Step one: get on the waitlist

Claude Duet is a research preview, starting with Pro, Max and Ultra in the US. It is included in those plans and uses the same limits.

Join the waitlist

Everything I ran on Claude used to start with me remembering to ask. That was the flaw. The person who forgets things was in charge of the thing meant to stop her forgetting.

Claude Duet starts on its own. It checks what I connected, messages me when something needs me, and does the work in the background. It's not magic. It's me handing off the parts of my life I was bad at.

Here is how to use it, in the order I would set it up, with prompts you can copy.

Before you start: what it is

It is Claude in its own app. It's a standalone app on iOS and Android, and it's on claude.ai too. It is separate from the main Claude app for now, and you can message it by typing or by voice.

You don't start over. It inherits your Claude memory, skills and connected apps. Whatever you already taught Claude comes with you. If you haven't connected anything yet, Claude from zero gets you there.

Your laptop can stay closed. It has a virtual machine with its own browser, so the work keeps going with your laptop and phone off.

The app has three tabs: Chat, Tasks and Make. Chat is where you talk to it. The other two come up below.

1. Every morning, one message

A short brief on what matters most, across your connected apps.

I'm up at 5am. I don't want to open every app to find out what kind of day it is. Duet sends one short brief every morning instead, and that's where the day starts.

You can tell it what you want to hear about, so tune it like you would brief a new hire.

Keep my morning brief short. Lead with anything that needs me today. Then anything with a deadline this week. Skip newsletters, promos and anything I can't act on.

Not in yet? The morning briefing routine builds a version of this in regular Claude.

2. It finds the work, you press start

A card shows up. You choose Start or Hide.

Because it can see your connected apps, it suggests work. Each suggestion is a card with two buttons: Hide and Start. Not useful, hide it. Useful, press start and it goes. That is the whole decision.

You can hand it work too. Describe the task in a short message and it works out which apps and which steps, in the background. It notifies you when it's done or when it needs your review.

Find a new time for my Thursday 2pm this week and draft a note letting them know. Show me the draft before anything goes out.

3. Nothing goes out unless you press send

It drafts. You read it. You press the button.

Before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows you and waits. An email draft comes with To, From and Subject, plus two buttons: Not now and Send.

Read the To line and the From line every time, especially if you have more than one email address. I'm not paranoid. I'm a tech exec.

And some things are off the table. It won't trade securities or move money between accounts.

Remember: it reads, drafts and prepares on its own. Anything that leaves your hands still needs your hands.

4. See everything in Tasks

One tab that answers "wait, what is it doing?"

Open the Tasks tab. It has Active and Up next. Work that is waiting on you gets grouped under two headings: Ready for review and Needs input.

Those two are the ones I would check first. Ready for review means there is finished work for you to look at. Needs input means it has a question for you. Everything else can keep going without you. You can also just ask.

What's waiting on me right now? Only the things that need an answer or a decision from me, shortest first.

5. Tell it what to watch

Connecting an app is not the same as telling it what you care about.

Duet checks your connected accounts every few hours and messages you only when something needs attention. What counts as attention is up to you, and you can tell it how often to bring things up. This is the setup step worth the most, and it is just a message.

Watch my inbox. When an important email comes in, from a client, my kids' school, or anyone waiting on a decision from me, message me and draft a reply. Newsletters and promos are not important. Don't send anything without showing me first.
Watch for school deadlines: forms, signups, payments, permission slips, half days, dress-up days. Message me when something is due within three days and I haven't handled it, and draft whatever has to be written or filled out.
Watch my invoices. When one is 30 days late, tell me who, how much and when it was due, and draft a friendly follow-up. Don't send it until I say so.
Watch for renewals and new charges in my email. Message me a week before anything renews, and tell me what it costs and the last time I seem to have used it.

Then correct it as you go, the way you would with a person.

Stop messaging me about shipping updates. Put those in my morning brief instead.
Remember: every few hours is not instantly. If something can't wait a few hours, don't make this the only thing watching it.

6. A channel for each part of life

So the permission slip doesn't land on top of the investor update.

Channels are in the side menu. I use family, fun and a Work group. It is the same reason you don't run a company out of one group text: the thread stays about the thing, and I can find it later.

Start each one by telling it what the channel is for.

This channel is for our family: who lives here, school, activities, meals and weekends. When I message you here, assume it's about them, and keep your answers short enough to read in a pickup line.
This channel is for fun: trips, date nights, things to do with the girls. When I drop an idea here, don't plan it unless I ask. Keep the list, and remind me when something on it is coming up or selling out.

7. Hand it the big jobs

Not just reminders. The work that used to eat a Saturday.

Duet handles the big stuff too, and those jobs come back in the Make tab. Say what you want at the end, give it what it needs, and go do something else. Check the numbers before you rely on them, same as you would with anyone's first draft.

Compare these 4 villas for [dates] and [number] people: [links]. Give me one side-by-side with total price, what's included, what costs extra, bedrooms and how far each is from [place]. End with your pick and why.
Build a budget model for [project or year]. Here's what I know: [income, costs, assumptions]. Show me the monthly numbers, label every assumption so I can change it, and show me what happens if costs run 10% over.
Here are my notes from this month: [paste or point to the doc]. Turn them into an investor update: what happened, the numbers I gave you, what's next and what I need help with. Use only what's in my notes. Mark anything missing instead of filling it in. Don't send it.
Here are 3 vendor bids for [the job]. Break them down side by side: price, what's included, what's excluded, timeline and terms. Point out where they aren't actually comparing the same work, and give me the questions I should ask each one.

What it can't do yet

This is an early version, and I would rather you hear that from me.

  • Not everyone can get it. It's a research preview by waitlist, starting with Pro, Max and Ultra in the US.
  • It can't yet show you its browser. It has one, but you can't look over its shoulder. You judge the finished work.
  • It can get things wrong. Anthropic says it can misread a thread or misjudge what's urgent, so correct it when it does.
  • Personal errands are weaker. Anthropic names booking tickets as an example of what it's not as strong at yet.
  • It uses your limits. It shares your plan's limits with the rest of Claude. Background checks count, and bigger jobs use more.
  • It's a separate app. Your memory, skills and connected apps come along, but for now you are going to a different place to use it.

What to notice across all of it:

  • Tell it what matters. The watch prompts do more than any other setup step here.
  • You are the button-presser. Start, Hide, Not now, Send. Your whole job is four buttons and good judgment.
  • Check Tasks, not your memory. Ready for review and Needs input are the only two lists that need you.
  • Keep the parts of life apart. A channel each, so you can actually find things.
I stopped being the person who has to remember to ask.

If you're not in yet, join the waitlist, and write your first watch prompt now so it's ready. Everything in the schedule guide works in regular Claude while you wait.