01What Claude Orbit Is and How It Works
Claude Orbit is a hidden feature found inside recent Claude and Claude Co-work app updates. It is a proactive briefing and insight system. Instead of waiting for you to type a question, it automatically reads your connected tools and tells you what matters before you ask.
The feature is not officially confirmed by Anthropic. It exists as a hidden toggle in settings that is not turned on yet. People who dig through app builds found the code and shared what it appears to do.
The internal gate that hides it from public view is called "Tbro-enabled," which is "Orbit" spelled backwards.
Orbit connects to Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Figma. It reads what is happening across those tools and surfaces briefings, insights, and suggested actions automatically. This flips the current AI model where you open an app, type something, and get a response.
Orbit brings the information to you without a prompt.
02Key Features Found in the Orbit Code
The code analysis reveals several important features that make Orbit different from current AI tools. Here is what was found:
- Proactive briefings: Claude scans your inbox, Slack messages, calendar, and project changes overnight and gives you a summary when you start your day.
- Time zone aware: The system knows your schedule and working hours, so it delivers briefings when they are relevant to you.
- Opt-in design: You choose to enable the feature, giving you control over when Claude accesses your data.
- Orbit apps: The code mentions deploying Orbit apps and pinning favorites for quick access. This could be a mini-app layer inside Claude for custom workflows.
- Tool integrations: Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Figma are explicitly included in the code.
These features point to a system that runs underneath your interactions. It monitors context, understands what you are working on, and brings relevant information to your attention before you realize you need it. This is a meaningfully different product than what Claude is today.
03How to Set Up Your Tools for Orbit Right Now
Orbit has not launched publicly yet. But you can prepare your Claude Co-work environment so you are ready to use it on day one. Here is what to do:
- Open Claude Co-work and go to your connections or integrations settings.
- Connect your Gmail account so Claude can read your emails.
- Connect Slack to give Claude access to your team messages.
- Connect Google Calendar so Claude knows your schedule and time zone.
- Add GitHub and Google Drive if you use them for projects and files.
- Connect Figma if you work with design files or product teams.
- Test your connections by asking Claude questions about your calendar or recent emails to confirm everything works.
Getting these connections set up now means you will not spend time on setup when Orbit rolls out. You will be able to enable the toggle and start using it immediately.
04How to Use a Proactive Daily Briefing
Imagine starting your morning without checking a single app. Claude has already read your emails, pulled your Slack messages, checked your calendar, and looked at what changed in your projects overnight. It gives you a summary: here is what needs your attention, here is what changed, here is what you should probably do first.
For example, Claude could scan your inbox overnight and pin the three most important client messages to the top of your morning briefing. The first thing you see when you open your laptop is exactly what needs action.
Think about what a daily briefing would look like for your specific work. What are the five things you check every morning? What information do you wish was already summarized when you sit down?
That is the use case Orbit is being built for. It is not a general assistant. It is a workflow-aware briefing system that knows your tools and schedule.
Orbit apps could extend this further. You might set up a daily client update, a project status check, or a content calendar overview. Claude would keep those running in the background and surface them when they are relevant.
05What Testing Catalog and Other Leaks Reveal
Testing Catalog, a group that does deep dives into app builds, published a detailed breakdown of the Orbit code. Multiple developers independently confirmed the same references. The structure of what was found matches a feature in late preparation, the kind you see weeks before a launch, not months.
The leak also points to Orbit being aimed at people who build things. The explicit inclusion of GitHub and Figma alongside Gmail and Slack suggests this is for developers, designers, and product teams. Claude Code is already positioned for builders, and Orbit looks like it extends that into the project management and communication layer.
There is a separate leak from March suggesting Anthropic is also testing Orbit as a mobile feature. The idea is that Claude could handle tasks on your phone directly, like making calls, sending messages, and managing calendar events without opening an app. That claim is bigger and less confirmed than the Co-work briefing features.
But it fits the same direction: Claude moving from something you interact with to something that runs underneath your interactions.
06How Orbit Compares to Google and Perplexity
Anthropic is not the only company building a proactive AI layer. Testing Catalog pointed out that Google has been building similar groundwork inside Gemini. Perplexity is doing it too.
The idea of AI that comes to you instead of waiting for you is becoming a shared goal across the industry.
What makes Orbit different is its focus. Google and Perplexity are building general proactive assistants. Orbit's explicit inclusion of GitHub and Figma alongside Gmail and Slack shows it is aimed specifically at people who build and ship products.
Developers, designers, and product teams are the target users.
This focus matters. It means Orbit is not trying to be everything to everyone. It is being built as a workflow-aware briefing system for knowledge workers who live in those tools.
The bottleneck for most people is not the quality of AI's answers. It is knowing what to ask and when. Orbit appears to be Anthropic's answer to that problem.
07Important Limits, Warnings, and What to Watch For
None of the Orbit information is officially confirmed by Anthropic. Everything is based on code analysis from people who dig through app builds. The feature exists as a toggle in settings but has not launched publicly.
Treat all details as educated speculation until Anthropic makes an announcement.
Because Orbit is opt-in and time zone aware, you control when it accesses your data. But connecting Gmail, Slack, and other tools means Claude will read your messages and files. Think about what you are comfortable sharing before enabling the feature.
Watch the Code with Claude Developer Conference dates. San Francisco already happened at the start of May. London is May 19th.
Tokyo is June 10th. If Anthropic is going to formally announce Orbit anywhere, it is likely at one of those events. Or it may quietly roll out as a toggle you can enable.
Nobody outside Anthropic knows yet.
The build activity around Orbit is consistent with something close to launch. Getting your tools connected now puts you ahead of most users.
08Who Claude Orbit Is For and Why It Matters
Claude Orbit is for people who ship products, manage teams, or run client projects. If you are a developer, designer, or product manager, this is aimed directly at you. The tool list makes that clear: GitHub and Figma are builder tools, not general consumer apps.
It matters because it solves a real problem. The current model for AI puts all the work on you. You have to remember to ask, figure out the right question, and know what you do not know.
Proactive AI removes that friction. It monitors context, knows what changed, and brings the relevant thing to your attention before you realize you need it.
That shift from reactive to proactive is probably the most practical improvement AI can make for knowledge workers right now. The connector list matters too. Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Calendar, Drive, and Figma are the tools people actually live in.
Anthropic is plugging into the specific places where people spend their working hours.
If Anthropic executes on what the code suggests, Orbit could be one of the most practical AI features to come out this year.
