Course contents
Research With Receipts
Long-running research that returns organized findings with sources you can actually check.
When a task needs information that isn't in your folder, Cowork can research: searching, reading dozens of sources, cross-checking claims, and compiling findings into a document or spreadsheet. The output arrives with citations — and the habit that makes research trustworthy is demanding they be checkable: "include a sources tab with links; prioritize authoritative sources such as the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics." Naming preferred sources upgrades the entire run.
The second habit is structuring the output for decisions, not reading. Riley's 25-city comparison is the model: instead of "which city is best for remote workers," he asked for a weighted-scoring dashboard — type your own weights for affordability, safety, weather, and taxes, and the ranking recalculates. The research becomes a tool you interact with, not an essay you skim.
Treat claims the way you treat spreadsheet numbers: spot-check before you forward. Click three citations. If they hold, trust rises; if one doesn't, tell Claude — "source 4 doesn't support this claim, re-verify that section" — and it will re-research the weak spot.
How Claude's research mode gathers, cross-checks, and cites — the engine Cowork uses when your task needs the outside world.