Anthropic has launched a new platform called Labs. In short, it is a space where you can try out Claude's experimental capabilities before they become part of the main product.
What is Anthropic Labs and Its Purpose
What Labs Is and Why It Matters 🧪
The idea is simple: developers are constantly testing new features for Claude, but not all of them make it into the final version immediately. Previously, these developments stayed within the company. Now, Anthropic has decided to show them to users in advance – to get feedback and understand what is actually useful, and what needs more work or should be shelved.
Labs functions as a separate section on the Claude website. Features that aren't yet ready for a mass launch, but are stable enough for testing, are posted there. You can try them out, rate them, and send feedback – and this input directly influences which functions eventually become part of the product.
Extended Thinking: The First Experimental Feature
The First Feature: Extended Thinking
Along with the launch of Labs, Anthropic immediately added its first experimental capability: Extended Thinking. The gist is that before answering, the model can explicitly “think” – formulating internal reasoning that is usually hidden from the user.
Simply put, Claude reveals its thought process. This helps in tasks where accuracy and step-by-step logic are key: programming, math, and complex data analysis. You see not only the final answer, but also how the model reached it – what intermediate conclusions it drew, what it took into account, and where it might have made a mistake.
Such transparency is useful for debugging: if the model made an error, you can understand at what stage and why. Or verify that the logic is sound, even if the result seems unexpected at first glance.
How Extended Thinking Works on Anthropic Labs
How It Works in Practice
Extended Thinking is available in the free version of Claude with some restrictions, and in paid plans (Pro and Team) with broader access. To use the feature, you need to go to the Labs section on the website and activate it in the chat settings.
After that, when responding to a complex query, Claude can unfold its reasoning. This takes more time and tokens than a standard response, but gives you more control and understanding in return.
Why Anthropic Shows Unfinished Features in Labs
Why Show Unfinished Features at All?
Previously, companies more often operated according to the “make → release → observe reaction” scheme. Now, more and more projects are moving to a more open model, especially in the field of AI. The reason is simple: technologies are developing rapidly, and guessing what exactly will prove useful is becoming harder.
Labs allows Anthropic to test hypotheses on real users without risking the stability of the main product. If a feature turns out to be in demand – it will be refined and added to Claude. If not – they can calmly abandon the idea or rethink the approach.
For users, this is an opportunity to influence the development of the tool they use. And at the same time – to gain access to new capabilities before others.
What's Next for Anthropic Labs Features
What's Next
Anthropic isn't specifying exactly which features will appear in Labs in the future. But judging by the platform's logic, all sorts of experiments will end up there: from improvements in text processing to new modes of working with context or integrations.
An important point: Labs is not a beta version of Claude. The main product remains stable, and experimental features reside separately. If something breaks or doesn't work as expected, it won't affect the normal use of the model.
Overall, the approach looks logical: let people try something new, gather feedback, and refine based on it. And not pretend that everything is already perfect when it isn't.