What if your AI messaged you before you'd even opened your laptop?
That's the idea behind Claude Duet, which Anthropic announced on Wednesday as a research preview.
It sends you a morning brief built from the apps you've connected.
Then it checks in every few hours and only messages you when something needs you.
And it keeps working on its own virtual computer in the cloud, with its own browser, even when your phone and laptop are off.
(It can also buy things for you. With your OK. We'll get to that.)
Right after this: what Duet can do on day one, the things it won't do even if you ask, and how to get on the list.
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Right. Back to it.
Who can get it
It's waitlist-only for now, starting with Pro and Max subscribers in the US.
There's no extra cost. Duet is included in your plan and shares your plan's usage limits, and the morning brief and background check-ins count toward them too.
There's a small welcome gift: when you're let in, your usage limits get a one-time reset you can use until November 30.
It runs in new standalone apps for iPhone and Android, and in Claude on the web.
Not included yet: Team and Enterprise plans. Microsoft 365 isn't supported either.
What it can do on day one
Duet runs on Opus 5.5. It connects to the apps you already use, from Gmail and Slack to QuickBooks, Stripe and Shopify. Anthropic counts more than 6,000 connectors.
Your Claude memory, skills and connections come with it, so you don't start from zero.
The jobs it's built for:
Scheduling meetings
Building dashboards
Sales and financial forecasts
Prototypes and web apps
You also choose what your brief covers and how often it checks in.
The money part
Duet can buy things for you through Stripe Link or Shop Pay.
Before it pays, it shows you exactly what it's about to do and waits for your OK. Then it pays with a one-time card made for that purchase.
The same rule covers sending messages, signing anything and deleting anything. It shows you the exact action first, and nothing happens until you approve.
What it won't do, even if you ask
Trade stocks or other securities.
Move money between your accounts.
And a filter blocks card numbers and government ID numbers, so don't bother pasting them in.
The honest part
Anthropic is upfront that this is early. From its own notes:
It can misread a thread or rank what's urgent badly.
Personal errands are less developed than work tasks.
You can't watch its browser yet.
Because it checks every few hours, it can miss things in between.
So expect some tuning in the first few weeks. When it ranks something wrong, tell it.
How to get ready
Join the Claude Duet waitlist with the account that has your Pro or Max plan.
While you wait, connect the apps you'd want in your brief to your regular Claude: email, calendar, Slack. Your connections carry over to Duet.
Decide what a useful morning brief looks like for you. When you get in, tell it something like this:
Every morning, send me a short brief:
- Anything in my email or Slack that needs a reply from me today, most urgent first
- My meetings today, with one line on what each one is about
- Any payment, invoice or order that looks off
Skip anything that can wait until tomorrow.
During the day, only message me if something can't wait.Make it stick
You set what the brief covers and how often it checks in, so keep adjusting both.
Every time it flags something that could've waited, say so. Every time it misses something that couldn't, say that too.
An AI that messages you first is only as useful as what it knows about your business: your clients, your numbers, what counts as urgent. That's the whole idea behind The One-Person Company Playbook.
It's the complete setup for running a business where AI does the work of a full team. Inside:
A company folder with your brief, pipeline tracker and invoice log already laid out, so any AI picks up where you left off
Thirty AI roles across six departments, from sales to finance, ready to use
Six jobs that run on a clock: the morning briefing, follow-ups, invoice checks and more
The step-by-step path from picking a business model to your first paying customer
Works on Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok, whichever you already pay for.
The catch: it takes about eight hours over a weekend to set up. After that, it's yours. $97, one-time (down from $297).
Talk tomorrow,
Zephyr
P.S. Hit reply and tell me: what's the first job you'd hand an AI that keeps working while you sleep?