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33> What Chat can and cannot do in Claude Desktop on 3P, and how to configure it

44

5<Note>

6 When [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude) is on, a message sent from the home screen starts a Cowork session on a device that can run Cowork.

7</Note>

8

59Chat in Claude Desktop on third-party (3P) is a conversational surface for quick questions and drafting. Unlike [Cowork](/docs/cowork/overview) and [Code](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/code), which run agentic sessions with access to folders you grant and a code-execution environment, a Chat conversation runs with a deliberately small tool surface: it can search and fetch the web under your admin configuration, read files attached to the conversation, read the project's memory and the files in the project's folders when the conversation is inside a project, write files into a scratch space of its own, and use skills from the plugins you provision, and nothing else on the machine. Chat is off by default and is enabled with a single configuration key.

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711Like everything else in 3P mode, Chat conversations run against your configured inference provider, and conversation history lives on the user's device. See [User identity and local data](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#chat-conversations) for exactly what is written where and what can leave the device.

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6872| - | - | - |

6973| [`chatTabEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chattabenabled) | off | Makes Chat available. Chat is opt-in: it appears in the app only when this key is explicitly `true`. |

7074| [`chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatadvancedfileanalysisenabled) | off | Allows code execution in the offline sandbox described under [Advanced file analysis](#advanced-file-analysis), on attached files and, inside a project, on files in the project's folders. Has no effect unless Chat is enabled. |

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76While the `desktopHome` key for [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude#how-unified-claude-interacts-with-chat-and-cowork-settings) has a value, Claude Desktop ignores `chatTabEnabled`, `chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`, and `coworkTabEnabled`.

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7278When `chatTabEnabled` is `true`, Claude Desktop presents Chat and Cowork together as **Home** in its sidebar, next to **Code**. From Home, the user chooses **Chat** or **Cowork** in the message box, and the sidebar lists chats and tasks together. When the key is unset or `false`, the sidebar shows **Cowork** in place of Home and the message box offers no choice. If [`coworkTabEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworktabenabled) is `false` while Chat is enabled, the message box offers Chat only.

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third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude New page · 34 lines, new page

# Unified Claude in Claude Desktop on 3P ## What users see with Unified Claude ## Enabling Unified Claude ## How Unified Claude interacts with Chat and Cowork settings

A whole new page. There's nothing to diff it against, so here is what it says.

# Unified Claude in Claude Desktop on 3P

> Unified Claude combines Chat and Cowork into one experience, with Cowork's agentic capabilities.

<Note>
Unified Claude is in beta. It is opt-in until November 10, when it becomes enforced for all Desktop 3P deployments. New [Enterprise Admin Console](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/admin-console) organizations start with Unified Claude on.
</Note>

Unified Claude combines Chat and Cowork into one experience in Claude Desktop 3P. Users get a single Claude interface for both quick chats and longer agentic tasks. [Code](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/code) stays separate.

Unified Claude contains the same capabilities as Cowork on Desktop 3P today, including bash execution, subagents, and scheduled tasks. The Chat experience is going away, but you can restrict specific Cowork capabilities in Unified Claude through your other settings options and tool policies.

The only time Unified Claude runs without Cowork capabilities is if the user's machine cannot launch the VM. If so, the application will revert to non-VM capabilities under Unified Claude.

## What users see with Unified Claude

With Unified Claude on, users type into the message box on the home screen without first choosing between Chat and Cowork. On a device that can run Cowork, each message sent from the home screen starts a Cowork session. On a device that can't run Cowork, the message starts a Chat conversation instead.

A Claude session started this way has Cowork-level tools and follows your Cowork settings. For example, Claude can create and change files in folders the user attaches, and create scheduled tasks.

Users keep their earlier chats and Cowork tasks, and the sidebar lists them together.

## Enabling Unified Claude

Unified Claude is opt-in today. To enable it, follow the instructions below:

* **Enterprise Admin Console**: Go to Capabilities and toggle on "Opt into the new Chat and Cowork unified view."
* **MDM or a bootstrap server**: For MDM and bootstrap deployments, the [`desktopHome`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#desktophome) key controls Unified Claude. Create and set `desktopHome` to `standard` in your [MDM profile](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/mdm) or [bootstrap response](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap). Claude Desktop reads a value it doesn't recognize as `off`. Remove the key to disable the Unified Claude experience.

## How Unified Claude interacts with Chat and Cowork settings

When Unified Claude is enabled, Claude Desktop ignores [`chatTabEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chattabenabled), [`chatAdvancedFileAnalysisEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatadvancedfileanalysisenabled), and [`coworkTabEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworktabenabled). New conversations follow the Cowork retention period. The Chat retention period still covers Chat conversations, such as earlier chats.

