Workbranch › Guides

How to use Claude Research

A single web search is fine for a quick fact, but some questions need Claude to dig through many sources before it answers. Research does that. Here's how to switch it on, what to expect from it and how to keep it within your limits.

Updated 30 October 2026

These steps were checked against Anthropic's help pages on 30 October 2026. Claude's menus change often, so labels may differ slightly as of your visit.

What Research does differently

With ordinary web search, Claude typically makes one or two searches and answers. In Research mode it plans an investigation: it runs several searches that build on each other, decides what to look at next based on what it has found, and works through open questions one by one. Anthropic puts a typical Research run at about one to three minutes and five or more tool calls.

The result is a longer, in-depth answer that pulls several sources together, with those sources cited so you can check them. It's a good fit for things like comparing competitors, preparing background for a proposal, or gathering what your email and calendar say about a project. For a quick fact, plain web search is faster and cheaper on your limits.

Turn on Research

1. Open a chat on Claude on the web, Claude Desktop or the Claude mobile app.
2. Check that web search is switched on. Research doesn't work without it.
3. Click the + button at the bottom left of the message box.
4. Select Research. A blue indicator appears at the bottom of the chat window to show it's active.
5. Type your question and send it. Be specific about the scope, for example "Compare the pricing and refund policies of the five biggest project-management tools for small teams."
6. To go back to normal answers, click the blue indicator again.

Research with your own tools

Research doesn't stop at the web. It also searches the connectors you've switched on for the chat, such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs, or any other connector you've added. Our guide to adding connectors to Claude covers how to set those up.

• No approval prompts during Research. While researching, Claude calls connector tools on its own, without asking you each time. Before you start, switch off any connector tools that can write, edit or delete data in another app.
• Mobile is web-only. On the Claude mobile app, Research searches only the web and quietly skips your connectors, with no warning. Start the research on the web or in Claude Desktop if you need your own data included.
• No local servers. MCP servers configured locally in Claude Desktop can't be used by Research.

Good to know

• Plans: Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. It works on the web, in Claude Desktop and in Claude Mobile.
• Model: Research runs on Claude Opus 5.5 and falls back to Claude Opus 4.8 when needed, regardless of the model selected in the chat. On Team and Enterprise, if an admin has turned off both of those models for your role, Research won't work until one is enabled again.
• Usage limits: Research counts against the same limits as normal chats, but because it reads many sources and writes long answers, it uses them up faster. If you often run out, see our guide to Claude usage limits.
• Check the sources. Citations let you open what Claude relied on. It's worth doing before you reuse figures from a report.

If it doesn't work

• There's no Research option. You're probably on the free plan, or web search is off. Turn on web search first; if Research still isn't there, check your plan.
• Claude answers without researching. Ask for it in so many words, such as "Please use the research tool to…"
• Your connectors were ignored. If you're on mobile, rerun it on the web or in Claude Desktop. Otherwise, name the source you want Claude to look in, for example a specific Drive folder or mailbox.
• Research fails at work. Ask your Team or Enterprise admin whether Opus 5.5 or Opus 4.8 is enabled for your role.

Keep the findings once the report is done

A Research report usually leaves you with things to do and questions to follow up, and those are easy to lose in a long chat. If you use the Workbranch connector for Claude, say "save this to Workbranch" and Claude files the report's tasks, decisions, open questions and ideas into a project, sorted by topic, where you can add due dates and tick them off.

Sources

• Use research on Claude (Claude Help Center, checked 30 October 2026)
• When should I use web search, extended thinking, and research? (Claude Help Center, checked 30 October 2026)
• Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP (Claude Help Center, checked 30 October 2026)

Frequently asked questions