Computer use: let an agent operate desktop apps

Computer use lets a capable agent inspect and operate native macOS applications through atrium's local driver. It is an explicit capability: atrium checks driver readiness, macOS permissions, app allowlists, and protected surfaces before actions reach the desktop.

Set it up

Open Settings → Computer. The Readiness section reports four independent requirements:

• The computer-use driver is installed and current.
• Its daemon is running.
• macOS Accessibility permission is granted.
• macOS Screen Recording permission is granted.

Use Install and Grant from that panel. macOS owns the privacy prompts; atrium cannot bypass them. Restarting an affected app may be necessary after granting a permission for the first time.

From the CLI, inspect the same state with:

atrium computer status --check-update
atrium computer install
atrium computer grant

Start from chat

Launch a computer-use-capable agent in an agent chat pane. When it requests desktop control, the transcript shows the request and current scope. You can allow an app once or add it to the permanent allowlist.

Scopes are deliberately narrow:

• Window — the selected application window.
• Desktop — the whole desktop, after the broader scope is approved.
• Auto — atrium chooses the narrowest workable scope.

Computer-use actions, screenshots, approvals, and failures remain visible as transcript cards. An optional picture-in-picture preview follows the active session, shows the latest screenshot and action label, and provides jump, collapse, drag, and stop controls.

Allowed apps and protected surfaces

The app allowlist is managed under Settings → Computer → Allowed apps or from the CLI:

atrium computer allow list
atrium computer allow add "Xcode"
atrium computer allow remove "Xcode"

An allowed app is not blanket permission for every screen it can display. atrium still protects sensitive surfaces such as AI-provider hosts, terminal and console windows, administrator authentication, and macOS privacy approval dialogs. Crossing one of those boundaries requires a fresh decision or is blocked outright.

Cursor and preview

Agent cursor draws a separate overlay showing where the agent is acting; it does not move your real pointer. Picture-in-picture preview is off by default and applies to the next computer-use session. Both settings live in Settings → Computer.

Stop immediately

Press bare Escape to stop active computer use. The preview and transcript cards also have Stop controls.

For a harder boundary, use Emergency stop in Settings. It ends active control and disables new sessions until you explicitly re-enable them. The CLI equivalents are:

atrium computer stop --all
atrium computer unlock --yes

Stopping computer use does not stop the agent's text conversation. End or interrupt the agent separately if you also want its turn to stop.

CLI automation

The atrium computer namespace also exposes app and window discovery, attach and launch, navigation, observation, actions, batch calls, clipboard operations, and verification. These commands pass through the same readiness, scope, allowlist, and protected-surface gates as chat-driven control.

atrium computer apps
atrium computer start --scope window
atrium computer attach --pid <pid>
atrium computer windows --pid <pid>
atrium computer observe --pid <pid> --window-id <window-id>
atrium computer end

Use atrium computer --help for the driver-specific arguments and tool schemas available in your installed version.