Your other settings still apply while `desktopHome` has a value, including [`isClaudeCodeForDesktopEnabled`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#isclaudecodefordesktopenabled), which controls Code.

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108108

109109To turn off Code, set `isClaudeCodeForDesktopEnabled` to `false` in your Claude Desktop on 3P configuration. Users can no longer open Code. Cowork is unaffected, and so is [Chat](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat#configuration) if you have enabled it.

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111If you set `desktopHome` to `off`, keep Code on. For what `desktopHome` does, see [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude).

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6969

7070## Reference

7171

72The reference below is generated from the configuration schema and grouped to match the sidebar of the in-app configuration window. The **Availability** column shows whether a key can be set in an MDM profile, returned from a [bootstrap server](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap), or both. Its second line is the Claude Desktop version that added the key. For how the keys under **Models** work together, see [Models and effort levels](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/models).

72The reference below is generated from the configuration schema and grouped to match the sidebar of the in-app configuration window. The **Availability** column shows whether a key can be set in an MDM profile, returned from a [bootstrap server](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap), or both. Its second line is the Claude Desktop version that added the key. For how the keys under **Models** work together, see [Models and effort levels](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/models). For how `desktopHome` overrides the other keys under **Chat surface** and **Cowork surface**, see [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude#how-unified-claude-interacts-with-chat-and-cowork-settings). For which key under **Session retention** covers a conversation started from the home screen, see [Automatic deletion of idle sessions](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#automatic-deletion-of-idle-sessions).

7373

7474## Connection

7575

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9292

9393By default, chats, Cowork tasks, and Code sessions stay on the device until the user deletes them. To delete them after a period without activity, set [`chatSessionRetentionDays`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#chatsessionretentiondays), [`coworkSessionRetentionDays`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#coworksessionretentiondays), or [`codeSessionRetentionDays`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#codesessionretentiondays) to a number of days from 1 to 3650. Each key covers one kind of session, and a kind you leave unset is kept until the user deletes it. Idle time counts from the session's last activity, and pinned sessions are not exempt.

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95With [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude) on, a conversation started from the home screen on a device that can run Cowork is a Cowork session. `coworkSessionRetentionDays` covers it along with users' other Cowork tasks, and `chatSessionRetentionDays` still covers Chat conversations. If you use `chatSessionRetentionDays`, keep it and set `coworkSessionRetentionDays` as well.

96

9597The app deletes whole sessions in the background. A chat or Cowork task is deleted with its attached files and outputs, and a Code session with its conversation. Projects, memory, and the files in a Code session's working folder stay, and Code sessions on an SSH host are not affected. A session that is running or open on screen is skipped until a later pass. To suspend all automatic deletion for some users, for example under a legal hold, set [`sessionRetentionHold`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#sessionretentionhold) to `true` for them. While the hold is on, nothing is deleted, and a device that gets its configuration from a server and cannot reach that server also deletes nothing. These keys require Claude Desktop 1.52386.0 or later.

9698

9799## Removing data

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386386* **Code sessions** run hooks from marketplace plugins (Claude Desktop 1.32352.0 or later) and from plugins the user installed for Claude Code. Hooks from plugins in the `org-plugins/` directory do not run in Code sessions. In [remote SSH sessions](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/ssh-remote-sessions#managed-configuration-on-the-remote-host), hooks from the plugins Claude Desktop copies to the host do not run.

387387* **Chat conversations** run hooks from the same plugins as Cowork sessions, on Claude Desktop 1.52386.0 or later.

388388

389With [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude) on, a Cowork session started from the home screen runs the same hooks as any other Cowork session.

390

389391A `UserPromptSubmit` hook that blocks a prompt stops that turn and shows the hook's reason to the user. When a conversation or session is created, Claude Desktop also sends its first message to your inference provider in a separate request, without tools, to generate the title shown in the sidebar. That request does not pass through plugin hooks, so a first message that a hook blocks still reaches your provider for titling.

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391393Claude Code [managed settings](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/code#interaction-with-claude-code%E2%80%99s-own-managed-settings) deployed on the device govern these hooks as they do in the Claude Code CLI: `disableAllHooks` turns them off, and `allowManagedHooksOnly` keeps only the hooks those managed settings define.

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1919On Windows, Cowork's virtual machine runs under an account in the built-in `NT VIRTUAL MACHINE\Virtual Machines` group, and that group needs the **Log on as a service** user right. If your organization assigns that right through Group Policy or MDM, see [Windows security policy blocks the Cowork workspace](#windows-security-policy-blocks-the-cowork-workspace) before rollout.

