Anthropic launches Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent, as research preview in the US
In short
Anthropic announced Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent built on Claude Opus 5.5, on October 21 US time. The research preview is open first to US Pro and Max subscribers, who join a waitlist, and runs in iOS and Android apps and on claude.ai. Japanese tech outlets said it asks for user approval before sending messages, making payments, signing documents or deleting data.
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Anthropic announced the proactive AI agent Claude Duet on October 21 US time and began a research preview, Mynavi News and Impress Watch reported. The preview is offered first to subscribers of the US Pro and Max plans, and people on the waitlist are to be invited in turn. Impress Watch gave the plan prices as 20 dollars for Pro and from 100 dollars for Max. Claude Duet is built on Claude Opus 5.5 and is available through iOS and Android apps and on claude.ai. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Unlike regular Claude, which answers questions and instructions, Claude Duet gathers information and sends messages to the user on its own, Gigazine reported. Mynavi News and Impress Watch said it sends a short morning brief of the most important items from connected apps and notifies the user during the day when something needs attention. It checks the apps every few hours rather than monitoring them in real time, and the user can set what they are told about and how often. Anthropic named busy professionals and small business owners as its main intended users. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Claude Duet inherits the memory, skills and connected apps of the user's Claude account, and the user can interact by text or voice. It runs on a virtual machine with its own browser, so it keeps working when the user's PC or phone is switched off and notifies the user when a task is done or needs confirmation. Tasks range from scheduling meetings to building dashboards, preparing financial and sales forecasts, prototyping and building web apps. Gigazine said it can draft emails that are not sent until the user allows it, and that the user can edit them. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
It can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in Claude Marketplace. Examples given by Mynavi News included checking unpaid invoices in QuickBooks or Stripe and drafting reminders, preparing payroll in Gusto, and sending contracts for signature through Docusign. Gigazine listed finding missed Gmail and Slack messages, posting a job ad to LinkedIn and making product launch material in Canva. [ 1 , 2 ]
Before sending messages, making payments, signing documents or deleting data, Claude Duet shows the task and waits for the user's approval. Securities trades and transfers between financial accounts are not carried out even with approval. For purchases it supports Stripe's Link wallet and Shopify's Shop Pay, Mynavi News said, and with Link it asks for approval and pays with a virtual card so the real card number is not shared. A new classifier and safety system prompt are meant to make it refuse requests to share items such as credit card numbers and government ID details. Health and personal financial information is shared only when the user explicitly instructs it, and the model does not directly see passwords or sign-in tokens. [ 1 , 3 ]
Mynavi News said Meta released its Muse agent in the US on September 8, that it topped the US App Store free app ranking above ChatGPT on September 18, and that Meta expanded its small business features on September 29. Impress Watch also named SpaceXAI's Grok bot and OpenAI's Dots among the growing number of always-on agents. Mynavi News said that during the preview Claude Duet shares the regular Claude usage allowance and that background checks consume it. Impress Watch said the company describes the product as an early version that may misread a conversation or misjudge urgency. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
Japanese tech outlets place Claude Duet among a growing group of always-on AI agents from other companies, including Meta's Muse. Mynavi News said Muse's launch has raised attention to personal agents that handle tasks such as bookings and purchases for users. The launch is a limited preview, so the documents give no basis yet for judging its wider effect.
Key facts
- Anthropic announced the proactive AI agent Claude Duet on October 21 US time and started a research preview. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The preview is offered first to US Pro and Max plan subscribers, with waitlist sign-ups invited in turn. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Claude Duet is built on Claude Opus 5.5 and is available through iOS and Android apps and the web (claude.ai). [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- It checks connected apps every few hours and notifies the user when something needs attention; users can set what they are told about and how often. [ 1 , 3 ]
- It runs on a virtual machine with its own browser, so it keeps working when the user's PC or phone is off. [ 1 , 3 ]
- It waits for user approval before sending messages, making payments, signing documents or deleting data, and does not carry out securities trades or transfers between accounts even if approved. [ 1 , 3 ]
- It can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins from Claude Marketplace. [ 1 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Anthropic announced Claude Duet as a research preview for US Pro and Max subscribers, based on Claude Opus 5.5. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Claude Duet inherits the user's Claude memory, skills and connected apps. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Claude Duet checks connected apps every few hours rather than continuously, and users can choose what they are notified about and how often. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Claude Duet asks for user approval before sending messages, making payments, signing documents or deleting data, and cannot carry out securities trades or transfers between accounts even with approval. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Claude Duet is designed to refuse requests to share sensitive information such as credit card numbers, and shares health or personal financial information only when the user explicitly instructs it. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Meta's Muse is named as a comparable agent. [ 1 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether and when the preview will extend beyond US Pro and Max subscribers. The documents describe only the initial US rollout with a waitlist and give no later schedule.
- How much usage the agent consumes. Only Mynavi News (document 1) says Claude Duet shares the regular Claude usage allowance during the preview and that background checks also use it.
- How reliable the agent's judgement is. Only Impress Watch (document 3) reports that the company calls this an early version that may misread a conversation or misjudge urgency; its text is cut off, so the rest of that passage is not available.