Artifacts
Standalone outputs Claude generates in a side panel — code, HTML apps, React components, SVGs, or documents — that can be shared, iterated on, or embedded.
Artifacts are Claude's mechanism for generating substantial, standalone content that benefits from its own editing surface rather than appearing inline in the chat. When Claude creates an Artifact, it opens in a side panel with a live preview where applicable.
Artifact types include: - Code (any language, with syntax highlighting) - HTML pages (rendered live in the preview pane) - React components (interactive, rendered in the preview) - SVG graphics - Mermaid diagrams - Markdown documents
In 2026, Anthropic introduced VM-based Artifacts and Live Artifacts. Live Artifacts stay connected to live data sources and refresh automatically — useful for dashboards, KPI trackers, and content calendars that need current data. All Artifacts now run inside a sandboxed VM environment when code execution is enabled, replacing the original non-executable generation model.
Artifacts can be shared publicly (with a link), shared within an organisation on Team/Enterprise plans, or embedded on external websites.
Example
A user asks Claude to build a revenue dashboard. Claude creates a React Artifact with live chart components. The user shares the link with their team, who can interact with it directly without any deployment.