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21With [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude) on, a message sent from the home screen starts a Cowork session on a device that can run Cowork, and a Chat conversation on a device that can't.

22

2123## Check device readiness

2224

2325Before installing Claude Desktop, you can confirm that a device supports Cowork by running the readiness check: a small standalone program that requires no installation or sign-in.

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4646| **Egress** | A read-only firewall allowlist derived from everything you've entered above, grouped by feature<br />**Copy hostnames**, **Download .txt**, and **Test connectivity** actions |

4747| **Source** | The bootstrap keys, if you are using the [bootstrap server](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/bootstrap) delivery model instead of a full MDM profile<br />Bootstrap-delivered configuration takes priority over MDM-delivered values: it replaces them wholesale rather than merging key by key |

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49To turn on [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude#enabling-unified-claude), set `desktopHome` to `standard` in your MDM profile.

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4951<Note>

5052 When a managed (MDM-delivered) configuration is already present on the device, the configuration window opens read-only: it shows what the admin deployed, marks the configuration as organization-managed, and directs users to their IT administrator. To author a new configuration, use a device without a managed profile, or temporarily remove the profile. Profiles that set [only app-behavior keys](#update-keys-and-managed-precedence) (the update, configuration re-check, relaunch window, and network proxy keys) leave the window editable.

5153</Note>

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1010* **The agent**: the Claude Code engine the app runs for every Chat, Cowork, and Code session. It sends inference requests and, in Code sessions, also makes its own web fetches, remote MCP connections, and plugin installs.

1111* **Cowork's sandboxed shell**: the isolated environment where commands the agent runs in a Cowork session (`curl`, `pip`, `npm`, and so on) execute.

1212

13With [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude) on, a Cowork session started from the home screen runs its commands in Cowork's sandboxed shell.

14

1315## Default behavior

1416

1517With no proxy-related configuration, the app follows the operating system's proxy settings, including a PAC (proxy auto-configuration) script or automatic proxy detection if the OS is set up that way. PAC rules are evaluated per request, so different hosts can go to different proxies or connect directly, exactly as the script says.

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55Claude Desktop on third-party (3P) is a deployment mode of Claude Desktop that routes all model inference through a provider you configure: Google Cloud's Agent Platform, Amazon Bedrock, Microsoft Foundry, any compatible gateway you operate, or the Anthropic API directly. The app runs from a bundled local web application, and conversation history is stored on the user's device.

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7You get the full Claude Desktop experience (Chat, Cowork, and Code, including file creation, multi-step research, and sub-agent coordination) with inference and billing handled by the provider you choose.

7You get the full Claude Desktop experience (Chat, Cowork, and Code, including file creation, multi-step research, and sub-agent coordination) with inference and billing handled by the provider you choose. You can also turn on [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude), which combines Chat and Cowork into one experience.

88

99## Who it's for

1010

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5656

5757For third-party deployments, the export includes session metadata (event names, durations, token counts, result counts, errors) by default, but not message content. It also identifies the signed-in user; see [User attribution](#user-attribution). See [Monitoring](/docs/cowork/monitoring) for the event schema and the [`otlp*` keys](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#otlpendpoint) in the configuration reference.

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59The export carries logs and metrics. Cowork sessions, Code sessions, and the desktop application's own events arrive under the `service.name` values `cowork`, `claude-code-desktop`, and `claude-desktop` respectively. The app adds the collector host to the sandbox egress allowlist automatically, so `otlpEndpoint` does not need an entry in `coworkEgressAllowedHosts`; your perimeter firewall still needs to allow the host.

59The export carries logs and metrics. Cowork sessions, Code sessions, and the desktop application's own events arrive under the `service.name` values `cowork`, `claude-code-desktop`, and `claude-desktop` respectively. With [Unified Claude](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/unified-claude) on, a Cowork session started from the home screen also arrives under `cowork`. The app adds the collector host to the sandbox egress allowlist automatically, so `otlpEndpoint` does not need an entry in `coworkEgressAllowedHosts`; your perimeter firewall still needs to allow the host.

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6161For collector authentication headers, extra resource attributes, and the log level of the desktop application's own event stream, see [`otlpHeaders`, `otlpResourceAttributes`, and `otlpDesktopLogLevel`](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/configuration#otlpheaders) in the configuration reference. Events on the `claude-desktop` stream include `desktop_ssh_sandbox_check_failed`, described under [Sandbox status on the remote host](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/ssh-remote-sessions#sandbox-status-on-the-remote-host).

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