How do these two kinds of "ask" differ inside Scheduled Tasks?
Per the changelog, a tool your organization's approval policy marks "ask" makes a scheduled run show an approval prompt and wait (Oct 8), while an MCP tool its server marks as needing a person asks only on the in-app card and the Scheduled Task goes on without those calls (Oct 22). The first stops and waits; the second carries on without the call.
Why is the Storage page worth noticing?
It is the official place to see how much local disk space Claude uses and to remove inactive Cowork tasks and Code sessions. The changelog does not detail what exactly is deleted, nor how it divides work with the automatic cleanup under the HIPAA configuration, so confirm you no longer need a task before removing it.
Does a skipped call leave any notice?
The changelog says only that Scheduled Tasks "go on without those calls" and does not say whether anything is recorded or notified. That is a gap in the documentation, so do not assume. In practice, compare the task's output to see whether content those tools should have produced is missing.
What should I check now?
List Scheduled Tasks that call MCP tools and find which tools their servers mark as needing a person. Compare those tasks' recent output for gaps. Update the desktop app to the latest version, and use the Storage page rather than deleting folders by hand when you need space. HIPAA-configured organizations should note the automatic cleanup rules for local tasks.
The official Cowork changelog recorded several desktop updates between October 20 and 22 (v3.1623.0, v3.6556.1 and others). Two items deserve to be pulled out: a new Storage page, and how Scheduled Tasks handle certain MCP tools.
v3.1623.0 added Storage to Settings. It shows the disk space Claude uses and lets you free up space by removing inactive Cowork tasks and Code sessions. A low-disk-space warning opens it, and so does typing /storage in Cowork or Code. It is not yet available on third-party deployments.
The v3.6556.1 wording is that MCP tools their server marks as needing a person now ask only on the in-app card, so their notifications have no Allow button, and scheduled tasks go on without those calls. Note how this differs from the October 8 behavior: for tools your organization's approval policy marks "ask," a scheduled run shows a prompt and waits.
The same release fixed Claude not finding plugins and skills in scheduled tasks and other tasks not open on screen (except in third-party deployments). /schedule was removed from the slash menu; typing it now fills in a request to schedule the task, like the Schedule button. Two more fixes cover the failed-workspace-start notice sometimes not appearing, and tasks started from a Plugin setup card, a connector's suggested prompts or an onboarding suggestion being silently dropped after the workspace failed to start.
v3.1623.0 fixed recently opened tasks being removed by the automatic local cleanup after an app restart for organizations with the Claude Code + Cowork HIPAA configuration. It also fixed global instructions sometimes reverting to an earlier version after an older task was archived, deleted, cleaned up or continued.
If your scheduled tasks call MCP connectors, check whether any tool is marked by its server as needing a person: those steps now do not wait for you, they are skipped, so a result may be missing a piece without an error. The changelog does not say whether a skipped call is recorded or notified, so compare the task's actual output. The Storage page is the official entry point for clearing local space, and if your organization applies the HIPAA configuration, automatic cleanup of local tasks follows its own rules.