Claude Duet launches as proactive AI assistant

Anthropic announced Claude Duet, a research preview of its new AI assistant that runs as a standalone app on iOS, Android and the web. The preview is being rolled out to Pro and Max subscribers in the United States, with invitations sent in waves through a waitlist. It is offered at no extra cost, but the assistant’s background work counts toward the user’s existing plan limits, which could be reached sooner than when using Claude alone.

Claude Duet is designed to act like a colleague: users can type or speak a message, and the agent picks up where the last conversation left off, keeping everything in a single thread. It scans connected apps such as email and calendar each morning to highlight what needs attention, drafts replies for review, and sends updates only when something is finished or needs a decision. The assistant can start separate channels for different topics, allowing a single memory pool to be shared across them.

The AI runs on a private cloud computer, so it can keep working even after the user closes the app. It checks for unpaid invoices through Stripe and can draft payment reminders, and it can make purchases with Link or Shop Pay once the user approves. For sites that lack a dedicated connector, Claude Duet uses its own browser in the cloud, and it logs all its actions so the user can see what is happening and steer it if necessary.

The research preview is currently limited to U.S. Pro and Max subscribers and does not yet support Team or Enterprise plans. During the preview the assistant shares the user’s plan usage limits with the rest of Claude, so background tasks count toward those limits. Larger jobs—such as building a financial model or a slide deck—consume more model turns and background work, which may accelerate limit usage.

Users can enhance Claude Duet’s capabilities with plugins, such as a small‑business plugin that helps with invoice reminders or payroll. The assistant can also produce finished work like research briefs, dashboards, or contracts, returning them as downloadable files in the Make tab. All tasks are grouped in a dedicated Tasks tab, where the assistant sends updates when a task is completed or requires a user decision, and users can only mark tasks as finished.

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