Most people use Claude like they’re using ChatGPT: ask a question, get a response, close the tab. But Claude in 2026 has a stack of features that, if you’re not using them, mean you’re basically paying $20 a month for a fancy autocomplete. Here are seven that turn it into a full AI workflow.

1. Projects

Think of a project as a persistent workspace. You group files, instructions, and project-specific memories, and every conversation inside that project inherits all of it — your brand voice, your tone, your context applied immediately. For my YouTube scripts, I add instructions describing my tone of voice once, and every new script I draft falls inside that guidance automatically.

2. Artifacts

Artifacts are where Claude stops being a chatbot and becomes a creation platform. Instead of dumping code or text into the chat, Claude renders it in a side panel — working code, interactive dashboards, components, HTML. Ask it to build a small web app and you go from description to a functional prototype in one conversation. When it’s done, you can publish it and share the link so others can use it too.

3. Skills

Under Customize, Skills are pre-packaged instructions that turn Claude into a specialist for a given task — SEO optimization, LinkedIn carousels, turning research into infographics. You can browse existing skills or create your own by writing instructions, uploading them, or having Claude build one. They’re shareable too, so if a friend runs SEO for their site, you can hand them the same skill to use.

4. MCP Integrations

The Model Context Protocol turns Claude from a standalone chatbot into a hub of connected activity — roughly 6,000 apps, from Gmail and Google Drive to Slack, Jira, Notion, Stripe, and Figma. I’ve connected my website, VidIQ, Canva, email, and Google Drive, and I’ve used Claude to take old videos, draft them as blog posts, and upload them to my site as drafts — all from one place. Best part: connectors don’t burn extra credits.

5. Cowork

If you haven’t used Cowork yet, it’s fantastic. You connect it to a folder on your desktop and have Claude automate tasks — create documents, organize files, and run repetitive work for you. It’s the difference between asking Claude questions and handing it actual jobs.

6. Claude in Chrome

The Claude Chrome extension can take control of any web page. Give it a request — “review this landing page for errors,” “find a better photo for this blog” — and it builds a plan, you approve it, and it works through the page (you’ll see an orange halo marking where it’s acting). The real use cases are repetitive browser tasks: filling out forms, checking multiple sites, even teaching it a step-by-step routine to repeat. One warning — it burns credits fast, so watch which model you’re on (I keep it on Sonnet).

7. Inline Visualizations

I haven’t seen another AI handle visuals the way Claude does. Ask it to generate a diagram — say, GDP by countries starting with G — and it builds charts and diagrams inline with the explanation. If you’re teaching, presenting, or just need an explainer, it produces genuinely clean graphics you can drop into whatever format you need.

If you’re already paying for Claude Pro, these features elevate it from a chatbot to an actual working agent. Let me know in the comments which ones you’ve used — most people never poke past the chat box. And if you want more on Cowork, check out the related video above.