Anthropic has introduced Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent designed for professionals and small business owners. It helps users manage ongoing projects and routine business activities by carrying out assigned tasks and identifying work that needs their attention.
Claude Duet AI agent
Built around Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Duet carries over the user’s memory, skills and connected apps from their Claude account. Users can communicate with it through text or voice in one ongoing thread, allowing it to handle quick requests and longer projects without requiring a new conversation for each task. Unlike the regular Claude app, which waits for users to initiate a chat, Claude Duet can reach out with a morning brief covering important items across connected apps.
Claude Duet runs on a virtual machine with its own browser, allowing it to continue working even when the user’s phone or computer is switched off. It checks connected accounts every few hours and notifies users when something requires attention. Users can configure what it monitors and when it sends updates. They can also see what the agent has done and what it is currently doing, then provide further direction.
Tasks it can handle include:
- Scheduling meetings.
- Building dashboards using dozens of tools.
- Creating financial and sales forecasts.
- Prototyping and building web apps.
- Preparing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, briefs and dashboards.
Features: Claude Duet
Background tasks and daily briefs
Users can assign tasks through a short text or voice message. Claude Duet determines which apps and steps are needed, then carries out the work in the background. Its periodic checks help identify items that need attention without requiring users to open each connected app. However, more frequent checks consume usage limits faster.
Business app integrations
Claude Duet supports more than 6,000 connectors and plugins through the Claude Marketplace, covering communication, finance, recruitment, document management, marketing and e-commerce. Examples include:
- Gmail and Slack: Find missed messages and draft replies.
- QuickBooks and Stripe: Check unpaid invoices and draft payment reminders.
- Gusto: Prepare and run payroll, including hours, bonuses and reimbursements.
- LinkedIn: Draft job postings and publish them after users edit and approve them.
- DocuSign: Prepare agreements and send them for review and signature.
- HubSpot: Draft follow-up emails using contact and deal history.
- Canva: Create a social campaign based on a product launch.
- Shopify: Set up, design and manage an online store.
Anthropic is planning a richer visual editor for Shopify that will let users design and preview storefronts before publishing them.
Business purchases and payments
Claude Duet supports purchases through Link, Stripe’s digital wallet, and Shop Pay for online checkout. When using Link, the agent confirms the item with the user before Link requests approval for the spending. Payment is then made using a virtual card, so the user’s actual card number is not shared. Anthropic also plans to let Claude Duet sign in to websites using credentials saved in 1Password, with the user’s permission.
User approvals and controls
Claude Duet requires approval before carrying out important actions. Users can review proposed actions and disconnect any connected app whenever they choose. The agent cannot carry out certain financial actions even with approval:
- Trading securities.
- Moving money between accounts.
Safety
Anthropic said Claude Duet uses its framework for trustworthy agents, which also informs Claude Code and Claude in Chrome. Its credential handling follows the approach used for Claude Managed Agents, meaning the agent does not directly access users’ passwords or sign-in tokens.
Its other security measures include:
- Action checks: An auto mode classifier helps prevent the agent from taking steps users did not request.
- Prompt-injection defenses: Protections against hidden instructions draw on Anthropic’s browser-use research, alongside broader model-level safeguards.
- Security testing: Anthropic’s red teams and an external penetration testing firm have tested the security infrastructure. The service is also covered by the company’s public bug bounty program.
- Sensitive-information checks: A dedicated classifier and safety system prompt check messages for sensitive information. The agent rejects requests to share information in its strictest protection category, including credit card numbers and government identification. Other sensitive details, such as health information and personal finances, can be shared only when users explicitly instruct the agent to send them.
Anthropic said it will continue strengthening these safeguards and share more details about its safety design.
Anthropic employees are also using Claude Duet in their work. Boris Cherny, who leads the Claude Code team, talks through his mental to-do list with the agent while walking. Chelsea Larsson, who leads the model and product behavior design team, gives it a to-do list before spending time with her children and receives an evening report. Karan Ahuja, who leads the Claude Duet team, uses it to schedule user interviews, work on prototypes and ship code.
Limitations
Claude Duet is an early research-preview release, and its current capabilities have several limitations:
- Task accuracy: It may misread conversations, misjudge urgency or miss something that arrives between its periodic checks.
- Personal tasks: Personal errands, such as booking tickets, are less developed than work-related tasks.
- Browser visibility: Users cannot yet see the agent’s browser.
- Separate app: Claude Duet runs separately from the main Claude app.
- Usage limits: It shares usage limits with the rest of Claude. Background checks count toward those limits, while larger tasks, such as creating a financial model or presentation, require more model turns and background work.
Anthropic said feedback from early users will help shape how Claude Duet and the main Claude app work together.
Availability
Claude Duet is rolling out as a research preview to Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US. Users can join the waitlist and will receive an email when access is available.
The research preview includes:
- Platforms: Standalone apps for iOS and Android, and access through claude.ai on a computer.
- Eligible plans: Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US.
- Excluded plans: Team and Enterprise.