# What is Claude Tag? Pricing, setup and limits

Anthropic's shared Claude for Slack, explained from its own docs: who can use it, what it reads, what it costs and where it stops.

Published 2026-10-05, updated 2026-10-05 by Richard Kaminsky and Mitchell Lipyansky, the co-founders of Poly. Canonical: https://usepoly.co/what-is-claude-tag
Poly is a multiplayer AI coding workspace: a shared room where your team works with one AI agent, together. Free to start: https://usepoly.co/

**Claude Tag is Anthropic's shared Claude for Slack: once an owner sets it up, anyone in a connected channel can tag @Claude, and it does the task in a sandbox and posts the result in the thread, often as a draft pull request for code. It launched in public beta on June 23, 2026, for Claude Team and Enterprise organizations only. It works in Slack today; Microsoft Teams support is announced with a waitlist and no date. There is no per-seat charge: channel work draws from the organization's prepaid usage balance under a spend limit, and Slack users don't each need a Claude seat.** This page covers how it works, what it costs, how to set it up and where it stops, from Anthropic's [docs](https://claude.com/docs/claude-tag) as of October 5, 2026.

## Key takeaways

- Team and Enterprise only, in public beta. Not on Free, Pro or Max, and not for organizations with zero data retention or customer-managed keys.
- Slack only. Microsoft Teams is "coming soon", with a waitlist and no date.
- No seat charge: channel work bills to the organization's usage balance, and Team organizations must buy credits first. The launch credits expired on October 1, 2026.
- Claude reads every top-level message and thread reply in channels it belongs to, tagged or not, and may reply without a tag unless a channel turns automatic replies off.

*Claude Tag at a glance, from Anthropic's docs, October 2026.*

|  | Claude Tag |
| --- | --- |
| Made by | Anthropic |
| Launched | June 23, 2026, public beta |
| Plans | Claude Team and Enterprise |
| Where it works | Slack; Microsoft Teams on a waitlist |
| Who can use it | Anyone in a connected channel; no Claude seat needed |
| What it reads | Every message in its channels, tagged or not |
| Models | Opus or Sonnet, set by admins |
| Output for code | Usually a draft pull request |
| Price | No seat charge; usage from the org balance |
| Set up by | A Claude Owner, with a Slack admin |

## How does Claude Tag work?

- **Sessions.** Each channel has one session for its top-level messages, and each thread gets its own session and sandbox. Anyone in a thread can steer the work without tagging Claude again.
- **What it reads.** Claude reads every top-level message and thread reply in the channels it belongs to, whether or not anyone tagged it; reading isn't billed. It stops reading after about 100 top-level messages since it last posted, or a week without activity ([Anthropic](https://claude.com/docs/claude-tag/concepts/how-it-works.md)).
- **When it replies.** Automatic replies are on by default in each channel; a tag guarantees an answer.
- **Memory.** Each channel keeps its own notes. Notes saved in public channels become workspace notes that every channel reads; private channels read them but don't add to them.
- **What it can do.** Read documents, run code, make charts, attach files, publish hosted pages, use connectors, and run routines on a schedule. Its sandbox runs the same engine as Claude Code on the web, and code work usually ends as a draft pull request from the Claude GitHub App. Admins choose Opus or Sonnet as the default model.
- **Direct messages.** A one-to-one message runs on the sender's own Claude account and seat; group DMs work like channels.

## What does Claude Tag cost?

There is no per-seat charge. Work in channels and group DMs draws from the organization's usage balance; the spend limit counts usage at list price, and Anthropic publishes no per-task cost guidance ([spend limits](https://claude.com/docs/claude-tag/admins/set-spend-limit.md)).

- **Team:** an owner buys credits first, and Claude won't respond in channels until the balance is funded.
- **Invoiced Enterprise:** usage has no upper bound until a limit is set.
- **Spend limits** apply to the whole organization, per channel and as a default per channel. Setup offers presets from $500 to $5,000 a month, unlimited, or a custom amount up to $1 million, with alerts at 75% and 95%.
- **Direct messages** bill the sender's own seat, which must include Claude Code. Members without a Claude account get a trial on the organization's bill, capped at 7 days, $50 or 50 sessions, whichever comes first.
- **Launch credits** of $25,000 per Enterprise organization and $2,500 per Team organization covered channel usage, required connecting GitHub from September 2, and expired on October 1, 2026 ([Anthropic](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/15575654-claude-tag-launch-promo-for-claude-team-and-enterprise)).

