You can read a doc while it is still being written, which changes how the wait feels.
Claude types into the page with a named cursor, the same labelled caret you see when a colleague is in a shared document. Structure lands first: headings appear while their sections are still empty, then the detail fills in underneath.
That ordering is worth naming because it changes how the wait feels. You can read the outline and judge whether the shape is right before any of the prose exists, and stop it early if it is not.
The session panel tells you what it did
Opening the conversation gives a two-panel view: the session on the left, the live doc on the right. The left panel narrates in plain language rather than jargon. A real run read: read 4 files, used Claude Docs integration, loaded tools. Then: now appending the remaining sections at the end of the doc. Then: wrote the guide into the doc and replied in the thread there.
A hint appears above the composer offering exactly this, with an Add to message button. On a long document it is worth taking. You get an outline to argue with before the prose is written, which is cheaper than reading three pages and then asking for a restructure.
You know what the wait looks like
- Structure first, detail second
- The panel narrates the work in plain words
- A plan can be requested up front
Next: tabs, and keeping one doc from sprawling.