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Claude Duet is an app from Anthropic where Claude works as a proactive agent: it brings you what needs your attention, does the tasks you ask for, keeps working when you step away and checks with you before it acts on your behalf. Meta has Muse, OpenAI has Dots, and now Anthropic has its own answer. Here is a plain explanation of what Duet is, how it works through the day, and why it changes the way you work with AI, from asking for tasks to working with goals.
Joaquín País, CEO of ShowerThinking, also explains it on video:
What is Claude Duet?
Duet is a separate app from the main Claude app. The difference is who makes the first move. Until now, every AI tool, from a simple chat to the most advanced agent, sat there waiting for you to type something. Duet doesn't wait: it checks your connected apps, spots what needs your attention and writes to you first.
Anthropic sums it up in four things:
- It brings you what needs your attention, so you don't have to go looking for it.
- It does the tasks you ask for, from scheduling a meeting to building a dashboard or a prototype.
- It keeps working when you step away, because it doesn't depend on your laptop or your phone.
- It checks with you before it acts on your behalf, whenever something has to be sent, paid, signed or deleted.
It runs on Claude Opus 5.5, and you talk to it in a single ongoing thread, by typing or by voice.
Chat, harness and Duet: three ways to work with AI
To see what Duet adds, it helps to look at how most of us use AI today, which is in three steps.
Going from a chat to a harness is a big jump: you no longer ask for an answer, you ask for a whole piece of work. We cover it in more detail in what an enterprise AI harness is. But one thing stays the same: the work starts when you write and stops when the task is done. You are still the one who has to notice what needs doing.
With Duet, that part moves to Claude. You give it context and tell it what matters to you, and it does the noticing. That is how we read this launch: you stop asking for tasks and start working with goals.
How does Claude Duet work during the day?
In the morning, Duet sends you a short brief with the most important things waiting across the apps you have connected: email, calendar, Slack or any of the more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace.
During the day, it checks those accounts every few hours and only writes to you when something needs your input. You can tell it what you want to hear about and how often.
In the background, it works on its own virtual machine in the cloud, with its own browser. That is why it keeps going when your laptop is closed and your phone is in your pocket, and it decides which apps to use and which steps to take.
And it doesn't start from zero: it uses the memory, skills and connected apps you already have in your Claude account.
The example in the launch video is a very everyday one: Duet notices that a health permit for a new location hasn't been filed yet, tells you before it becomes a problem, and leaves the form ready for you to review.
What can Claude Duet do without asking you?
It can read and draft on its own. Before it sends, pays, signs or deletes anything, it shows you exactly what it is about to do and waits for your approval. And there are things it won't do even with your approval: trade securities or move money between accounts.
Anthropic adds several safety layers:
- Duet never sees your passwords or sign-in tokens, using the same credential design as Claude Managed Agents.
- A classifier screens every message to prevent leaks of sensitive information, and by default it refuses to share credit card or government ID numbers.
- It has defenses against hidden instructions in pages and documents, built on Anthropic's research on browser use.
Who is Claude Duet for, and what are its limits?
Anthropic built it for professionals and small business owners who have more on their plate than they can track. It is not meant for personal errands like booking tickets; there, Anthropic itself says, it is not as strong yet.
Anthropic is also open about its limits: it can misread a thread or get wrong what is urgent, it can't show you its browser while it works yet, and its background checks count toward the same usage limits as the rest of Claude.
What changes in a process
With a chat you hand over questions. With a harness you hand over tasks. With Duet you hand over the watching: the part of the job that is about making sure nothing slips, the part that never appears in any written procedure and that a person does today.
That is the change we think matters. Many processes don't get stuck because a task is hard to do, but because nobody notices in time that it needs doing. An agent that keeps an eye on things for you and flags them with the work already prepared goes right at that point. If you work with Salesforce, in what is Claudeforce we explain how Claude reaches the data in your CRM.
Frequently asked questions
What is Claude Duet?
An app from Anthropic where Claude works as a proactive agent. Instead of waiting for you to type, it tells you what needs your attention and works in the background.
How is Claude Duet different from Cowork or Claude Code?
Cowork and Claude Code do complete tasks, but they start when you hand the task over. Duet starts on its own: it checks your apps, spots what needs doing and proposes it to you. It also works on its own machine in the cloud, so it doesn't need your computer to be on.
Can Claude Duet act without my permission?
It can read and draft. To send, pay, sign or delete it needs your approval, and it never trades securities or moves money between accounts.
Who can use Claude Duet?
At launch it is a research preview with a waitlist for Pro and Max subscribers in the US. It is available on iOS, Android and claude.ai, and it uses the same usage limits as the rest of Claude.
How does Duet compare with Meta Muse and OpenAI Dots?
All three are personal agents that work for you without being told every step. Duet is Anthropic's take, aimed at professionals and small businesses rather than personal errands.
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How ShowerThinking can help
ShowerThinking is a Claude partner and an OpenAI partner, and we help companies bring agents like this one into real processes, starting with what needs watching and who approves what. If you want to see which part of your work an agent could take on, get in touch and we will look at it in a 30-minute session.
