Claude Duet: an assistant that works without you, for now US only

What happened: On 21 October 2026 Anthropic announced Claude Duet, a new app where Claude works as a proactive agent. It doesn't wait for your question: it follows your connected email and calendar, works on its own cloud computer and keeps going after you close the app. It is a research preview for paid Pro and Max plans, US only for now, and available through a waitlist. Team and Enterprise plans are not included yet. The app runs on iOS, Android and the web at claude.ai.

What it means for you: Duet moves AI from "I answer when you ask" to "I prepare before you ask". According to Anthropic's description it can, for example:

• Morning brief — go through your email and calendar, flag priorities and prepare draft replies for your review
• Invoice watch — through the Stripe integration, find unpaid invoices and suggest a reminder
• Bigger jobs — deliver a research brief, financial model or slide deck as an editable file
• Task overview — a Tasks tab shows what is in progress and what waits for you. Only a human can mark a task as done.

Duet uses the same memories, skills and connectors as regular Claude, so if your connectors are already set up, you don't start from zero.

In practice, routine "watching" work that you now do by hand several times a day can move to the agent, leaving you only the decisions. How much time you save depends on how carefully you review the results.

For readers outside the US this is mostly a preview of where personal assistants are heading. OpenAI is going the same way with its "Dots" in ChatGPT.

How to get started:

1. Check that you have a Pro or Max plan and live where Duet is available.
2. Join the waitlist at claude.com/product/claude-duet. Invitations arrive in waves.
3. Once invited, read the "Get started with Claude Duet" help article and connect only the services you really need.
4. Start with one channel, such as the morning brief, and check the results for a few days.

What to watch out for:

• AI proposes, you approve. According to Anthropic, Duet asks before sending a message, making a payment, signing or deleting. Don't switch approvals off, and read every payment and outgoing message.
• It can be wrong. Anthropic itself says it may misread a thread, misjudge urgency or miss a message that arrives between check-ins.
• Background work counts toward your plan's limits, so you may reach them sooner than with ordinary chat.
• Check what it may read. Connect email and payments only once you know what data the agent will see.