Anthropic on October 21 unveiled the Claude Duet AI agent as a direct competitor to OpenAI's Dots and Meta's Muse agents. Much like those rivals, the new tool acts as a proactive assistant that “reaches out before you ask.”
Designed to link with a user's applications, Claude Duet flags items that require attention and carries out tasks on its own. It operates in the cloud without needing local access to a computer, using a virtual machine equipped with its own browser to get work done, similar to Dots and Muse.
According to Anthropic, the product is aimed at small business owners and professionals who have too much to keep track of, noting that this group is the most likely to benefit from it.
How Claude Duet Works on Opus 5.5
Powered by the Opus 5.5 model, Duet delivers a brief morning summary covering important items from linked apps, then checks those apps every few hours to send alerts when something needs attention. Its capabilities range from basic administrative work to more involved projects such as building web applications.
Setup stays minimal because the agent pulls in existing connected apps, skills, and memory from a user's Claude account, keeping all interactions inside a single continuous thread rather than separate chats.
Security Controls and Approval Rules
Although the agent works autonomously, it pauses to get approval from the user before performing sensitive actions:
- Sending a message
- Making a payment
- Signing a document
- Deleting a file
When granted account access, Claude Duet cannot view login credentials or passwords. It also relies on a dedicated classifier and a safety system prompt that inspect every message to help prevent leaks of sensitive data.
Availability and Plan Limits
Offered as a standalone product, Claude Duet is currently rolling out as a research preview through a waitlist for Pro and Max subscribers in the United States. Users can access it on the web or through a dedicated Duet iOS app, and all activity - including its periodic background checks - counts against the subscriber's existing Claude plan limits.
This article was written by AI from reporting by macrumors.com.
