The Cowork Custom Setup: AI for Your Family History Research

You have decades of research and a disorganization you can't face. The Custom Cowork Setup is a private working session where we install AI into your family history work — on your files, at your keyboard in an online session — and you leave with a working system, a documented ancestor, and the recording.

This exists for one kind of person: the family historian who wants AI set up right the first time and has no interest in trying to figure it out through trial and error.

What happens in the session

We start with what you actually have. While Claude transcribes a set of your record images in the background, we build your working structure around your real research — your folders, your project, your instructions. Then we run the research-direction check on one ancestor: where that research stands, and what would move it. By the end, the transcripts are done, the system exists, and you've watched your own records become working material.

You drive the whole time. I never touch your machine. Everything we build is on your computer, in your accounts, in your control — and the recording of what we did together is yours, so you can rewatch any part of it.

Three months later, we meet again for a tune-up: what's working, what drifted, what's the next thing you want AI to do for your family history. That session is included.

What you leave with

A working AI setup built around your own family history work — not a demo, not an example file, not a bunch of power point slides, yours. One ancestor's records transcribed and organized. A clear read on where that ancestor's research stands. The full session recording. And the ability to run the same workflow on the next ancestor yourself.

That last part matters most. We do the first ancestor together so you can do the rest alone. The workflow you learn isn't loyal to any one tool and it transfers to another AI tool in the future if you want to transfer. Right now, Claude Cowork is the best option there is for this work, and that's what we'll use.

What this is not

It's not a course. There are no modules, no homework, nothing to fall behind on. This session leaves you with a running system. If you want general AI training first, Anthropic provides basic training for free.

It's not client work. I don't research or write your family history for you. The session works with you to set up your system. The research and the writing are still yours to do.

It's not for professionals building a practice. The Setup serves personal family history work. Professional and organizational use runs under a separate named-researcher license — the application asks you your purpose.

Who it's for

Family historians with real accumulated research — images, transcriptions, binders, a tree — who want AI doing the heavy work of transcription, organization, and research direction without spending six months learning software first. If you've watched the webinars, collected the prompts, and still don't have a system running on your own files, this is where that gets done.

Limited appointments available and only by application. The application takes a few minutes and tells you the price up front. If it's not a fit, I'll let you know.

Apply for the Cowork Custom Setup →

Questions

Is this fee per ancestor?
No. We set up your system and run the first ancestor together so you can run every other ancestor yourself. The session buys the system and the skill of using it, not one work on one ancestor.

Do you access my computer?
Never. You share your screen during the Zoom session so I can direct you effectively.

What do I need before the session?
A computer you're comfortable on, a Claude paid subscription, and digital images of records for one ancestor. The confirmation email covers the details.

What if AI tools change next year?
The workflow transfers. You're learning a way of working — structure, instructions, review — not only a piece of software. Tools will keep improving; your system rides along.

Is there follow-up?
Yes — a tune-up session three months later is included, and Setup alumni get first word on everything built next.