Claude Cowork

Overview

Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic AI for knowledge work. You give it a goal and it works across your computer, local files, and connected apps to return a finished deliverable, which makes it a natural fit for GTM research, list building, and account prep. ZoomInfo ships as a plugin in Anthropic's official marketplace, so one command brings the hosted MCP server and our GTM skills into Cowork. Authentication is OAuth, with no developer app to register and no client secret to paste.

Cowork runs in the Claude desktop app and is available on any paid Claude plan.

Setup

claude plugin install zoominfo@claude-plugins-official

Next - run your first session. Once Cowork can see ZoomInfo, paste this to kick off a first session. It orients from your GTM context and only runs after you approve:

(Use the ZoomInfo MCP tools if available; otherwise use the GTM CLI. Use the tool schema or CLI help for supported commands.)

I just connected ZoomInfo. Help me complete the job below.

1. Read my saved business context with get_gtm_context, or the CLI equivalent. This read is free. Use the returned offerings, ICP, and role to frame the work. If context is missing, continue with the information we have. Save changes only if I explicitly ask; a first briefing does not require updating shared business context.

2. Prepare a connected account briefing. Ask me only which company or domain to brief if I haven't named one. Use the account and decision already in this conversation when available. Connect the account's available CRM history, including stage and status, with recent customer conversations and external buying signals. Use Account Research, and add Browse Engagements, Conversation Intelligence, or company signals when the briefing needs more evidence.
   Return a short briefing: where things stand, what changed, what remains unresolved, and one recommended next action. Cite the source and date for each material fact when returned. Distinguish the recommendation from the evidence.
   If the **Account Research** skill is available, use it for the briefing. Otherwise, use the available ZoomInfo tools described above.

3. Before calling a tool, check its schema or documented inputs rather than guessing at parameters. Ask only for missing inputs, in a single message, then name the tools and give a credit estimate if supported by their documentation. Label it as an estimate: actual charges depend on records and work done. Ask for approval once before paid research, then complete the selected job.

If a tool call comes back "No approval received" or a similar permission response, say so plainly, name the tool, and continue with the remaining steps. Don't retry the same call hoping for a different result, and don't invent an approval that didn't happen.

Include a source-coverage note of no more than 3 lines. Separate an unavailable or unauthorized source from a successful search with no matching records. If connection status is unknown, say so. Never infer "no customer history" from an empty result. Continue with available evidence and identify what is missing; use https://gtm.ai/guides/connect-customer-context for source setup.

Recommend CRM changes as drafts. Applying them requires an available, separately connected CRM workflow and my authorization. Do not claim a CRM update was made by ZoomInfo research tools.

What the Plugin Adds

The plugin bundles the hosted MCP server at https://mcp.zoominfo.com/mcp plus a set of GTM skills, prewritten workflows that turn the underlying tools into finished output: account briefs, target lists, buying-committee maps, lead scores, meeting prep, and more. Describe the outcome you want and Cowork selects the skill that fits, then works the task end to end.

For the full skill list, see the Claude Code setup guide, which uses the same plugin.

How Cowork Uses ZoomInfo

Cowork reads the ZoomInfo tool and skill descriptions and picks what fits the goal you set. Because Cowork runs multi-step work on its own, a single prompt can chain several ZoomInfo calls: find similar companies, pull the buying committee, enrich the contacts, then assemble the result into a document or spreadsheet on your machine.

Research tools and skills synthesize large payloads before returning a summary, which keeps long-running tasks manageable. Each enrichment record consumed counts against your bulk data credits, the same as every other client.

Troubleshooting

claude plugin install can't find the plugin: update the Claude desktop app to a recent version. Older builds predate plugin support and the official marketplace.

ZoomInfo won't authenticate: re-open the connector and trigger Authenticate again. If the browser never opened, check that nothing is blocking your default browser from launching.

Cowork doesn't use ZoomInfo: confirm the connector shows as connected. Naming ZoomInfo in your prompt ("use ZoomInfo to research this account") biases Cowork toward the connector when a task could be answered other ways.

The connection stops working after a few hours: your ZoomInfo session may have expired. Reconnect to refresh it.

Credit errors on enrichment or research calls: MCP requires bulk data credits. Confirm with your ZoomInfo admin that your account has bulk credits enabled, not recurring monthly credits.

What's Next

For the coding-agent sibling that uses the same plugin, see Claude Code. For the full tool reference, see the MCP Tools documentation.