
Connect Everything
Make Cowork read from and write to your work systems
What you'll learn5 objectives
- Connect Cowork to your project management, documentation, and enterprise search tools via MCP connectors
- Build a cross-system briefing that pulls live data from multiple sources in a single prompt
- Apply the Connector Hierarchy decision tree to determine the right integration method for any tool
- Verify cross-system outputs using the Traffic Light framework from Workshop 1
- Install and test skills from the marketplace that leverage your new MCP connections
1Promise Check-In
IntroDid you run last week's Monday Promise? 30-second share: what happened, what surprised you.
2 min
Promise Check-In
IntroDid you run last week's Monday Promise? 30-second share: what happened, what surprised you.
Last week's Monday Promise — who ran it? 30-second share with your neighbour. The gap between intention and action is what we close today.
This week we connect your tools so the data flows automatically.
2The Voice Note
IntroWatch a rough 30-second voice memo turn into a structured briefing with decisions, actions, and open questions — pulled from live connected systems.
3 min
The Voice Note
IntroWatch a rough 30-second voice memo turn into a structured briefing with decisions, actions, and open questions — pulled from live connected systems.
Phone. Voice memo. Thirty seconds. Sixty seconds later: a two-page briefing with live data from Jira, Confluence, and enterprise search. No uploads. No copy-paste.
Workshop 1 was I feed Cowork data. Workshop 2 is Cowork fetches its own.
3MCP Deep Dive
Step-by-StepConnect Cowork to Atlassian, Glean, and your other tools using MCP — so prompts can read from and write to your real work systems without copy-pasting.
20 min
MCP Deep Dive
Step-by-StepConnect Cowork to Atlassian, Glean, and your other tools using MCP — so prompts can read from and write to your real work systems without copy-pasting.
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the structured, authenticated pipe from Cowork to your work systems — no screen-scraping, no copy-paste.
Eight minutes, three connections. Then reach for the right tier for each tool you still can't connect.
MCP Connectors
Structured API connections — reliable, fast, always prefer these
- Project management
- Documentation platform
- Enterprise search
- Team messaging
Tool has a supported MCP connector
Chrome Automation
Visual browser automation — slower but works for any web-based tool
- Analytics dashboards
- Internal admin portals
- Scheme dispute portals
- Terminal management interfaces
Tool has a web interface but no MCP connector
Manual Export
Download file, drop into workspace — fallback when nothing else works
- Bank portals
- PDF reports from partners
- Email attachments
- Legacy systems
Tool has no MCP connector and no navigable web UI
Yes: Use MCP. Always. Fastest, most reliable, structured data.
No: Go to question 2.
Yes: Use Chrome automation. Slower but flexible. Works for dashboards and portals.
No: Go to question 3.
Yes: Manual export. Download CSV/PDF/Excel and drop into workspace.
No: Contact IT — the tool may need an integration built.
Ideal For
- Tools with web dashboards but no API
- Visual snapshots for reports (screenshots, charts)
- Frequently changing data (live queues, real-time metrics)
- Read-only operations on internal portals
Not Ideal For
- Tools requiring MFA on every visit
- Pages with frequently changing layouts
- Large dataset processing (10,000+ rows)
- Speed-critical operations
4Skills Marketplace
Step-by-StepWith MCP connected, skills upgrade from file-based to live-data. Install your first skill and run it against a real system to feel the difference.
10 min
Skills Marketplace
Step-by-StepWith MCP connected, skills upgrade from file-based to live-data. Install your first skill and run it against a real system to feel the difference.
Skills that used to require a CSV export now query the source. Pick two below that match your week, install, run one right now with live data.
/sun:jira-briefing
Pulls project management data via MCP, generates formatted briefing
Required CSV export or pasted ticket list
Queries project management tool directly for live data
/sun:research
Searches across connected enterprise tools
Limited to files in workspace
Searches documentation, messaging, project management, and more
/sun:evidence-assembler
Assembles dispute evidence packages
Required manual case detail input
Pulls case details directly from project management
/sun:ticket-triage
Categorizes and prioritizes support tickets
Required CSV export of ticket queue
Reads live queue directly
/sun:pipeline-analyzer
Analyzes pipeline health and flags stale deals
Required CRM export
Pulls live deal data via MCP or Chrome automation
In-House
Built by your company, tested against your data
- All /sun: skills
Official
Published by verified authors, reviewed for quality
- /xlsx
- /docx
- /pptx
Community
Published by community members, not reviewed
- Third-party skill packs
5Cross-System Briefing Challenge
Try ItPull live data from Jira, Confluence, and your CRM in one prompt — no file uploads, no copy-pasting — into a single formatted briefing document.
⏱ 25 min25 min
Cross-System Briefing Challenge
Try ItPull live data from Jira, Confluence, and your CRM in one prompt — no file uploads, no copy-pasting — into a single formatted briefing document.
Main event. One prompt. Three systems. One 2-page Word doc. Watch the activity log light up with live tool calls — then refine for your role in the Prompts tab.
