Open Computer Use

What it does

When your agent uses it

• An agent needs to install
• Operate Open Computer Use through its native CLI
• Stdio MCP server
• Direct Computer Use tool calls

Example prompts

• “/open-computer-use”

Workflow steps

12 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1On macOS, run sw_vers -productVersion before invoking the CLI and require macOS 14.0 or later. On older versions, explain that the runtime…
2. 2Check the CLI is installed with open-computer-use -h or ocu -h. If installation or setup is missing, read references/installation.md.
3. 3On supported macOS versions, run open-computer-use doctor before the first real GUI task. If permissions are missing, ask the user to…
4. 4Inspect available apps before acting: open-computer-use call list_apps.
5. 5Capture current UI state with open-computer-use call get_app_state --args '{"app":"TextEdit"}'. The default state is usually enough for UI…
6. 6When the task needs longer semantic text, such as chat history, email bodies, document text, or long form content, call get_app_state with…
7. 7When visible long pages or lists appear incomplete even after scrolling, call get_app_state with a larger max_tree_nodes or max_tree_depth.
8. 8Prefer element-targeted actions using element_index from the latest get_app_state result.
9. 9For multi-step CLI work, use open-computer-use call --calls '' so one process can reuse the latest element index mapping.
10. 10For agent runtimes that support local MCP servers, configure open-computer-use mcp or ocu mcp and call the exposed Computer Use tools…
11. 11For direct code-first orchestration, run ocu capabilities and then use one-shot ocu js or persistent ocu repl. Read references/usage.md.
12. 12If communication, permission, or desktop-session access fails, read references/troubleshooting.md.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 93b8175. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are bash and toml).

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Open Computer Use loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs, and up to ~6.6k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 82 tokens; SKILL.md has 584 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~82

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.5k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~6.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from iFurySt/open-codex-computer-use at commit 93b8175, republished under its MIT licence (© iFurySt). 584 words, ~1,454 tokens.

name

open-computer-use

description

Platform-neutral guidance for using Open Computer Use, the open-source Computer Use MCP server and CLI for macOS, Linux, and Windows. Use when an agent needs to install, verify, troubleshoot, configure, or operate Open Computer Use through its native CLI, stdio MCP server, or direct Computer Use tool calls.

open-computer-use -h
ocu -h
ocu capabilities --json
ocu js 'nodeRepl.write(6 * 7)'
ocu repl
open-computer-use doctor
open-computer-use call list_apps
ocu call list_apps
open-computer-use call get_app_state --args '{"app":"TextEdit"}'
open-computer-use call get_app_state --args '{"app":"TextEdit","text_limit":1000}'
open-computer-use call get_app_state --args '{"app":"TextEdit","text_limit":"max"}'
open-computer-use call get_app_state --args '{"app":"Google Chrome","max_tree_nodes":3000,"max_tree_depth":96}'
open-computer-use call click --args '{"app":"TextEdit","element_index":"0"}'
open-computer-use call type_text --args '{"app":"TextEdit","text":"Hello from Open Computer Use"}'

open-computer-use call --calls '[
  {"tool":"get_app_state","args":{"app":"TextEdit"}},
  {"tool":"press_key","args":{"app":"TextEdit","key":"Return"}}
]'

[mcp_servers.open_computer_use]
command = "open-computer-use"
args = ["mcp"]

© iFurySt, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 4 other files (references) in skills/open-computer-use of iFurySt/open-codex-computer-use.

• SKILL.md
• agents/openai.yaml
• references/installation.md
• references/troubleshooting.md
• references/usage.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 93b8175