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Build analysis from browser charts and folder data

Pull your quarterly revenue from scattered board decks, then grab GDP and inflation data from FRED. Cowork creates a comparison chart showing how your growth stacks up against the macro environment.

15 minFinanceClaude Cowork

1. Describe the task

In Cowork, Claude reads files from your folders and pulls live data from the web in a single session. Point it at a folder of board decks and a data source like FRED. It extracts the revenue figures directly, no prep needed.

Tell Claude what comparison you're making and what format you want the deliverable in. Lead with the goal: a growth comparison for a board meeting. Set a clear boundary on the data (Q1 through Q4 2025) and say what the deliverable is and where Claude should save it. Brief Cowork the way you'd brief a capable colleague, with the outcome and the sources, then let it run. Claude builds the analysis and saves the finished file to your computer.

I'm preparing for our board meeting and need to show how our growth compares to the broader economy.

  • Pull our revenue figures Q1-Q4 2025 board decks
  • Using Claude in Chrome to open FRED in my browser and grab GDP growth and inflation for the same quarters.
  • Create a chart comparing our revenue growth to these economic indicators.
  • Save the chart and a summary to my desktop folder.

2. Give Claude context

Claude Cowork is a workspace in Claude, available on all paid plans in the Claude Desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux (beta), with sessions in the cloud in beta on web and mobile. Run locally, it reads your local files and connects to websites through Claude in Chrome. For this workflow, it extracts data from your PowerPoint decks and pulls live economic data from sites like FRED, then combines them into a single deliverable.

What to expect: After your initial prompt in Cowork, Claude may ask you questions, like what to focus on or how to structure the output, then build a plan you can review in the sidebar. This helps it work longer and produce a more finished result.

Required context

To get started:

  • Download Claude Desktop and start a Cowork session
  • Select Work in a folder in the chat bar and choose the folder containing your PowerPoint files, keeping it to just the decks this analysis needs, the same way the prompt keeps the data to Q1 through Q4 2025
  • Install Claude in Chrome and add it as a connector to pull live data from FRED

3. What Claude creates

Cowork extracts the revenue figures from each deck and produces a comparison chart with supporting analysis. Using the Claude in Chrome connector, Claude opens FRED in a new browser tab and pulls the economic indicators directly from the site, then combines everything into a single deliverable.

I've extracted the revenue data from your four board decks and pulled economic indicators from FRED. Here's the comparison:

Your Revenue (from board decks)

  • Q1 2025: $12.4M (+18% YoY)
  • Q2 2025: $14.2M (+22% YoY)
  • Q3 2025: $15.8M (+19% YoY)
  • Q4 2025: $17.1M (+16% YoY)

Full year: $59.5M, representing 19% average quarterly growth.

Economic Context (from FRED)

  • GDP Growth: 2.1% → 2.4% → 2.2% → 1.9% (averaging 2.2%)
  • Inflation (CPI): 3.2% → 3.0% → 2.8% → 2.6% (declining trend)

The Story

Your 19% average growth significantly outpaced the 2.2% GDP growth rate. You're growing roughly 9x faster than the broader economy.

Files Created

  • Revenue-vs-Economy-Chart.png — Comparison chart ready for your deck
  • Economic-Context-Summary.md — Talking points for the board discussion

4. Follow up prompts

Continue the conversation with Claude to refine, expand, or explore further.

Compare against multiple economic indicators

Add more context in one pass. Cowork pulls additional indicators from FRED and updates the chart with all of them.

"Add unemployment rate and consumer confidence to the comparison. Update the chart to show all four indicators against our revenue growth."

Extend to prior years

Show the longer trend. If you have older board decks, Cowork reads those too and builds a multi-year comparison.

"I also have 2024 and 2023 board decks in the archive folder. Pull those and extend the chart to show a 3-year trend of our growth vs the economy."

Create a board-ready slide

Go straight to the deliverable. Cowork creates a formatted PowerPoint slide with the chart and key takeaways.

"Create a single PowerPoint slide with the chart, the key numbers, and three bullet points I can use as talking points. Save it to my board-prep folder."

5. Tricks, tips, and troubleshooting

Claude in Chrome reads visual data

When you point Cowork at a chart in your browser, it extracts the underlying numbers, not just what's labeled. This works on dashboards, reports, and data tools that don't offer easy exports.

Local files plus web data in one workflow

The combination is the point. Cowork reads your scattered internal documents and pulls live web data in the same session, then merges them into a single output.

Everything saves to your folder

Charts, summaries, and slide decks land directly in your working folder. No downloading from chat, no extra steps.

Check the numbers before they reach the board

Before the chart goes into your deck, open one of the original board decks and confirm the extracted revenue figures match what's on the slide, and check that the FRED values line up with the quarters you asked for. A quick spot check now beats a correction in the meeting.

6. Ready to try for yourself?

Use Cowork to connect internal data with external context — and deliver the full picture.