agent-desktop

agent-desktop

Computer use for AI agents: see and operate desktop apps on macOS, Windows, and Linux through the OS accessibility tree.

agent-desktop gives an AI agent computer use without screenshots or pixel matching. It reads the accessibility tree of a desktop app and returns it as JSON, with a ref for every element the agent can act on. The agent clicks or types on a ref, reads the UI again to check the result, and repeats. The loop lives in your agent; agent-desktop has no model inside. It ships as a CLI and a C library.

Snapshots, clipboard reads, screenshots, command output, and debug artifacts can contain private desktop content. Keep them out of public logs and uploads.

Install

npm install -g agent-desktop
agent-desktop status                # platform, permissions, supported surfaces
agent-desktop permissions --guide   # macOS: walks you through the Accessibility grant

Bun, Yarn and pnpm can install the same package. It includes native binaries and platform helpers for x64 and ARM64. For direct execution without a JavaScript launcher, download the matching native archive from GitHub Releases and keep its helper beside the executable.

On macOS and Linux, Homebrew also works: brew install agent-desktop. There is no official Scoop package yet. The repository no longer maintains a custom Homebrew tap or Scoop bucket.

Release archives and building from source are covered in Installation.

Quick start

agent-desktop snapshot --app Finder -i      # interactive elements, each with a ref
agent-desktop click @s8f3k2p9:e8            # act on a ref from that snapshot
agent-desktop snapshot --app Finder -i      # observe again to verify

Each command prints one JSON envelope. A trimmed snapshot:

{
  "version": "2.6",
  "ok": true,
  "command": "snapshot",
  "data": {
    "app": "Finder",
    "snapshot_id": "s8f3k2p9",
    "ref_count": 59,
    "complete": true,
    "tree": {
      "role": "window",
      "name": "Downloads",
      "children": [
        { "role": "treeitem", "name": "Documents", "ref_id": "@s8f3k2p9:e8", "available_actions": ["Click"] }
      ]
    }
  }
}

• Refs belong to their snapshot. A bare @e8 is rejected with INVALID_ARGS. When the UI changes, an action returns STALE_REF or AMBIGUOUS_TARGET: take a new snapshot and use its refs.
• Several windows give AMBIGUOUS_TARGET; snapshot lists the candidate window ids in error.details. Pass one with --window-id.
• Dense apps: map first with snapshot --skeleton --app Slack -i --compact, then drill into one region with snapshot --root @s8f3k2p9:e3 -i --compact.
• Headless by default. Ref actions use the accessibility API without moving the pointer or taking focus. The global --headed flag allows physical input.
• Post-action waits observe the ref's original process. Window-owned refs stay pinned to their original window, including refs captured from a sheet, alert, popover, focused view, or Linux menu. macOS application menus keep their application-owned surface and need no document window. The wait reads the whole pinned window, so overlay selectors share its scope. Wait scope and results describe the selector limits.
• type, set-value, and clipboard-set accept --stdin for piped text, keeping it out of process arguments. Run secret steps as separate commands; batch JSON text appears in process arguments.
• PowerShell. Quote every ref ('@s8f3k2p9:e8'), because a bare @token is the splatting operator.

The full walkthrough is in the quick start.

How it works

Your agent calls the CLI, or the C library in process. Both run the same core, which reaches the OS only through PlatformAdapter. Each binary is built for one OS and talks to that OS's accessibility API.

For AI agents

The binary carries guides that match its version:

agent-desktop skills get desktop      # the loop, refs, verification and retry rules
agent-desktop skills get platform     # what differs on the OS you run on
agent-desktop <command> --help        # flags for one command

Install the skill into an agent harness from skills.sh:

npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-desktop --skill agent-desktop

Or add this to your AGENTS.md:

Use `agent-desktop` to see and operate desktop apps. Before the first use, run
`agent-desktop skills get desktop` and `agent-desktop skills get platform`, and follow them.

Retry a failed command only when error.disposition.retry is safe. See JSON output for the envelope, error codes, and exit codes.

MCP

agent-desktop mcp serves every command as an MCP tool over stdio. A tool is named after its command (desktop_snapshot, desktop_click, desktop_session_start), takes that command's arguments, and returns its JSON envelope:

{ "mcpServers": { "agent-desktop": { "command": "agent-desktop", "args": ["mcp"] } } }

Global flags given to mcp, such as --session, --headed or --trace, apply to every call.

Commands

agent-desktop has 60 command names, 56 operational commands. The other four (key-down, key-up, mouse-down, mouse-up) refuse to run until a daemon can release a held key or button. Commands documents each one.

Group	Commands
Observe	snapshot, find, get, is, screenshot, list-surfaces
Act on a ref	click, double-click, triple-click, right-click, type, set-value, clear, focus, select, toggle, check, uncheck, expand, collapse, scroll, scroll-to
Keyboard and mouse	press, hover, drag, mouse-move, mouse-click, mouse-wheel, key-down, key-up, mouse-down, mouse-up
Apps and windows	launch, close-app, list-apps, list-windows, list-displays, focus-window, resize-window, move-window, minimize, maximize, restore, open-system-surface
Notifications	list-notifications, dismiss-notification, dismiss-all-notifications, notification-action
Clipboard	clipboard-get, clipboard-set, clipboard-clear
Wait	wait
Sessions	session, trace, cursor-overlay
System	status, permissions, version, batch, skills

Platform support

Platform	Requirement	Accessibility API
macOS	macOS 13 or later, Intel or Apple Silicon	AX API
Windows	Windows 10 1809 or later, x64 or ARM64	UI Automation
Linux	Ubuntu 24.04 or later, x86_64 or aarch64, X11 or Wayland	AT-SPI

Each platform page lists what works headless, what needs --headed, and what refuses.

C library

Each release ships libagent_desktop_ffi, so a program can call agent-desktop in process. See the C library docs.

import ctypes
lib = ctypes.CDLL("./lib/libagent_desktop_ffi.dylib")
lib.ad_adapter_create.restype = ctypes.c_void_p
lib.ad_adapter_destroy.argtypes = [ctypes.c_void_p]
assert lib.ad_init(7) == 0  # AD_RESULT_OK when the header's AD_ABI_VERSION_MAJOR matches the library
adapter = lib.ad_adapter_create()
lib.ad_adapter_destroy(adapter)

Development

Each platform adapter builds only on its own OS, so scope cargo to the host's packages. On macOS:

HOST_PKGS=(-p agent-desktop-core -p agent-desktop-macos -p agent-desktop -p agent-desktop-ffi)
cargo test "${HOST_PKGS[@]}"
cargo clippy "${HOST_PKGS[@]}" --all-targets -- -D warnings

On Windows, use agent-desktop-windows instead of agent-desktop-macos; on Linux, agent-desktop-linux. CONTRIBUTING.md lists every gate.

Documentation

• Introduction: what it is and how it works
• Snapshots and refs
• Errors and recovery
• Skills
• CONCEPTS.md: vocabulary
• CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, SUPPORT.md

License

Apache-2.0