0/5 complete
Stretch Challenges
- Add a local data source: Cross-reference a workspace file with live MCP data in your briefing
- Publish to documentation platform: Use /sun:publish to push verified briefing to your team's space
6Verification Practice
SafetyYour multi-source briefing looks authoritative. Apply the Traffic Light method to catch errors before you trust data that came from three different systems.
10 min
Verification Practice
SafetyYour multi-source briefing looks authoritative. Apply the Traffic Light method to catch errors before you trust data that came from three different systems.
Your briefing looks authoritative — live data, clean headings, specific action items. Don't trust it yet. Five minutes to find at least two factual errors. Then swap with a neighbour.
Individual
Find at least 2 factual errors in your briefing. Correct them.
5 min
Group
Swap briefings with your neighbour. Can they spot an error you missed?
3 min
Issue counts
Compare the number of issues in the briefing to what you see on the actual board
Common error: Cowork may exclude subtasks, include items from a different project, or miss recently updated issues
Links and references
Click every documentation link in the briefing. Does it exist? Is it the right page?
Common error: Cowork occasionally generates plausible-looking page titles that do not correspond to real pages
Dates and timelines
Verify relative dates (last Tuesday, 3 days ago) against actual creation dates
Common error: Cowork miscalculates relative dates, especially around weekends and holidays
Attribution accuracy
Verify that quoted information actually comes from the cited source
Common error: Cowork sometimes mixes up which source said what when pulling from multiple tools
Recommendation quality
Check that recommended actions are specific, actionable, and follow from the data
Common error: Generic filler recommendations that do not reference specific issues
7The Gap Finder
ExerciseFind the 5 questions your briefing cannot answer — because those systems have no MCP connector yet. This gap is your automation wishlist.
15 min
The Gap Finder
ExerciseFind the 5 questions your briefing cannot answer — because those systems have no MCP connector yet. This gap is your automation wishlist.
Your briefing connects 3 systems. Which 5 questions can it still not answer — and which of those hurt the most? That's your automation wishlist.
Read the 5 gap questions in gap-questions.md
For each question, identify which system holds the answer
Note which of these systems you currently check manually every day
Discuss with the person next to you: which gap causes the most pain in your daily work?
Which gap causes the most pain in your daily work?
Pair discussion with neighbour
8Monday Promise
PracticeMonday, run your cross-system briefing with live data, verify it, share it with your team — not try it, do it.
5 min
Monday Promise
PracticeMonday, run your cross-system briefing with live data, verify it, share it with your team — not try it, do it.
Monday, run your cross-system briefing with live data, verify it, share it with your team — not try it, do it.
Steal This Prompt
Copy these prompts, customize the file paths to match your workspace, and use them in Cowork. Replace ~ with your actual home directory path if needed.
Month-End Close Readiness Briefing
Pending Case Deadline Briefing
Weekly Alert Backlog and EDD Status Briefing
Country Performance and Escalation Briefing
Weekend Escalation Summary
Data Team Requests and Pipeline Health Briefing
Month-End Status Briefing
Fraud Monitoring and Scheme Threshold Briefing
Pipeline Health and CDD Handoff Briefing
IT Ticket Queue and Access Request Briefing
Contract Review and Regulatory Deadline Briefing
Terminal Delivery and Returns Status Briefing
Campaign Calendar and Competitive Intel Briefing
Merchant Onboarding Pipeline Briefing
Ops Process Health and Bot Failure Briefing
Partner Performance and Commission Briefing
People Team Weekly Activity Briefing
Activation Rate and Campaign Briefing
Sprint Planning Brief
Tier 2 Escalation and Recurring Issue Briefing
Cancellation Queue and Churn Signal Briefing
Merchant Risk Review and Threshold Briefing
Scheme Compliance and Fee Reconciliation Briefing
Liquidity Position and Safeguarding Briefing
Key Takeaways
MCP connectors give Cowork direct, structured access to your work systems — no more copy-pasting between browser tabs
The Connector Hierarchy (MCP > Chrome > Manual Export) helps you pick the most reliable integration for each tool
Cross-system briefings are powerful but must be verified — synthesizing multiple sources multiplies both value and error risk
Skills become dramatically more useful with MCP connections — the same skill that needed a CSV export now pulls live data
The Monday briefing habit compounds over time — four weeks of consistent use turns a workshop exercise into how you work
Safety Note
Cross-system briefings combine data from multiple sources. This multiplies both the value and the risk.
- Never include raw customer PII in briefings. Use merchant IDs instead of names.
- Verify before sharing. Every error in a briefing is your error, not Cowork's. Run the verification checklist every time.
- MCP connections inherit your permissions. Cowork can only see what you can see — but if you have access to sensitive data, so does Cowork. Be mindful of what you pull and where you store the output.
- Do not publish unverified briefings. A wrong number in a shared briefing is worse than a wrong number on your laptop.
- Review write operations. MCP write operations (creating tickets, updating pages) are permanent. Always review before confirming.