WorkerKitWhat is Claude Duet? Features, access and limits
Claude Duet is Anthropic's proactive agent app. What it does, who can get it, how usage limits work, what it asks before acting, and where AI workers fit.
Claude Duet is a proactive agent app from Anthropic. It comes to you with what needs your attention, completes tasks you ask of it, keeps working when you step away and checks with you before it acts on your behalf. Anthropic opened a research preview on October 21, 2026, by waitlist, for Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US. This page covers what the launch actually includes, what Anthropic says it cannot do yet, and where a separate AI worker fits beside it.
| Capability | At launch |
|---|---|
| Model | Claude Opus 5.5; you cannot choose another, and Duet decides how much effort a job needs |
| Where it runs | Its own cloud computer and cloud browser, so work continues after you close the app |
| Apps | iOS and Android, plus the web at claude.ai on a computer |
| Threads | One main thread, plus channels for separate topics, all sharing one memory |
| Working while away | A morning brief, then check-ins on your connected accounts every few hours |
| Larger work | Returned as editable files in the Make tab; progress tracked in the Tasks tab |
| Connections | The connectors, skills and memory you have already set up in Claude |
| Approvals | Before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything |
| Access | US Pro and Max accounts, admitted from a waitlist; not on Team or Enterprise yet |
What does Claude Duet do?
You message Duet the way you would message a person, by typing or by voice. Each morning it looks across your email and calendar, picks what most needs your attention, and can start the first steps, such as drafting replies for you to review. Through the day it checks your connected accounts every few hours and stays quiet until something needs you. Anthropic's announcement says you can set what you want to hear about and how often, and it explains the cadence plainly: Duet checks every few hours "because checking nonstop would use up your plan's limits much faster."
Tasks range from small to large. Anthropic's examples run from scheduling a meeting to building a dashboard, a financial or sales forecast, a slide deck, a prototype or a web app. Bigger results come back as files in the Make tab, and the Tasks tab shows what Duet is working on and which tasks need your input. Duet may suggest that a task is finished, but only you can mark it complete. When it reports a number or a summary, it names the email, file or spreadsheet the figure came from.
The launch leans toward professionals and small business owners. Anthropic's examples include checking QuickBooks or Stripe for unpaid invoices and drafting reminders, preparing and running payroll in Gusto, and getting contracts ready to send. Stripe's companion announcement adds that Stripe's MCP server lets Duet users send invoices and payment links, manage products and prices, review revenue and issue refunds from inside the app. Anthropic quotes an early tester, Amin Ebrahimi, owner of Shahs of Kabob: "I don't need to open up 100 tabs."
Duet can also buy things for you. Link by Stripe and Shop Pay are built into Duet, and each purchase uses a one-time card for that merchant and amount after you approve it. Stripe says Link already powers payments for more than 200 personal agents, Meta's Muse among them.
Who can get Claude Duet?
Duet is a research preview on a waitlist for Claude Pro and Max subscribers with a US Claude account, and invitations go out in waves. To join, you go to the product page, choose Join the waitlist, and enter the email address on your Claude account, your plan and your phone type. When your invitation arrives, you open it on your phone, install the app with the Apple or Google account tied to that address, and sign in with Claude.
Team and Enterprise plans are not included yet. Anthropic says it plans to add them later and gives no date. Duet is its own app, separate from the main Claude app for now, and on a computer you use it on the web at claude.ai.
How does Claude Duet usage work?
Duet has no separate price during the research preview. It is included in Pro and Max and shares the plan's usage limits with the rest of Claude. The help center says Duet uses the five-hour and weekly limits at the same rate as chat, and that background work counts too: the morning brief and the check-ins draw on the same limits. Larger jobs, such as a financial model or a deck, use more model turns and more background work. After you are admitted you get one full usage-limit reset.
That has a practical consequence for recurring work, and it is the same trade-off that sets Duet's check-in cadence. A job you hand Duet every morning spends the same limits as the conversations you have with it, so a long list of standing jobs competes with the chat you came for. Plan for that before you move a high-volume process into a check-in. Anthropic has not published what Duet will cost after the preview.
What does Claude Duet ask before it acts?
Duet can read, draft and prepare work on its own. Before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it is designed to show you the action and wait for your approval. If you cannot approve right away, it finishes the rest of the task and brings the approval back later. You start every app connection yourself and can disconnect any of them at any time; disconnecting stops future access, though memory of what Duet already learned is kept.
Some actions are off-limits even with approval. Anthropic names trading securities, moving money between accounts and accessing someone else's account. Payments through Link cannot recur.
On safety, Anthropic says Duet never directly sees your passwords: when a site asks for one, you type it into a separate form on your device that sends it straight to Duet's browser. Credential handling is modelled on Claude Managed Agents, actions are screened by the auto mode classifier, and a dedicated classifier screens sensitive information. Credit card numbers and government ID are rejected outright, and health and personal finance details are shared only when you explicitly ask. Anthropic says it will share more on how Duet is designed for safety in the coming days.
What can Claude Duet not do yet?
