FULL STORY

Claude Drops Local Execution as Tasks and Cowork Move to Cloud

Anthropic first quietly deprecated local execution in Claude Tasks and Cowork, then confirmed that as of October 6 all new tasks run fully in the cloud, raising user concerns over privacy and data control.

2026-09-30 ~ 2026-10-06 · 2 episodes · 9 posts

Episode 1 · Anthropic Retires Claude Tasks and Local Cowork Option, Pushing Users to Cloud and Claude Code (2026-09-30, 2 posts)

Anthropic 宣布弃用 Claude 的多项功能：Reddit 用户发现 Claude Cowork 更新后移除了「仅在此电脑上运行」选项，本地任务功能虽可继续运行但不再维护；同时官方确认 Tasks(定时任务)功能将于 10 月 6 日起无法创建新任务，并引导用户迁移到 Claude Code 处理新的工作，相关任务被迫全面转向云端。

Episode 2 · Claude Cowork drops local execution, moves tasks fully to the cloud (2026-10-05, 7 posts)

Anthropic will remove Claude Cowork's local execution capability on October 6. After that, all new tasks from Pro/Max users will run in the cloud, with sessions, transcripts, and outputs stored on Anthropic servers and tied to the Claude account. The change has been confirmed in official help center documentation and is part of the gradual effort to merge Cowork and chat into a unified Claude experience — something users handling sensitive data should pay attention to.

Confirmed

  • Starting October 6, all new Cowork tasks for Pro/Max users run in the cloud, and the "Only on your computer" option is removed from settings.
  • Official help center documentation confirms that Cowork and chat are being merged into a unified Claude experience, rolling out gradually to Pro/Max users.
  • Local tasks already started on your machine can be kept; existing local tasks on users' computers are not migrated, but no new local tasks can be created afterward.
  • Anthropic says sessions and files "follow the Claude account" and are stored on Anthropic servers.

Why it matters

  • @IDOMURPATRIARCHY pointed out that local sessions meant chat history was not stored on Anthropic servers and had short retention — a core advantage for users handling sensitive data. Removing local mode is being questioned as a privacy regression.
  • The author also noted that Anthropic had previously changed a related setting without asking, deepening user distrust.
  • Reddit users (@DisastrousAlps852) and other sources cross-verified the timing and scope, confirming this is an official decision rather than a rumor.