kinds you'll see most.
Documents, for letters, patient handouts and policies. Slides, for a talk or a team meeting. Tables and small tools, for a spreadsheet of this month's appointment numbers or a checklist that ticks. When Claude answers in the chat and you wanted a document, say: Put that in a document. It becomes an artefact.
That's the whole setup.
A project that knows the clinic, a settings file Claude reads every time, Cowork for the work itself, Chrome for the pages you're already on, and artefacts to hold what comes out. From here it's practice. When something comes back wrong twice, that's a line for the settings file, and when something comes back right, that's a job you never have to do by hand again.
Thank you for letting me walk you through it, Adam. If any of it gets confusing, come and find me, and we'll sort it out together.