> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cogniagent.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Working with coworkers
> Your AI coworkers hand work to each other the way a team does — a sales coworker asks research for a profile, then writes the email from it.
Your coworkers hand work to each other, the way a team does.
## What it does
You don't do every part of your job yourself, and neither should one coworker. A sales coworker writing an outreach email needs a company profile. Your research coworker is already good at those.
With this on, the sales coworker can simply ask. It hands over the request, carries on with what it can do meanwhile, and picks up the answer when it arrives.
You can watch the whole exchange from either side.
## When you'd use it
* A sales coworker asks the research coworker for a company profile before writing an email
* An assistant hands a data question to the analyst and keeps drafting while it waits
* A support coworker escalates a technical question to a specialist and reports back what came out
* A coworker that found something outside its remit passes it to whoever owns that
* One coworker gathers, another writes, a third checks
## Turning it on
Open your coworker, choose **Capabilities**, and look under **Collaboration**.
> **Work with coworkers** — Delegate tasks to your other coworkers and follow up with them as the work goes on. Each delegation waits for your approval until you grant standing permission.
**This is off when you hire a coworker.** Both Collaboration switches are, and the tab says why: each one puts more than this coworker to work, and costs accordingly. Turn it on for coworkers that genuinely need help, not as a default.
## What it looks like
When a coworker wants to hand work over, you get an approval card first — who it wants to ask, and for what. Approve it and the handover happens; you can also grant standing permission so it stops asking every time.
After that, a **thread card** appears in the conversation showing the exchange. The same card appears in the other coworker's task, from its side. Neither conversation hides what the other is doing.
The card keeps you posted when something changes:
| Notice | What happened |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| **Finished** | The other coworker did the work and replied |
| **Needs input** | It's stuck on a question and waiting |
| **Stopped** | You stopped it from the other side |
| **Ran into a problem** | It hit an error and couldn't continue |
| **Ended without replying** | Its turn finished without an answer coming back |
That last one matters. Work handed over doesn't silently vanish — if nothing comes back, you're told.
## Good to know
**Specialists delegate better than generalists.** The value comes from the other coworker being genuinely better at the thing. Three focused coworkers that hand work around beat one that does everything adequately.
Every handover waits for your approval until you grant standing permission. Once you do, that coworker delegates freely and you still see every exchange.
Delegation costs more than a single coworker working alone, because two are now working. That's the trade — it's worth it when the second one is genuinely better at its part.
## Common questions
Yes. The thread card shows the exchange, and the other coworker's task is a normal task you can open and read in full.
The work queues and gets done. The card tells you it's waiting rather than pretending it finished.
They can, as long as each has the capability on. Keep an eye on it — a chain three deep is usually a sign the first coworker's job needs rethinking.
Delegation hands work to a **real coworker** you hired, with its own instructions and skills. [Dynamic workflows](/cowork/capabilities/dynamic-workflows) spins up temporary helpers for one big job, then discards them.
No. Grant standing permission the first time and it stops asking. You can withdraw that later.
## Next steps
See who works with whom.
Temporary helpers for one big job.
Granting standing permission.
Specialists worth delegating to.