Anthropic announced a research preview of Claude Duet on October 21, 2026. In its announcement, Anthropic describes Duet as a new app where Claude works as a proactive agent: it brings you what needs your attention, completes tasks you give it, keeps working when you step away, and checks with you before it acts on your behalf.
What Anthropic says it does
According to Anthropic’s announcement:
- Each morning it sends a short brief on the most important items across your connected apps.
- Through the day it keeps tabs on those apps and messages you only when something needs your attention.
- You can hand it tasks, from scheduling meetings to building dashboards, creating financial or sales forecasts, prototyping and building web apps.
- It is built around Claude Opus 5.5 and is designed to decide what needs you, what can wait, and when to check with you first.
Anthropic says it built Duet for professionals and small business owners with more on their plates than they can track.
Who can use it
Duet is available as a standalone app on iOS and Android and on claude.ai. For the research preview it is included in Pro and Max plans and uses the same usage limits as the rest of Claude. Access is through a waitlist. Press reports describe the waitlist as limited to subscribers in the United States; Anthropic’s page does not state a country.
Safeguards Anthropic describes
Anthropic says Duet follows its framework for trustworthy agents, never directly sees your passwords or sign-in tokens, and has actions approved by its auto mode classifier. It also says a new classifier is designed to reject requests to share the strictest tier of information, such as credit card numbers and government identification, and to let other sensitive information through only when you explicitly instruct it. Anthropic says it will share more about safety details in the coming days.
Why it matters to marketers
Duet is not a search product, and Anthropic has not said it browses the web for answers. It does show where assistants are heading: software that works through your apps and the web on your behalf. Google’s own guidance on generative AI features has a section on agentic experiences, noting that browser agents may visit your site to gather data for tasks. We covered how Google’s information agents work in AI Mode.
What to do
- Do nothing special for Duet. There is no published requirement for websites.
- Keep key tasks simple on your site: clear forms, working contact pages and accurate hours, prices and policies, since agents and people both rely on them.
- Read Google’s agent-friendly website guidance if you sell products or take bookings.
- Watch the rollout. If you are a Pro or Max subscriber, join the waitlist to see how it behaves.
Sources: Anthropic’s announcement and the press coverage linked above. Duet is a research preview, so details may change.
