Claude Duet: what Anthropic's new proactive AI agent does and how to join

Claude Duet is Anthropic's new research-preview app: an AI agent that watches your connected work apps, sends a morning brief, and does tasks in the background, then asks before it acts. It launched October 21, 2026, for US Claude Pro and Max subscribers through a waitlist, at no extra charge during the preview.

What is Claude Duet?

Anthropic describes Claude Duet as a proactive agent that works on your tasks, keeps going when you step away, and checks with you before acting for you. It is aimed at professionals and small business owners and runs on its own virtual machine with its own browser, so your phone or laptop doesn't need to stay on. If the term is new, see our plain-English guide to AI agents.

What can Claude Duet do?

According to Anthropic's announcement:

• Sends a short brief each morning on the most important items across your connected apps, then checks in every few hours and messages you only when something needs attention.
• Completes requests such as scheduling meetings or building dashboards, forecasts, prototypes and web apps.
• Works with connectors from the Claude Marketplace; Anthropic names Gmail, Slack, QuickBooks, Stripe, HubSpot, Shopify and others. Its help page says Microsoft 365 isn't available yet and Slack works with limits.
• Can pay for purchases through Stripe's Link wallet, which uses a virtual card, or Shop Pay.

For background on how agents plug into apps, see our explainer on MCP and Agent Skills.

How does Duet keep control of your accounts?

Before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, Duet shows what it plans to do and waits for approval. Some actions are blocked even with approval, including trading securities and moving money between accounts. Anthropic's help page also admits Duet can still be manipulated by hidden instructions in emails or web pages (prompt injection), which is why approvals matter. It also tells users to review drafts and approval requests before confirming, since Duet can make mistakes.

How much does Claude Duet cost, and how do you get it?

There is no separate price. Duet is included in Pro and Max and uses the same five-hour and weekly limits as chat. Background work such as the morning brief counts too, so you may hit limits sooner. Admitted users get one full limit reset, available until November 30, 2026.

To join, use the waitlist on the Claude Duet product page with the email tied to your Claude account. Invitations go out in waves, and Team and Enterprise plans are not included yet. It's available as an iOS and Android app and on claude.ai.

What are the limits?

Duet runs on Claude Opus 5.5 and you can't pick the model. You can't watch or take over its browser. It checks accounts at intervals, so urgent items may arrive late. It can't make calls or send texts, and Anthropic says personal errands such as booking tickets are weaker than work tasks.

What it means for you

• If you're on Pro or Max in the US: Join the waitlist, but start by connecting only the accounts you're comfortable with, and read every approval prompt.
• If you're on a Team or Enterprise plan: You'll have to wait; Anthropic hasn't given a date.
• If you watch usage limits: Background checks eat into the same allowance as your chats.
• Compared with chatbots: The shift is from answering when asked to acting on a schedule, which is useful for busy inboxes and riskier if you approve without reading.