Work Smarter, Not Harder: 3 AI tools you need this week

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🌍 Google Opal Goes Global: Build AI apps without writing code.

What's happening: Google's Opal, the no-code AI mini-app builder, just expanded to 15 new countries, including India, Canada, Brazil, Japan, and more.

If you've been waiting to turn your ideas into working apps without touching a single line of code, your moment has arrived.

Why does it matter?

Two months ago, Google Labs launched Opal in the U.S. as an experiment. They expected simple, fun tools. What did they get? Sophisticated, real-world applications that people actually needed.

Now, anyone can build AI-powered mini-apps using plain English. Whether you're automating workflows, creating marketing tools, or bringing a creative project to life—Opal handles the heavy lifting.

What's new?

Advanced debugging made simple:
You can now run workflows step-by-step, catch errors in real time, and pinpoint exactly where things break, all without code.

Lightning-fast performance:
Creating a new Opal used to take 5+ seconds. Now it's almost instant. Plus, complex workflows with multiple steps now run in parallel, cutting wait times significantly.

Who should try this?

• Marketers building campaign automation

• Small business owners creating custom tools

• Creative professionals prototyping interactive experiences

• Anyone with an idea but no coding background

Ready to build? Head to opal.withgoogle.com and join their growing Discord community to connect with other builders.

🔌 Claude Code gets supercharged with plugins.

What's happening: Claude Code now supports plugins, packaged collections of commands, agents, and tools you can install with one line.

Think of it as an app store for your development workflow.

What are plugins?

Plugins let you customize Claude Code with:

• Slash commands for quick, repetitive tasks

• Subagents that handle specialized work

• MCP servers to connect tools and data sources

• Hooks that customize behavior at key workflow moments

The best part? Toggle them on when needed and off when not. This keeps your workspace clean and focused.

Real use cases

• For engineering teams: Enforce code review standards and testing workflows across your entire team.

• For open-source maintainers: Provide developers with slash commands that guide proper package usage.

• For solo developers: Share your custom debugging setups, deployment pipelines, or testing harnesses.

• For framework authors: Bundle multiple customizations into one plugin tailored for specific use cases.

Community-led marketplaces

Developers are already building plugin marketplaces—curated collections where you can discover and install plugins instantly.

Check out:

• Dan Ávila's marketplace: DevOps automation, doc generation, project management

• Seth Hobson's collection: 80+ specialized sub-agents ready to go

Want to try it? Run this in Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-code
/plugin install feature-dev

Plugins are now in public beta for all Claude Code users. Check the documentation to build your own or explore existing marketplaces.

🌠 Meet Comet: The browser that works FOR you

What's happening: Perplexity AI just launched Comet, a Chromium-based browser with AI built in. It doesn't just search. It summarizes, schedules, drafts, and acts.

This is what a true AI assistant looks like.

What makes Comet different?

Traditional browsers are passive. They wait for you to do the work.

Comet is active. It reads your open tabs, understands context, and takes action based on what you need—all from a sidebar that lives right next to your work.

Real workflows you can run today

• Smart research: "Summarize this article into 5 key points and suggest a LinkedIn caption."
  Comet pulls highlights, rewrites in your tone, and saves the caption.

• Email and calendar assistant: "Reschedule my Friday meeting to Monday and draft the update email."
  It checks conflicts, edits the invite, and writes the email.

• Content creation mode: "Combine my three open tabs into a post outline about AI hiring."
  Comet merges research and formats it for LinkedIn or Notion.

• Auto research mode: Tracks all tabs, organizes insights by topic, and suggests related content—perfect for trend analysis or reports.

• Task and document automation: "Summarize new resumes in Drive and create a shortlist sheet."
  Connect to Google Drive, Gmail, or Notion and let Comet handle repetitive admin work.

Who should use Comet?

• HR teams: Auto-summarize resumes, write follow-ups, update tracking sheets

• Founders: Run competitor analysis, draft outreach messages

• Writers: Turn long reads into outlines and blog templates.

• Anyone drowning in tabs and tasks

Get started in 4 steps.

1. Download from perplexity.ai/comet (Windows or Mac).

2. Log in with your Perplexity or Gmail account.

3. Import Chrome bookmarks and passwords (optional).

4. Open the AI sidebar and start delegating.

Try this prompt today:
"Find today's top 3 AI trends from TechCrunch, summarize them in 100 words each, and format as a newsletter section."

Your next edition writes itself.