Agents3 min read
Claude Duet works in the background and messages you first
Anthropic has launched Claude Duet, an AI agent that completes a task with several steps for you, not just one answer, and can reach out to you without waiting for a prompt. It connects to your email, calendar and business apps, sends a morning briefing, and flags anything that needs a decision.
Anthropic announced Claude Duet on 21 October, a new AI agent (AI that completes a task with several steps for you, not just one answer) that monitors your connected apps, prepares a daily briefing, and messages you first when something needs your attention. It runs in the cloud, so it keeps working even after you close your laptop.
What happened
Claude Duet is built on Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 model and is designed for professionals and small-business owners who manage many tasks at once. It launches as a research preview, with access granted through a waitlist. It is currently limited to Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the United States and is available on iOS, Android and the web at claude.ai.
Duet is not a regular chat window. It runs on a dedicated virtual computer with its own browser, which means it can navigate websites and work across services even when your device is off.
What it means for your work
- Each morning, Duet reviews your connected email and calendar accounts and sends you a short briefing of what needs attention.
- Throughout the day it checks connected apps every few hours and alerts you when a deadline is approaching or a decision is needed.
- It can draft replies, schedule meetings, prepare financial forecasts, build dashboards and create presentations.
- It supports more than 6,000 connectors and plugins through the Claude Marketplace, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Slack, QuickBooks and Stripe.
- It carries over the memory, skills (saved sets of instructions that teach AI to do one job your way), and connected apps already in your Claude account, so there is little setup.
- A Tasks tab shows what Duet is currently working on, and completed documents are available for review.
- Before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes a file, it asks for your approval.
- Payments go through Stripe's Link or Shopify's Shop Pay using single-use virtual cards.
- Duet does not see your passwords or logins when it connects to accounts.
What to do now
- Check that you have a Claude Pro ($20 per month or $200 per year) or Claude Max (from $100 per month) subscription in the United States. Claude Free, Team and Enterprise accounts are not eligible for this preview.
- Visit the official Claude Duet waitlist at claude.ai and register. Anthropic is admitting users in stages.
- Note that Duet's background checks count toward your existing Claude usage limits, so heavy use could exhaust your monthly allowance faster than usual.
- Be aware that Microsoft 365 integration is not available yet, and some connectors including Slack have limits at this stage, according to ThePCEnthusiast.
- Anthropic acknowledges that malicious instructions embedded in emails or websites can still pose risks, so review any action Duet proposes before approving it.
Anthropologic plans to expand access to Team and Enterprise users later, but has not announced a date for that broader rollout.
Duet checks accounts periodically rather than continuously, so it could miss an urgent message between checks. Anthropic also says the agent may occasionally misunderstand conversations or misjudge which tasks deserve immediate attention. These are known limits of the current research preview, as reported by MacRumors.
If you are already on Claude Pro or Max, joining the waitlist costs nothing extra during the preview period.