Anthropic is direct about the gaps, which is the most useful part of the launch material for anyone planning real work around it.
| Limitation Anthropic states | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Checks accounts at intervals | Something urgent can arrive between checks and wait for the next one |
| May misread a thread or misjudge urgency | Read drafts and approval requests before you confirm them |
| No model choice | Every job runs on Opus 5.5, whatever its size |
| Cannot show you its browser | You cannot watch or take over a site visit in progress |
| No phone calls or texts | With approval it can send email from connected accounts, but it cannot text or call |
| Some connectors limited; no Microsoft 365 yet | Slack is named as limited, and Outlook users wait for now |
| Reads but cannot change your work in Claude | It cannot see all your projects or the files on your computer |
| Personal errands are weaker than work tasks | Booking tickets is named as an example |
How is Claude Duet different from a Claude chat?
A chat waits for you. Duet carries a standing responsibility: it watches your connected accounts between conversations, starts work you did not ask for in that moment, such as a morning brief, and returns approvals to you when it reaches a consequential step. It also brings the setup you already have. The memory, skills and connectors you configured in Claude are available from your first Duet message, and it can search your Duet chats and your non-project Claude chats so you do not repeat yourself.
What it does not do is replace Claude itself. It can read your work in Claude but cannot change it, and Claude Code, Cowork and the main app remain separate products. A sensible first week tests one small job end to end: ask Duet for a briefing on an existing project from the apps you connected, then watch which sources it names, how it marks a draft against an action, and how the approval reaches you.
Where does WorkerKit fit?
Duet is one agent that knows what needs you. A WorkerKit worker is built around one repeatable job: its own written instruction, app grants, model, budget, schedule and a run receipt for every run. The two meet on exactly the gaps Anthropic lists. A worker runs at the time you set, or the moment a signed webhook arrives, rather than at the next check-in. It runs the model its job needs. Its runs bill against a ceiling you set rather than your Pro or Max limits. It can sign in to a Microsoft mailbox, and it can report by SMS or WhatsApp as well as email, Slack or Teams.
Several of Duet's own launch examples are standing jobs that already exist as kits. The executive daily briefing writes a morning brief of meetings, urgent email and blockers. The invoice follow-up assistant drafts escalating reminders from an accounts-receivable sheet and your inbox. The follow-up tracker catches threads that went quiet. The daily store briefing reads a Shopify store each morning. And the critical email finder returns only the messages where something breaks or a deadline passes, which is the job you want covered between check-ins.
There are two ways to connect them. Duet uses the connectors you set up in Claude, and WorkerKit is added on claude.ai as two custom connectors: the public catalog and your fleet, approved through a WorkerKit sign-in. The Claude Duet guide adds both in Claude and then asks Duet to confirm it can see them. The second route is email: a worker sends its report to the Gmail account Duet already reads, and the next brief picks it up. The setup guide walks through both, and the same two connectors serve Claude on the web, desktop and Cowork.
Claude Duet, OpenAI Dots and Meta Muse
Duet arrives three weeks after OpenAI Dots and six after Meta Muse, in the same new category: agents with their own computer, connected services and work that continues after you stop typing. They differ in model, channels, scheduling and how they reach outside tools. Our Claude Duet vs OpenAI Dots vs Meta Muse comparison lines up what each vendor has published, and OpenAI Dots explained covers Dots on its own.
FAQ
Is Claude Duet free?
There is no separate charge during the research preview, but it is not free of cost. Duet is included in the Pro and Max plans and draws on their five-hour and weekly limits, background checks included. Anthropic has not said what it will cost after the preview. WorkerKit pricing lists what a separate worker costs to run.
Is Claude Duet available on Team or Enterprise plans?
Not yet. The preview is limited to Pro and Max subscribers with a US Claude account, admitted from the waitlist. Anthropic says Team and Enterprise come later and has not given a date.
Can I use Claude Duet on a computer?
Yes, on the web at claude.ai. The standalone apps are for iOS and Android, and Anthropic's launch material mentions no separate desktop app. The waitlist invitation itself is opened on your phone.
Can I choose which model Claude Duet uses?
No. Duet runs on Claude Opus 5.5 and decides how much effort a job needs. A WorkerKit worker, by contrast, runs the model you choose for its job, from any supported provider or on your own provider key.
Does Claude Duet use my custom connectors?
Anthropic says Duet uses the connectors you have already set up in Claude, and names directory connectors such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack and QuickBooks. To confirm a custom connector added by URL, ask Duet which connectors it can use.
Does Claude Duet work with Microsoft 365?
Not yet. Anthropic's help center says Microsoft 365 is not available in Duet at launch and that some connectors, such as Slack, have limits. A WorkerKit worker can sign in to an Outlook mailbox and calendar and email its report to an account Duet does read.
Sources: Anthropic's Claude Duet announcement, the Claude Duet product page, Get started with Claude Duet, How to use Link by Stripe with Claude Duet, Stripe's announcement and Anthropic's launch post on X. This is a research preview, so features, access and limits can change.