Claude Duet opens US preview for proactive briefings and cloud tasks

A preview that starts the conversation

Anthropic opened a waitlist for Claude Duet on October 21, introducing an assistant that checks connected apps, brings users a morning briefing and keeps working on assignments in the cloud. The research preview starts with US Pro and Max subscribers; joining the queue does not guarantee an admission date. Team and Enterprise accounts are not included.

The useful change is proactive follow-up: Duet can surface work before someone opens a conversation. Anthropic says it checks accounts every few hours, rather than continuously, to conserve usage. That makes it a potential aid for routine coordination, with gaps between checks that matter for urgent work.

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Existing context, a different working rhythm

Duet carries over a Claude account’s memory, skills and connected apps. Users give it written or recorded voice messages, and its cloud computer can continue an assignment after their own devices are off. It runs on Opus 5.5. Anthropic offers separate iOS and Android apps plus access through claude.ai.

Claude’s current paid offering already includes handing off and scheduling tasks. Duet brings that work into an ongoing conversation with updates initiated by the assistant. Anthropic’s product examples include finding unpaid invoices and preparing reminders, as well as producing decks and dashboards.

Consider the documented invoice workflow: the Stripe connector supplies account information, and Duet prepares reminder emails for approval. Link, also from Stripe, serves a different purpose—it pays for purchases. Connecting a business account to inspect invoices does not by itself set up a payment wallet.

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One subscription allowance covers active and background work

During the preview, Duet has no additional subscription fee. Claude Pro costs $20 when billed monthly or $200 paid annually; Max starts at $100 a month. These prices exclude applicable taxes. Paying for an eligible plan still leaves the waitlist invitation requirement.

Morning briefs, background checks and larger assignments consume the same allowance as other Claude work. Paid accounts have both a five-hour session limit and weekly limits, with consumption affected by task complexity, model and tools. In practical terms, unattended work can leave less capacity for an interactive session later.

Anthropic’s Duet guide also lists a one-time full reset of session and weekly limits when a user is admitted, available until November 30, 2026. It does not establish an ongoing extra allowance.

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Connected apps have specific boundaries

Duet’s product page displays a Microsoft/Office 365 logo, but its help guide says Microsoft 365 is not available yet and flags Slack limitations without detailing them. Users cannot watch or take over Duet’s browser, access local computer files through it, or have it place phone calls or send texts. Anthropic also cautions that Duet can misread threads and misjudge urgency.

Anthropic’s general connector guide says ordinary connections inherit the user’s permissions in the source service; custom connections using shared credentials reach what those credentials permit. Linking an app can enable both retrieval and changes, within those permissions. For a business owner, the account used for a connection determines which records the assistant can reach.

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Purchasing adds a separate approval step

Anthropic says Duet is designed to request approval before sending messages, paying, signing documents or deleting material. Securities trading and transfers between accounts remain prohibited even with approval. These are stated safeguards, not protections AI Toolcast has independently tested.

The Link guide provides a concrete purchasing sequence: Duet finds an item, the user approves a spending request through Link, and checkout uses a single-use card restricted to the merchant and amount. A US payment method is required. The wallet is connected within Duet, separately from the connectors directory.

Approval does not guarantee checkout. A merchant can still decline or block the transaction, a failed purchase can temporarily remain pending, and recurring Link payments are unsupported. In a hypothetical office-supply reorder, a blocked checkout could leave the user to complete the purchase.

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Disconnecting access is different from clearing memory

Duet’s guide says disconnecting an app stops future access but retains information remembered from earlier conversations. Claude’s memory documentation distinguishes that stored context from chat search: deleting a conversation does not automatically remove memory entries derived from it.

Users can inspect, edit or delete saved topics in Settings > Memory. The separate Search and reference chats switch also controls Duet’s ability to search earlier conversations. Those controls matter because the same continuity that reduces repeated explanations can carry information forward after the original connection or conversation is gone.

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