Why this recipe exists
Most people use AI like a vending machine: paste something in, get one answer, walk away. Next week, you paste it in again. That works, but it means you're hand-feeding the machine every single time.
There's a better way that almost nobody new to AI knows about. You can hand Claude a folder — the actual folder on your computer where your reports already live — and let it read the files in place. Set it up once. After that, every Monday you just drop the new sales export in the folder and say "do the usual," and Claude reads it without you dragging anything anywhere. The same goes for the folder where your supplier invoices pile up as PDFs.
This is the difference between using AI and setting up AI to work for you. It's the first real step toward what Expo does at the data level — your numbers, connected once, ready whenever you ask. More on connecting your restaurant's data to AI.
What you'll need
Total time: 15 minutes (one-time setup; about two minutes a week after that)
You'll need a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) and the Claude Desktop app — Cowork is the part of the desktop app that can work with your files. It runs on Mac and Windows. (Not the website, not the phone app.)
You'll also need a folder on your computer you already use — wherever your weekly POS exports and your supplier invoice PDFs end up. If they're scattered, take two minutes first and put them in one folder.
The recipe
Step 1. Open Claude Cowork and switch to Tasks. Open the Claude Desktop app. At the top you'll see a switch between "Chat" and "Cowork" — click Cowork. (If you don't see it, you may need to update the app or be on a paid plan; Cowork is paid-plans only.) This is the mode that can touch your files.
Step 2. Point Claude at your folder. Tell Claude to work in a folder, and pick the folder where your reports and invoices live. That's the whole "connection" — there's nothing to install, no setup file to edit, no terminal. From now on, Claude can read, and create files inside, that one folder. It can't see anything outside it.
Step 3. Write one standing instruction — this is the reusable part. When you select a folder, Claude lets you add a folder instruction: a note that applies every time you work in that folder. This is the trick that turns a one-time task into a weekly habit. Write something like: "I run 3 restaurants. This folder holds my weekly sales exports and my supplier invoice PDFs. When I add a new sales export, tell me three things: worst store and why, best store and what's worth copying, and any number odd enough to warrant a phone call. Use store names." You wrote that prompt once. You will never write it again — it lives with the folder.
Step 4. Run your two reads. Now point Claude at what's already in the folder. For the sales read: "Read this week's sales export and give me the three things." (Your folder instruction means you don't even have to spell out what you want.) For the invoice price-check: "Look at this month's supplier invoice PDFs and tell me which items went up in price compared to last month, and by how much." That second one is the read nobody does by hand — invoices are PDFs that pile up unread, and a quiet 8% bump from one supplier is exactly the kind of thing that eats your margin without anyone noticing. Next week: drop the new files in the folder, say "do the usual." Done.
A few honest notes
Claude only sees the folder you pick. It can't reach anything else on your computer. If a folder has something sensitive in it you'd rather it not read, keep that somewhere else and connect a cleaner folder.
You stay in control. Claude shows you what it's about to do, and you can set it to ask before each action while you're getting comfortable. It will always ask before deleting anything.
And this is a read, not a crystal ball. Claude is telling you what changed in numbers you already have — last week's sales, this month's prices. It is not predicting next week. The judgment call is still yours; this just gets you to the call faster.
Notes from the Kitchen
Do I need to be technical to set this up?
No. There's no setup file, no terminal, and nothing to install beyond the Claude Desktop app. You pick a folder from a normal folder picker, the same way you'd attach a file to an email. If you can find a folder on your computer, you can do this.
What's the difference between this and just dragging a file into the chat?
Dragging works for a one-off. Connecting a folder is for the thing you do every week. You set it up once, write your instruction once, and after that you just drop new files in the folder — no dragging, and Claude already knows what you want done. It's the difference between feeding the machine each time and setting it up to feed itself.
Is my data safe? Can Claude change my files?
Claude can only read and write inside the folder you connect — nothing else on your computer. It shows you its plan before acting, you can make it ask permission before each step, and it will always ask before deleting anything. Code it runs happens in an isolated space, separate from your operating system. For data you'd rather it never see, keep that outside the folder you connect.
Can it really read PDFs, or just spreadsheets?
Both. That's the point of the invoice example — supplier invoices usually arrive as PDFs, and Claude reads them the same way it reads a spreadsheet export. You can mix file types in one folder.
What does this have to do with what Expo does?
Same idea, bigger. This recipe connects one folder to AI by hand. Expo connects all your data — POS, labor, inventory, across every location — so you can just ask questions and get answers, without setting up folders or hand-feeding anything. Connecting a folder is the manual, one-restaurant version of what Expo does automatically across your whole operation. How connecting your restaurant's data to AI works.