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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

Live Artifacts
Build Once, Always Updated

Claude’s artifacts used to freeze the second you closed the chat. Now they can stay connected to your apps and pull fresh data when you open them. Build a dashboard once and it stays current.

Old artifacts were snapshots. Claude built a dashboard, you closed the chat, and the numbers froze. To update it, you rebuilt it.

Now an artifact can use the apps you’ve connected to Claude, like Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack, Asana and Drive, and it uses those connections whenever it runs. Everything you make is saved to the Artifacts tab in the Claude sidebar. (Anthropic)

What Changed In 2026

Live artifacts started as a Cowork feature on the desktop app. Since August 19, 2026, new ones are regular artifacts, and Cowork is merging into regular chat, so there’s no mode to pick. Connected artifacts now work on the web and the desktop app. Old live artifacts still work and carry a "Cowork" label. (Anthropic, one Claude)

Set One Up

01

Check your plan

Artifacts that connect to your apps work on Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise. They aren’t listed for Free.

02

Turn on code execution

Go to Settings, then Capabilities, and turn on code execution and file creation. Artifacts need it.

03

Connect your apps

Open Customize (now being renamed Plugins), then Connectors, and connect the apps you want to pull from. An artifact can only use apps you’ve connected.

04

Ask for it in any chat

Paste one of the prompts below. The first time the artifact needs an app, Claude shows which apps and tools it will use and asks you to allow them. You can switch individual tools off.

05

Open it from the sidebar

Click Artifacts in the sidebar anytime and it pulls your current data.

3 Worth Building Today

01

KPI dashboard

Connect it to your spreadsheet. Every time you open it, you get your latest numbers, the change from last week and the trend. No more rebuilding the Monday report.

KPI Dashboard
Build me a KPI dashboard as an artifact that pulls live data from my connected Google Drive every time I open it. DATA SOURCE My Google Sheet called [exact sheet name, e.g. "Q4 Sales Tracker"], tab [tab name]. Before you build, open the sheet, list the column headers you found, and confirm which columns you'll use for each metric below. METRICS - [e.g. Total revenue this month vs last month] - [e.g. New customers this week] - [e.g. Conversion rate, leads to closed deals] - [e.g. Average deal size] - [e.g. Open pipeline value] FOR EACH METRIC SHOW - The current value, large and bold - The change vs the previous period, with an up or down arrow and a percentage - A small trend line for the last 8 weeks if the data allows LAYOUT Clean cards in a grid, green for up and red for down, readable on my phone. Show "Last updated" with the time the data was pulled at the top. RULES - Read only. Never edit, add or delete anything in my sheet. - If a number can't be calculated from the data, show "No data" instead of guessing, and tell me why. - Keep it scannable in 10 seconds.

02

Content calendar

Pulls your content docs, scheduled posts and deadlines into one weekly view.

Content Calendar
Build me a weekly content calendar as an artifact that pulls from my connected Google Calendar and Google Drive every time I open it. DATA SOURCES - Google Calendar: events on [calendar name] or with "[keyword, e.g. Content]" in the title - Google Drive: the folder [folder name, e.g. "Content Pipeline"], where each doc is one piece of content Before you build, show me 3 example events and 3 example docs you found, and how you'll read the platform and status for each one. Wait for my OK. VIEW - One column per day for the current week, with buttons for last week and next week - Each piece as a card with its title, platform (Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.), status (Draft, Scheduled or Published) and a link to open the doc - Color-coded by platform ALSO SHOW - A "This week" line at the top: how many pieces are scheduled and how many are still drafts - An "Overdue" section for anything past its date that's still a draft RULES - Read only. Never change my calendar or files. - If you can't tell a piece's status, mark it "Unknown" rather than guessing.

03

Morning briefing

Your day on one screen. Meetings, emails worth answering, Slack you missed and tasks due. Open it once and you’re caught up.

Morning Briefing
Build me a morning briefing as an artifact that pulls from my connected apps every time I open it, so I can check it with my coffee. CONNECTED APPS TO USE - Google Calendar: today's meetings with time, title, attendees and meeting link - Gmail: the 5 most important unread emails from real people who need a reply (skip newsletters, receipts and notifications) - Slack: unread mentions and DMs from the last 12 hours - [Optional: Asana, Linear, Notion or whatever I use for tasks]: my tasks due today or overdue SECTIONS 1. TODAY'S SCHEDULE, in time order 2. EMAILS THAT NEED ME, with sender, subject, a one-line preview and why it matters 3. SLACK CATCH-UP, with person or channel and a one-line preview 4. TASKS DUE, with task, project and due date RULES - Read only. Never send, reply, archive, mark as read or change anything. - If an app isn't connected or fails, show a short note in that section and keep the rest working. - A 30-second scan, not a 10-minute read. One line per item.
Good To Know
  1. Sharing uses their apps, not yours. Anyone who opens your connected artifact sees their own data through their own connections. Connected artifacts can’t be shared with "Anyone with the link." On Team and Enterprise, you can share them inside your organization. (Sharing artifacts)
  2. Some tools are off limits. Connector tools that need your approval for every action can’t run inside an artifact. That’s why my prompts keep everything read only.
  3. It can remember things. Artifacts can store up to 20 MB of text between sessions, either private to each person or shared by everyone. Check which one it uses before you type in anything sensitive.
  4. Need charts from real data tools? Claude also has Dashboards (beta) for data platforms and apps like Salesforce, and each chart shows its query and when it last refreshed.