Does CoworkRestore work with ChatGPT Work?
Yes - through automatic folder watching. You add the same local folder to CoworkRestore and to ChatGPT Work. When ChatGPT Work edits files in that folder, CoworkRestore saves a version once the changes settle, so you can review them and restore whatever you want. It works alongside ChatGPT Work; it isn't a plugin inside it.
Does ChatGPT need an extension or MCP server?
No. Automatic folder watching doesn't require any configuration inside ChatGPT. You point CoworkRestore at the folder, choose folder-watching mode, and that's it - nothing to install into ChatGPT Work.
Can ChatGPT Work trigger before-and-after snapshots like Claude can?
Not currently. There's no dedicated ChatGPT Work integration that creates explicit pre-task and post-task save points. ChatGPT Work changes are captured through folder watching instead, which saves a version whenever file activity settles. The before-and-after task snapshots are available today through the Claude Cowork integration.
Does it protect Google Docs or Google Sheets?
CoworkRestore protects local files saved inside the folders it watches. Cloud-native documents that live in Google Docs or Sheets should use their platform's own version history. If those files are also exported or synced as local files in a watched folder, those local copies are captured.
Does it work with Codex?
Yes - automatic folder watching can record local changes made by Codex. That said, Codex is developer-focused and includes Git and worktree features, so experienced Git users may already have the version history they need and may not need CoworkRestore.
Does it replace Time Machine?
No. Time Machine solves the broader problem of backing up your whole Mac. CoworkRestore gives you a fast, per-folder timeline and selective file restore for the folders you hand to AI tools. Keep using Time Machine, iCloud, or your regular backup for everything else.
How does it decide when to take a snapshot?
You pick one of two modes per folder. “Only when Claude asks” lets Claude ping CoworkRestore before and after each task, so you get clean save points bracketing every change - this one needs a small extension we install into Claude Desktop for you. “Watch the folder for any change” quietly watches the folder and saves whenever edits settle, with no extension required. In either mode, you can also hit “Snapshot now” yourself anytime you want to mark a save point.
How long does setup take?
About five minutes the first time - download, drag to Applications, and let it install its small Claude Desktop extension. After that, adding a new project folder takes under a minute: pick the folder, choose a mode, done.
Does Claude need to know about CoworkRestore?
Not required, but recommended. CoworkRestore runs fine on its own. But if you let it install its small extension into Claude Desktop, Claude can ping it before and after each task - giving you the cleanest possible save points bracketing every change. Either way, you never have to mention CoworkRestore in your prompts; it stays out of the way and handles save points in the background.
Is it free?
Yes - free, forever, for one tracked project. When you first install CoworkRestore you get a 7-day window with unlimited projects so you can see how it fits your work; after that, the app keeps protecting your one project at no cost. If you want to track more than one project at a time, a one-time licence unlocks unlimited.
Where do snapshots live?
On your Mac, in a folder of your choice. Nothing leaves your machine. You can store them inside the project, or outside it - and outside is the safer default, because a folder delete can't take the snapshots with it.
How much disk space will snapshots use?
Less than you’d expect. CoworkRestore only stores what actually changed between save points, not full copies of the folder each time. Text-heavy work compresses beautifully; already-compressed binaries (Office documents, PDFs, images) grow faster because there’s less room for the underlying engine to squeeze them.
Rough guide - 100 MB of source material, after 500 save points:
Markdown, code, plain text~180 MB
Office docs (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx)~400 MB
PDFs, JPEG/PNG images~600 MB
Most folders never hit 500 save points - that’s about a month of heavy Claude use, or a year of lighter, manual editing. Snapshots can live on an external drive if you’d rather not spend the space on your main disk.
What if the project folder gets deleted?
If snapshots are stored outside the project, they're untouched - whether Claude removed the folder, you deleted it by accident, or something else did. Open CoworkRestore, point it at where the folder used to be, and restore.
What if a single file gets deleted or overwritten by mistake?
It's still in your save points. Open CoworkRestore, scroll back to a save point from before the change, and restore just that one file - the rest of your folder stays exactly as it is now. Same story whether Claude removed it, another app overwrote it, or you deleted it yourself. Once a file has been in a save point, it's recoverable.
Is CoworkRestore a backup for my project folder?
No - and it isn't meant to replace one. CoworkRestore is a safety net for the folder you've handed to AI: it captures save points between changes so you can undo, compare, and reverse anything Claude does. Keep using Time Machine, iCloud, or your regular backup for everything else on your Mac.
What's actually running under the hood?
CoworkRestore is backed by Git - the most trusted version control system in the world. Your history is as durable as the tooling professional developers stake their work on every day.
What happens to my snapshots if CoworkRestore is ever discontinued?
You keep them, and you can still open them. Under the hood, your save points are stored as a standard Git repository on your own Mac - the same format professional developers have relied on for two decades. Even without the app, any Git tool can browse or restore from that history. Concretely, this is what’s already sitting on your disk:
$ git --git-dir=".snapshots/repo" log
a3f8c21 Claude task: update pricing in exec-summary.md
bd7f412 Claude task: reorganize research/ folder
c91d5e0 Before Claude task: polish the roadmap
$ git --git-dir=".snapshots/repo" show bd7f412:exec-summary.md
# Q3 Launch - Executive Summary
...
You can run that yourself after install. If CoworkRestore is ever gone, this is still all it takes to get your history back - your work isn’t tied to us being around forever.
I already use Git - do I need this?
Probably not. Git saves what you remember to save; CoworkRestore captures snapshots automatically between Claude's tasks - handy when you're moving fast and forget. If you'd rather drive it yourself, stick with what you have.
Does it work with Claude Code?
You can point it at any folder, so it works alongside Claude Code. That said, Claude Code users often already have version control and checkpoints they're comfortable with - CoworkRestore is aimed at people who don't.
Does it back up to the cloud?
No. CoworkRestore is local-only for now. Snapshots stay on your Mac, in a folder you choose.
Will it slow my Mac down?
No. CoworkRestore only does work between Claude Cowork tasks, when your Mac is already idle. It uses a tiny amount of disk and almost no CPU.
Does it work on Windows?
Not yet. CoworkRestore is macOS only in v1.
Can it recover files that were deleted before I installed it?
No. CoworkRestore can only protect what it's been watching. Install it, point it at the folders that matter, and it covers you from that moment forward.