The Claude Duet Permission Checklist

01 The map: alone, asks first, never

On October 21, 2026, Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI assistant, opened an early test version of Claude Duet: a separate app on iPhone, Android and the web. Claude works there on a computer of its own in the cloud, with its own browser, so your laptop and phone don't need to be on. The Claude app waits for you. Duet comes to you. That makes one question matter: what is it allowed to do without you?

On its own Asks you first Never, even with your yes

Reads your connected apps Sends a message Trades stocks and other investments

Drafts replies and reminders Makes a payment Moves money between your accounts

Prepares forms, files and pages Signs a document Gets into someone else's account

Deletes anything

If you can't answer right away, it finishes the rest of the task and brings the approval back to you later. It does the noticing, and you do the deciding.

02 Before you let it pay

Duet pays only for purchases you approve, through two checkout apps that hold your card and pay stores for you: Link, from Stripe, and Shop Pay, from Shopify. A purchase with Link goes like this:

You ask, for example: "Reorder ink for the office printer." Duet finds it and asks you to confirm the item. Link asks you to approve the spend in the Link app, up to a maximum amount. (With Shop Pay, you tap Review in Shop Pay and approve.) Duet pays with a one-time card number that only works for that purchase.

What it sees: the card type, the last four digits, the nickname and expiry, and your shipping addresses. Never the full card number. Passwords: when a site asks for one, you type it into a separate box on your own device. Duet never sees it directly. The edges: no payments that charge you again every month; some sites block it, so you finish the purchase yourself; if it buys the wrong thing, you contact Anthropic, and the store handles the refund.

03 Your apps in two groups

Duet checks your connected accounts at set times, every few hours, not nonstop. Anthropic's reason: checking nonstop would use up your plan's limits much faster. So an urgent email can land right after a check and wait until the next one. Sort your apps before you connect them:

Group What goes here Who watches it

Can't wait a few hours Anything urgent: the alerts you act on within the hour Your own phone alerts

Can wait Missed messages, invoices, follow-ups, the daily numbers Duet

The watching isn't free. Duet runs on your Claude plan's allowance, and every morning brief and check-in spends from it, so you may hit your limits sooner than with chat alone. You get one free reset when you're let in; use it by November 30, 2026.

04 Day one: setup and three jobs

For now it's U.S. only, for Claude's paid Pro and Max plans, and included at no extra cost. To get in: go to Claude Duet's product page, select "Join the waitlist", and use the email on your Claude account. When your invitation arrives, open it on your phone and sign in with your Claude account. Duet starts with the apps you've already connected in Claude, and you can disconnect any app at any time.

Then hand it the jobs where a mistake costs you a re-read, not money:

The morning sweep. The email and work chat messages you missed, and the calendar clash you didn't see. It only reads. The money you're owed. Ask it to check Stripe or QuickBooks for unpaid invoices and draft the reminders. Sending each one waits for your OK. One page you check every morning. Sales, cash, what's running late, refreshed each morning.

Keep for yourself: anything urgent, and the purchases, until you've watched it work for a while.

Write down the three apps you check every morning. That's exactly what Duet would read first.

Join the waitlist with your Claude email. Access is tied to that address.

Sort your apps into the two groups. Urgent stays on your phone alerts.

Connect only the "can wait" apps. You can disconnect any of them later.

Hand it the morning sweep first. A job where it only reads.

Hold purchases until you've watched it work. A wrong order means chasing a refund.

Sources

Anthropic: Introducing Claude Duet Anthropic: Claude Duet product page Claude Help Center: Get started with Claude Duet Claude Help Center: How to use Link by Stripe with Claude Duet Claude Help Center: How to use Shop Pay with Claude Duet

Mathew's LibraryLibrary card

Free access

Keep reading free with your library card

One email opens this checklist and all 3 resources in Mathew's library. No account, no password.