Computer Use is useful when explicitly needed, but exposing its MCP tools by default creates unnecessary desktop-control surface for users who want coding-only sessions. This adds a shared disable path for CLI flags, environment, and desktop settings while keeping preauthorized app state in one config file.
The same change also preserves Windows and WSL shell startup behavior by applying the MSYS argument-conversion guard only on WSL-bound launches.
Constraint: Computer Use MCP must not be exposed to the Coding Agent when disabled
Constraint: Desktop settings and CLI sessions need to read the same persisted Computer Use config
Rejected: Environment-only disable switch | desktop users need a persistent Settings control
Rejected: Remove Computer Use setup entirely | enabled sessions still need the existing built-in MCP path
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: moderate
Directive: Keep every new Computer Use entrypoint wired through loadStoredComputerUseConfig or the CLI disable flag before adding MCP tools
Tested: bun test src/utils/computerUse/gates.test.ts src/utils/computerUse/preauthorizedConfig.test.ts src/server/__tests__/computer-use-api.test.ts src/utils/shell/wslInterop.test.ts desktop/src/pages/ComputerUseSettings.test.tsx
Tested: bun run check:server; bun run check:desktop; bun run check:docs; bun run check:policy; bun run check:native; git diff --check
Tested: SKIP_INSTALL=1 ./desktop/scripts/build-macos-arm64.sh; codesign verify; hdiutil verify; built CLI Computer Use E2E exposure and disable checks
Not-tested: Full screenshot/control action after granting macOS Screen Recording permission on this machine
Desktop sessions were missing a visible request_access approval path and could
mis-detect their own app window as an unapproved frontmost target, which caused
Computer Use clicks to fail even after opening the intended app. On macOS, text
entry was also split across inconsistent clipboard and keystroke paths, making
Electron inputs unreliable for Chinese and short strings.
This change adds a desktop approval bridge over the existing session websocket,
renders a dedicated desktop approval modal, threads the real desktop bundle id
into the Computer Use executor, and switches macOS clipboard typing onto the
native pasteboard plus system paste shortcut path. It also makes tool error
results expandable in the desktop chat UI so frontmost-gate failures are fully
visible during debugging.
Constraint: Desktop sessions run the CLI over the SDK websocket path, so Ink tool JSX dialogs are not visible there
Constraint: macOS IME and Electron text inputs are unreliable with pyautogui.write and generic hotkey synthesis
Rejected: Reuse CLI setToolJSX dialogs in desktop mode | no transport for mid-call Ink UI over the SDK bridge
Rejected: Keep shell pbcopy/pbpaste for clipboard typing | inconsistent with NSPasteboard path and less reliable for Chinese text
Confidence: medium
Scope-risk: moderate
Reversibility: clean
Directive: Keep desktop Computer Use approvals and macOS text-entry behavior on a single bridge/path; avoid reintroducing separate CLI-only and desktop-only codepaths for the same action
Tested: python3 -m unittest runtime/test_helpers.py
Tested: bun test src/utils/computerUse/permissions.test.ts src/server/__tests__/conversation-service.test.ts
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test ComputerUsePermissionModal chatStore
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test chatBlocks
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint
Not-tested: End-to-end manual Computer Use interaction against a live Electron target app on macOS
Bypass all three gating layers (compile-time feature flag, subscription
check, GrowthBook remote config) and replace Anthropic's private native
modules (@ant/computer-use-swift, @ant/computer-use-input) with a Python
bridge using pyautogui + mss + pyobjc. Works on any macOS with any
Anthropic-protocol compatible model.
