What is Claude Duet? What Anthropic's proactive agent does
A separate Claude app that sends a morning brief, watches your connected accounts, runs tasks on its own cloud computer and asks before it sends, pays, signs or deletes.
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Claude Duet is an Anthropic app in which Claude starts the conversation instead of waiting for a prompt. It reviews the apps you connect, tells you what needs attention, takes on tasks you hand it and keeps working on a cloud computer after you close the app. Anthropic opened it as a research preview on Oct 21, 2026, for Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US, by waitlist.
Facts come from Anthropic's announcement and press coverage, linked under Sources. For a price comparison with xAI's agent, see Claude Duet vs Grok Bot.
Short answer
- Claude Duet is a proactive agent in its own app on iOS, Android and claude.ai. It sends a morning brief, checks connected accounts every few hours and messages you when something needs a decision.
- It is aimed at professionals and small business owners: inbox and calendar triage, invoices, payroll, job posts, contracts, forecasts, decks and dashboards.
- Tasks run on a virtual machine with its own browser, so your phone or laptop can be off.
- It asks before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything. Trading securities and moving money between accounts are blocked even with approval.
- It has no separate price. It is included in Claude Pro ($20.00 a month) and Max ($100.00 or $200.00) and draws on the same usage limits as the rest of Claude.
What Claude Duet is
The regular Claude app answers when you write to it. Claude Duet writes first. Each morning it sends a short brief on the most important items across your connected apps, and during the day it messages you only when something needs your attention. You reply by text or voice in one ongoing thread, so a one-line answer and a week-long project start in the same place. You can open separate channels for different topics, and they share the same memory.
Anthropic built it around Claude Opus 5.5 and describes judgment as the main skill it needs: deciding what needs you, what can wait and when to check before acting. Setup is short because Claude Duet carries over the memory, skills and connected apps from your Claude account, and it can search your past conversations.
Claude can already run scheduled tasks in Cowork. Claude Duet decides by itself what to bring to you, without a task or schedule being set first. For now it lives in its own app, separate from the main Claude app.
What you can use it for
Anthropic's examples run from small admin jobs to larger projects. Through the more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace, Claude Duet can:
| Job | Example from Anthropic |
|---|---|
| Messages | Find Gmail and Slack messages you missed and draft replies |
| Billing | Check QuickBooks or Stripe for unpaid invoices and draft reminders |
| Payroll | Prepare and run payroll in Gusto with hours, bonuses and reimbursements filled in |
| Hiring | Draft a job post and publish it to LinkedIn after you edit and approve it |
| Contracts | Prepare agreements and send them for signature through Docusign |
| Sales | Draft follow-up emails from the contact and deal history in HubSpot |
| Marketing | Turn a product launch into a social campaign in Canva |
| Online store | Set up, design and manage a Shopify store |
| Purchases | Buy things for the business with Stripe's Link wallet or Shop Pay |
Larger jobs come back as files you can review and edit, such as a research brief, a financial or sales forecast, a slide deck, a dashboard, a prototype or a web app. For sites that have no connector, it uses its own browser in the cloud.
Anthropic's own staff describe handing it a to-do list. One talks through his list with it on walks, another hands it off before leaving work and reads the results in an evening report, and the team that builds Claude Duet uses it to schedule user interviews and work on prototypes.
How Claude Duet works
- Cloud computer. Claude Duet has a virtual machine with its own browser. You describe a task in a short message, it decides which apps to use and what steps to take, and you get a notification when the work is done or needs review.
- Scheduled checks. It looks at connected accounts every few hours instead of continuously, because constant checking would use up plan limits much faster. You can tell it what to report and how often.
- Tasks and Make tabs. The Tasks tab tracks ongoing work and shows what needs you. Finished files appear in the Make tab. Only you can mark a task as finished.
- Shared context. It uses the same memory, skills and connectors as your Claude account, so you do not set them up twice.
Approvals and safety
Claude Duet reads, drafts and prepares work on its own. Before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows the exact action and waits for your approval. Some actions are blocked even with approval, including trading securities and moving money between accounts. You can disconnect any app it has access to.
Other safeguards Anthropic lists:
- Credentials follow the design used for Claude Managed Agents, so Claude Duet does not see your passwords or sign-in tokens.
- Actions are checked by the same auto mode classifier that Claude and Claude Code use.
- A dedicated classifier checks each outgoing message and refuses to share card numbers or government ID. Health or personal finance details are sent only when you explicitly ask.
- Defenses against prompt injection come from Anthropic's browser-use research. Red teams and an outside firm tested the system, and it is covered by Anthropic's public bug bounty.
- Payments through Link use a virtual card, so your real card number is not shared, and Link asks you to approve each spend.
Claude Duet price and access
| Plan | Monthly price | Claude Duet |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Free | $0 | Not named in the announcement |
| Claude Pro | $20.00, or $16.67 on annual billing | Included in the preview, by waitlist |
| Claude Max 5x | $100.00 | Included in the preview, by waitlist |
| Claude Max 20x | $200.00 | Included in the preview, by waitlist |
| Claude Team | $25.00 per seat | Not available yet |
Access starts with Pro and Max subscribers in the US, and invitations go out in waves. Anthropic gives no date for other countries or for Team and Enterprise plans.
Claude Duet shares the plan's usage limits with chat and Claude Code. Background checks count toward them, and larger jobs such as a financial model or a deck take more model turns. Anthropic does not publish how much a single check or task uses, and 9to5Mac reports Anthropic's note that background work can bring you to the limit sooner than chat alone.
For reference, Claude Opus 5.5 on Anthropic's API costs $4.00 input and $20.00 output per 1M tokens. The Claude Duet vs Grok Bot article converts each plan fee into tokens at that rate.
Known limits
Anthropic lists these for the preview:
- It may misread a thread or misjudge what is urgent.
- Its core is built around work, so personal errands such as booking tickets are weaker.
- You cannot watch its browser yet.
- It lives in a separate app from the main Claude app.
- Signing in with logins saved in 1Password and a visual Shopify storefront editor are listed as coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
What is Claude Duet?
An Anthropic app in which Claude works as a proactive agent. It sends a morning brief, checks your connected apps every few hours, handles tasks on its own cloud computer and asks before acting on your behalf.
Is Claude Duet free?
It has no separate fee. During the research preview it is included in Claude Pro ($20.00 a month) and Claude Max, and it uses the same usage limits as the rest of Claude.
Who can use Claude Duet, and is there a waitlist?
Pro and Max subscribers in the US, through a waitlist. Team and Enterprise plans are not supported yet, and no other countries have been announced.
Which model does Claude Duet use?
Anthropic says it is designed around Claude Opus 5.5.
What can Claude Duet do without asking?
It can read, draft and prepare work. Sending messages, payments, signatures and deletions need your approval, and trading securities or moving money between accounts are blocked.
Does Claude Duet keep working when my phone is off?
Yes. Tasks run on a virtual machine with its own browser, and you get a notification when a task is done or needs review.
How is Claude Duet different from the Claude app?
The Claude app responds to prompts. Claude Duet decides what to bring to you, checks accounts on its own schedule and keeps working in the background, using the same memory, skills and connectors.
Sources
Read on Oct 22, 2026. Plan prices are USD per month and exclude taxes.