## How do you set up Claude Tag?

You need an Owner or Primary Owner of the Claude organization (the Admin role can't do it), a Slack workspace admin to install the app, routines switched on, credits on a Team plan, and at least one public channel.

1. Open Claude Tag in the organization's admin settings and install the Slack app.
2. In a channel, invite @Claude, then send `@Claude connect`.
3. Paste the pairing code; it works once and expires in 15 minutes.
4. Buy credits if asked, and set a monthly spend limit.
5. Pick the channels and launch.

After launch Claude has no outside tools until an admin connects them. GitHub goes through the Claude GitHub App, which a GitHub organization owner installs; other tools connect through dedicated service accounts grouped into access bundles ([setup](https://claude.com/docs/claude-tag/admins/setup-overview.md)).

## Does Claude Tag work in Microsoft Teams?

Not yet. Anthropic's [product page](https://claude.com/product/tag) says Claude Tag is coming soon to Microsoft Teams and links to a waitlist; it gives no date. Claude's separate Microsoft 365 connector reads Teams content, but it is not Claude Tag.

## What are its limits?

- **Where it works.** No Slack Connect channels, and guest channels are off by default.
- **Whose access it uses.** In channels Claude acts as the organization's shared identity, so whatever its connected accounts can read or write is available to every member of those channels.
- **Instructions aren't controls.** Anthropic's docs say constraints in a task steer Claude but don't restrict it, and advise enforcing limits with repository permissions, branch protection and required checks.
- **Retention.** During the beta there is no automatic retention period: transcripts and memory are kept until a workspace is disconnected or a channel removed, messages deleted in Slack stay in the transcript, and transcripts aren't in data exports or the Compliance API.
- **Missing controls.** No per-person spend cap on channel work, and no list of who may use it within a channel.
- **Long threads** can hit "too long" errors, and rate limits apply separately from spend limits.

## What did Claude Tag replace?

The earlier per-person Claude in Slack app, including Claude Code in Slack, on Team and Enterprise. It uses the same app and the same @Claude handle, and no data moves across. Anthropic's support pages say the switch happened on August 3, 2026, while its admin docs say the earlier version, shown as Legacy, can still be chosen per channel until a deprecation date your account team gives you ([Anthropic](https://claude.com/docs/claude-tag/admins/migrate-from-earlier)). Pro and Max users still use Claude Code in Slack, which runs on their own account.

## What are the alternatives to Claude Tag?

- **[Slack Code](/poly-vs-slack-code)** opens a code channel when you tag a coding agent in Slack, with Claude among the supported agents.
- **Codex in Slack:** mention @ChatGPT to hand work to Codex cloud; it runs as a separate task under your own account ([OpenAI](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/third-party/slack)).
- **Poly** (usepoly.co) is a browser room where several people work with one AI, Claude among five labs' models, with no Slack and no Claude plan needed. Any member can approve each change before it happens, and the room's group chat is one the AI never reads. [Poly vs Claude Tag](/poly-vs-claude-tag).

How Claude Tag fits with Anthropic's plans is in [Claude Code for teams](/claude-code-for-teams).

## Common questions

**Is Claude Tag free?**

No. There is no per-seat charge, but channel work draws from the organization's prepaid usage balance, and Team organizations must buy credits before Claude responds in channels. The launch credits expired on October 1, 2026.

**Does Claude Tag work with Microsoft Teams?**

Not yet. Anthropic says it is coming soon to Microsoft Teams and has a waitlist, with no date. Today it works in Slack only.

**Can Pro or Max users use Claude Tag?**

No. Claude Tag is for Claude Team and Enterprise organizations. Pro and Max users can still use Claude Code in Slack, which runs on their own account.

**Does Claude Tag read every message in a channel?**

In channels it belongs to, yes: every top-level message and thread reply, tagged or not. Reading isn't billed, and it may reply without a tag unless automatic replies are off for that channel.

**Who can set up Claude Tag?**

An Owner or Primary Owner of the Claude organization, with a Slack workspace admin installing the app. The Admin role can't set it up.

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