Computer Use Agents

by davila78da17d671b6fNo license32K starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated today

Build AI agents that interact with computers like humans do - viewing screens, moving cursors, clicking buttons, and typing text. Covers Anthropic's Computer Use, OpenAI's Operator/CUA, and open-source alternatives. Critical focus on sandboxing, security, and handling the unique challenges of vision-based control. Use when: computer use, desktop automation agent, screen control AI, vision-based agent, GUI automation.

Instructions onlyAI & AgentsSecurity
AI-generated overview

Guides building vision-based computer-use agents that control desktops, covering architecture, sandboxing and vendor implementations.

What it does
This skill provides patterns and reference code for building AI agents that observe a screen, reason about the next step, and act through mouse and keyboard control. It covers the perception-reasoning-action loop, sandboxed container setups with virtual displays, and implementation approaches for Anthropic Computer Use and comparable vision-based control systems. It also lists security and operational pitfalls such as runaway loops, cost limits and isolation requirements.
When to use it
Use it when designing or reviewing a desktop automation agent that drives a GUI through screenshots and synthetic input. It is also relevant when you need guidance on isolating such an agent in a container and constraining its network, filesystem and resource access.
Requirements
Instructions only; no scripts are shipped. The example code assumes Python with the Anthropic client library, Pillow, pyautogui and screen-capture tools, plus a container runtime with a virtual display such as Xvfb and VNC for sandboxed execution. Model API credentials are needed for the vendor examples.

Computer Use Agents

Patterns

Perception-Reasoning-Action Loop

The fundamental architecture of computer use agents: observe screen, reason about next action, execute action, repeat. This loop integrates vision models with action execution through an iterative pipeline.

Key components:

  1. PERCEPTION: Screenshot captures current screen state
  2. REASONING: Vision-language model analyzes and plans
  3. ACTION: Execute mouse/keyboard operations
  4. FEEDBACK: Observe result, continue or correct

Critical insight: Vision agents are completely still during "thinking" phase (1-5 seconds), creating a detectable pause pattern.

When to use: ['Building any computer use agent from scratch', 'Integrating vision models with desktop control', 'Understanding agent behavior patterns']

python
from anthropic import Anthropicfrom PIL import Imageimport base64import pyautoguiimport time
class ComputerUseAgent:    """    Perception-Reasoning-Action loop implementation.    Based on Anthropic Computer Use patterns.    """
    def __init__(self, client: Anthropic, model: str = "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"):        self.client = client        self.model = model        self.max_steps = 50  # Prevent runaway loops        self.action_delay = 0.5  # Seconds between actions
    def capture_screenshot(self) -> str:        """Capture screen and return base64 encoded image."""        screenshot = pyautogui.screenshot()        # Resize for token efficiency (1280x800 is good balance)        screenshot = screenshot.resize((1280, 800), Image.LANCZOS)
        import io        buffer = io.BytesIO()        screenshot.save(buffer, format="PNG")        return base64.b64encode(buffer.getvalue()).decode()
    def execute_action(self, action: dict) -> dict:        """Execute mouse/keyboard action on the computer."""        action_type = action.get("type")
        if action_type == "click":            x, y = action["x"], action["y"]            button = action.get("button", "left")            pyautogui.click(x, y, button=button)            return {"success": True, "action": f"clicked at ({x}, {y})"}
        elif action_type == "type":            text = action["text"]            pyautogui.typewrite(text, interval=0.02)            return {"success": True, "action": f"typed {len(text)} chars"}
        elif action_type == "key":            key = action["key"]            pyautogui.press(key)            return {"success": True, "action": f"pressed {key}"}
        elif action_type == "scroll":            direction = action.get("direction", "down")            amount = action.get("amount", 3)            scroll = -amount if direction == "down" else amount            pyautogui.scroll(scroll)            return {"success": True, "action": f"scrolled {dir

Sandboxed Environment Pattern

Computer use agents MUST run in isolated, sandboxed environments. Never give agents direct access to your main system - the security risks are too high. Use Docker containers with virtual desktops.

Key isolation requirements:

  1. NETWORK: Restrict to necessary endpoints only
  2. FILESYSTEM: Read-only or scoped to temp directories
  3. CREDENTIALS: No access to host credentials
  4. SYSCALLS: Filter dangerous system calls
  5. RESOURCES: Limit CPU, memory, time

The goal is "blast radius minimization" - if the agent goes wrong, damage is contained to the sandbox.

