Why this is everywhere right now
One of the most-shared AI topics on X this weekend was Claude learning a chore by watching your screen once. The feature, Record a skill in Claude Cowork, isn't new: Anthropic announced it on July 21, 2026, and its help page was updated in mid-October.
Some posts describe it as Claude watching you live. Anthropic's docs describe something more limited: you record one session of about 10 minutes, then Claude reviews it and proposes a skill that you read before saving.
How Claude's version works
It runs in Cowork in Claude for Mac, on Pro, Max and Team plans only. It isn't available on Windows, in regular chat, or on Free and Enterprise plans. Start it from the + menu (Record a skill) or from Customize > Skills > Add > Record your screen, and talk through the task as you go; Anthropic says narration tells Claude things the screen can't, like why you skip a step.
Anthropic says the video and audio aren't kept, only screenshots inside the Cowork task. A saved skill can then go into a scheduled task, which runs in the cloud even while your Mac is asleep, unless it needs local files or apps.
ChatGPT and Grok have their own versions
OpenAI's Record & Replay is also Mac-only and needs Computer Use turned on. You start it in the ChatGPT desktop app from Plugins > + > Record a skill, and it keeps recording until you stop. To reuse the skill, you ask a new chat to use it and give it the values that changed.
Grok Bot's Teach a task records a browser workflow inside the Bot's own computer view rather than on your Mac, for up to ten minutes, without microphone audio. xAI calls the result a draft and says the feature may be enabled gradually.
Which one fits what (our read)
Chores in Mac apps where the reasons matter: Claude, because its docs build around your spoken narration. Workflows you already run in ChatGPT or Codex: Record & Replay. Browser jobs you want a Bot to repeat on its own computer: Grok Bot. Whichever you pick, all three treat the first result as something to check and edit before you rely on it.
What we couldn't confirm
None of the three docs says what happens when an app's layout changes after you record. OpenAI's page doesn't list which ChatGPT plans include Record & Replay, and none of the companies publishes how much usage a recording or a replay takes.
Try it on one weekly chore
Our new playbook walks through Claude's version end to end: plan the recording, record it, tighten the skill, test it and, if you want, schedule it. Every chat step comes with a copy-paste interview prompt.
Open the playbook: teach Claude a chore by recording it once