an ai agent that controls a computer for you

what the four approval levels mean

these levels concern commands and file changes. sending through connected apps follows a separate setting. other app changes are not documented as asking first.

what to give a computer-use bot

use the desktop when the work involves looking at a screen, clicking or typing. keep the request concrete: inspect a public page, work with a document you provide, or prepare notes from material you have chosen. those are tasks to try, not promises that every website or document will work.

for a first run, ask: "open the public page i give you. find its contact instructions and write a short note in this chat. do not submit a form, create an account or change anything. tell me if you cannot find the instructions."

you can compare the result with the page yourself. that makes it a useful starting task: you see the bot's route through the work and have a clear way to check the answer.

choose which computer it should use

dusk bot's desktop app runs on macos 12 or later, windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), and ubuntu 24.04 in beta. that app support does not mean a bot can control your own screen on every platform. the documented own-screen option is on a mac, when you choose it on purpose.¹

for a separate workspace, dusk cloud gives each bot a desktop: plus allows two awake at once and pro allows five. on your own server, the bot has a private desktop there.

choose the location before attaching files or signing in. it determines where bots, files and memory live. if you want the task to continue after your laptop sleeps, use a machine that stays on. the laptop-closed guide explains that choice without assuming you need cloud hosting.

make the first run small enough to watch

create a bot with New bot and describe one job, such as reading the pages you supply and reporting what it finds. sign in to the ai you already use from the first screen. dusk has no model of its own; your ai provider's terms and billing still apply.

leave a new bot on Ask for approval while you learn how it works. send the public-page request above, then open Screen to watch the live desktop. in the chat, replies stream in and a line shows the tools it uses.

if it heads toward the wrong page or starts solving a different problem, send another message to steer it. Cmd . or Ctrl . stops the bot. a successful first trial means a result you checked, not just a desktop that moved by itself.¹³

take the mouse for the part only you can do

when the bot needs a sign-in, captcha or two-step code, choose Take control. click and type yourself, then choose Hand control back. this is the documented way to get through those steps: the bot stays signed in and never sees the password.¹

do not describe an account task as unattended until you have tried its sign-in path. a missing sign-in still comes back to you even on Full access. a bot cannot make a required human step disappear by having a more permissive setting.

for the first task there is no reason to sign in anywhere. add an account only after you know what job needs it, and keep the bot on the intended site when you hand control back.

desktop work and connected apps have different controls

a bot's browser and desktop are one way to work. connected apps are another: you sign in through Connected apps and choose which bots may use the connection. a bot can be limited to read-only access or an exact list of actions.

keep Ask every time for sending while you start. emails, messages, posts and payments use that sending control, unless you allow a daily amount. one exception: a bot on Full access with no sending rule of its own may send up to 25 a day without asking, so give full-access bots Ask every time under sending. do not treat it as a blanket approval step for changing labels, moving events or editing pages. use read-only access for inspection jobs, or write "ask me before you change anything" into the task.

the computer safety guide covers risk in more depth. here the practical choice is simpler: give this task only the access it actually needs.

move from a demonstration to useful work

after you can check a public-page task, try a file task using a copy you are comfortable handing over. drop it into the chat or use Attach files. files a bot makes appear in the chat; on your computer they live in the bot's folder or a project folder you give it. on dusk cloud a copy comes down to Documents/Dusk Bot.⁴

a file-organizing task needs a more careful brief than finding text on a page. begin by asking for a proposed arrangement, then decide what should move. do not hand over your whole home folder just to learn the interface.

repeat a job only when the input and desired result are clear. routines on your own computer stop while it sleeps or dusk bot is closed. computer access also does not guarantee that the bot will understand a page correctly. keep checking results, especially when the page or task changes.