When to use: ['Deploying any computer use agent', 'Testing agent behavior safely', 'Running untrusted automation tasks']

python
# Dockerfile for sandboxed computer use environment# Based on Anthropic's reference implementation pattern
FROM ubuntu:22.04
# Install desktop environmentRUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \    xvfb \    x11vnc \    fluxbox \    xterm \    firefox \    python3 \    python3-pip \    supervisor
# Security: Create non-root userRUN useradd -m -s /bin/bash agent && \    mkdir -p /home/agent/.vnc
# Install Python dependenciesCOPY requirements.txt /tmp/RUN pip3 install -r /tmp/requirements.txt
# Security: Drop capabilitiesRUN apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libcap2-bin && \    setcap -r /usr/bin/python3 || true
# Copy agent codeCOPY --chown=agent:agent . /appWORKDIR /app
# Supervisor config for virtual display + VNCCOPY supervisord.conf /etc/supervisor/conf.d/
# Expose VNC port only (not desktop directly)EXPOSE 5900
# Run as non-rootUSER agent
CMD ["/usr/bin/supervisord", "-c", "/etc/supervisor/conf.d/supervisord.conf"]
---
# docker-compose.yml with security constraintsversion: '3.8'
services:  computer-use-agent:    build: .    ports:      - "5900:5900"  # VNC for observation      - "8080:8080"  # API for control
    # Security constraints    security_opt:      - no-new-privileges:true      - seccomp:seccomp-profile.json
    # Resource limits    deploy:      resources:        limits:          cpus: '2'          memory: 4G        reservations:          cpus: '0.5'          memory: 1G
    # Network isolation    networks:      - agent-network
    # No access to host filesystem    volumes:      - agent-tmp:/tmp
    # Read-only root filesystem    read_only: true    tmpfs:      - /run      - /var/run
    # Environment    environment:      - DISPLAY=:99      - NO_PROXY=localhost
networks:  agent-network:    driver: bridge    internal: true  # No internet by default
volumes:  agent-tmp:
---
# Python wrapper with additional runtime sandboxingimport subprocessimport osfrom dataclasses im

Anthropic Computer Use Implementation

Official implementation pattern using Claude's computer use capability. Claude 3.5 Sonnet was the first frontier model to offer computer use. Claude Opus 4.5 is now the "best model in the world for computer use."

Key capabilities:

  • screenshot: Capture current screen state
  • mouse: Click, move, drag operations
  • keyboard: Type text, press keys
  • bash: Run shell commands
  • text_editor: View and edit files

Tool versions:

  • computer_20251124 (Opus 4.5): Adds zoom action for detailed inspection
  • computer_20250124 (All other models): Standard capabilities

Critical limitation: "Some UI elements (like dropdowns and scrollbars) might be tricky for Claude to manipulate" - Anthropic docs

When to use: ['Building production computer use agents', 'Need highest quality vision understanding', 'Full desktop control (not just browser)']

python
from anthropic import Anthropicfrom anthropic.types.beta import (    BetaToolComputerUse20241022,    BetaToolBash20241022,    BetaToolTextEditor20241022,)import subprocessimport base64from PIL import Imageimport io
class AnthropicComputerUse:    """    Official Anthropic Computer Use implementation.
    Requires:    - Docker container with virtual display    - VNC for viewing agent actions    - Proper tool implementations    """
    def __init__(self):        self.client = Anthropic()        self.model = "claude-sonnet-4-6"  # Best for computer use        self.screen_size = (1280, 800)
    def get_tools(self) -> list:        """Define computer use tools."""        return [            BetaToolComputerUse20241022(                type="computer_20241022",                name="computer",                display_width_px=self.screen_size[0],                display_height_px=self.screen_size[1],            ),            BetaToolBash20241022(                type="bash_20241022",                name="bash",            ),            BetaToolTextEditor20241022(                type="text_editor_20241022",                name="str_replace_editor",            ),        ]
    def execute_tool(self, name: str, input: dict) -> dict:        """Execute a tool and return result."""
        if name == "computer":            return self._handle_computer_action(input)        elif name == "bash":            return self._handle_bash(input)        elif name == "str_replace_editor":            return self._handle_editor(input)        else:            return {"error": f"Unknown tool: {name}"}
    def _handle_computer_action(self, input: dict) -> dict:        """Handle computer control actions."""        action = input.get("action")
        if action == "screenshot":            # Capture via xdotool/scrot            subprocess.run(["scrot", "/tmp/screenshot.png"])
            with open("/tmp/screenshot.png", "rb") as f:            

⚠️ Sharp Edges

IssueSeveritySolution
Issuecritical## Defense in depth - no single solution works
Issuemedium## Add human-like variance to actions
Issuehigh## Use keyboard alternatives when possible
Issuemedium## Accept the tradeoff
Issuehigh## Implement context management
Issuehigh## Monitor and limit costs
Issuecritical## ALWAYS use sandboxing

Source and attribution

Source:davila7/claude-code-templatesincli-tool/components/skills/ai-research/computer-use-agentsat commit8da17d6

License: No license

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