--- id: artifacts lang: en title: "Artifacts" seoTitle: "What are Claude Artifacts?" description: "What Claude Artifacts are: documents, tables, and small apps you can keep, edit, and reuse in their own panel, instead of answers that scroll away in chat." part: getting-started-with-claude partTitle: "Getting started with Claude" partOrder: 2 order: 4 level: Beginner durationMinutes: 4 outcome: "Use artifacts to get work you can keep and reuse, not just an answer in the chat." summary: "An artifact is work Claude builds in its own panel, a document, table, or small app, that you can keep, edit, and reuse, instead of an answer that scrolls away." draft: false updated: "2026-07-26" furtherReading: - title: "What are artifacts and how do I use them?" url: "https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9487310-what-are-artifacts-and-how-do-i-use-them" note: "Anthropic's full guide: what counts, editing, versions, export." - title: "Publish and share artifacts" url: "https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9547008-publish-and-share-artifacts" note: "How to save an artifact to your sidebar and share it." - title: "Create AI apps without writing code" url: "https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11649427-use-artifacts-to-visualize-and-create-ai-apps-without-ever-writing-a-line-of-code" note: "Turning an artifact into a small working app." - title: "Artifacts are now generally available" url: "https://www.anthropic.com/news/artifacts" note: "The background on what artifacts are for." keywords: - Claude Artifacts - what are Artifacts - Claude build app - Claude documents - edit with Claude - Claude side panel quiz: intro: "Four quick questions. Ace them all and the next lesson unlocks." passScore: 4 questions: - q: "What is the real difference between a normal reply and an artifact?" options: - "An artifact is just a longer reply" - "An artifact is self-contained work in its own panel that you can keep, edit, and reuse" - "An artifact costs extra every time" - "There is no difference" answer: 1 explain: "A reply lives in the chat and scrolls away. An artifact opens in its own panel as a standalone thing, a document, table, or small app, that you can edit in place, version, download, and come back to." - q: "Which of these is the best moment to ask for an artifact?" options: - "You want a one-line factual answer" - "You want a reusable checklist you will edit and keep" - "You are just chatting" - "You want Claude to explain a concept" answer: 1 explain: "Ask for an artifact when you want something to keep and reuse: a checklist, a template, a one-pager, a small tool. For a quick answer, a normal reply is fine." - q: "Claude has made an artifact and you want to change it. What do you do?" options: - "Start a whole new chat from scratch" - "Just tell Claude what to change; it updates the artifact in place, and keeps the versions" - "Copy it into Word and edit there" - "You cannot change an artifact once it is made" answer: 1 explain: "Ask for the change in plain words and Claude updates the panel, keeping earlier versions so you can flip back. For Markdown documents you can even highlight text and pick 'Edit with Claude' to change it right there." - q: "You want to keep an artifact in your sidebar and send it to a colleague. What is the step?" options: - "Take a screenshot" - "Click Publish on the artifact" - "Retype it into an email" - "Nothing; artifacts save and share themselves" answer: 1 explain: "Artifacts made in a chat do not save to your sidebar on their own. Click Publish to add it to your Artifacts section and get a link you can share (within your organisation on Team and Enterprise)." pass: badge: "Perfect score" title: "You can make Claude build things now." body: "Full marks. You know when to ask for an artifact, how to edit it, and how to keep and share it. Next up: giving Claude context, so its work fits your role and your world." retry: "Check the marked answers and give it another go. You've got this." --- > **Level:** Beginner · **Reading time:** ~4 min > > **What you'll be able to do:** get Claude to build work you can keep, edit, and reuse, instead of just an answer in the chat. Most of the time Claude replies in the chat, and the answer scrolls away as you keep talking. That is fine for a quick question. But when you want something you will **keep, edit, and use later**, a reply in a chat is the wrong shape. That is what artifacts are for. An **artifact** is a substantial, self-contained piece of work that Claude opens in **its own panel** beside the chat: a document, a table, a checklist, a diagram, or even a small working app. It sits there while you refine it, and you can download it or come back to it later. Think of the chat as the conversation and the artifact as **the thing you are actually making.**
A reply versus an artifact On the left, a normal reply: text that lives in the conversation and scrolls away, good for quick answers. On the right, an artifact: work in its own panel that you can edit, version, and download, and keep to reuse. A reply versus an artifact A reply Here is your checklist: 1. Do this 2. Then that… Lives in the conversation. Scrolls away as you chat. Good for quick answers. vs An artifact Edit Versions Download Keep it, edit it, reuse it.
## What Claude can build Artifacts cover a wide range. The common ones are **documents** (a report, a policy, a one-pager), **tables and checklists**, **diagrams and flowcharts**, **SVG images**, and small **single-page websites**. Claude can also build **little interactive tools**: a calculator, a quiz, a tracker, a simple game, even a small app that calls on Claude's own intelligence, all from a plain-language description, no coding on your part. Claude decides to make an artifact on its own when the content is **big enough and self-contained** (very roughly, more than a dozen lines and something you would want to reuse). You do not have to know the rule: if you want an artifact, **just ask for one.** "Make this a checklist I can keep" or "build me a one-page tool for X" does the job. *(One-time setup: artifacts need "Code execution and file creation" switched on in Settings, under Capabilities. If you never see a side panel appear, that toggle is usually why.)* ## Editing, keeping, and sharing The best part is that an artifact is **alive**, not a printout. To change it, **just tell Claude** ("make it shorter", "add a column for cost", "change the tone"), and it updates the panel in place, keeping the earlier **versions** so you can flip back. For a Markdown document you can go further: highlight the exact text and pick **Edit with Claude**, so you do not have to describe which bit you mean. In the corner of the panel you can **view the code, copy it, or download the file** to use anywhere. And when you want to keep an artifact or send it on, click **Publish**: that adds it to the **Artifacts** section in your sidebar and gives you a link. (On Team and Enterprise, sharing stays inside your organisation.) One thing to know: an artifact made in a chat does **not** save to your sidebar on its own, so if it is a keeper, publish it. ## When to ask for one The rule is simple. **If you will edit it, keep it, or use it outside the chat, ask for an artifact.** A checklist you will reuse each week, a template, a comparison table, a mockup to show a colleague, a small tool that does a repeated calculation: all artifacts. A quick fact or a one-line answer: just a reply. Reach for an artifact when you are **making something**, not just asking something. ## Try it Ask Claude: "Build me a one-page pre-meeting checklist as an artifact, the things I should prepare before any client call." Watch it open in the side panel. Now edit it without starting over: "add a section for questions to ask" and "make it fit on half a page". See the versions stack up as it changes. When you are happy, click **Publish** so it lands in your Artifacts sidebar, then reopen it tomorrow. That is the whole loop: make, refine, keep, reuse. It is how a chat turns into something you actually use at work. *(General exercise. Role and industry versions come once accounts are in.)* ## Key terms [Artifact](/glossary#artifact), [Claude](/glossary#claude), [Markdown](/glossary#markdown)