pi-computer-use

Skill by ara.so — Daily 2026 Skills collection.

pi-computer-use

gives Pi agents a semantic computer-use surface for visible macOS windows. It prefers Accessibility (AX) targets (like

@e1

) over raw coordinates, returns semantic state after every action, and attaches screenshots only when AX coverage is too weak.

Installation

Via Pi (recommended)

bash

pi install git:github.com/injaneity/pi-computer-use#v0.2.1

Pin to a specific version:

bash

pi install -l git:github.com/injaneity/pi-computer-use#v0.2.1

Via npm

bash

npm install @injaneity/pi-computer-use
# or pin a version
npm install @injaneity/pi-computer-use@0.2.1

Remove

bash

pi remove git:github.com/injaneity/pi-computer-use#v0.2.1
npm remove @injaneity/pi-computer-use

First-Run Permissions

On first session, macOS will prompt for permissions for:

~/.pi/agent/helpers/pi-computer-use/bridge

Grant both:

Accessibility — required for AX ref targeting
Screen Recording — required for screenshots

How It Works

Three components:

Pi extension (
```
extensions/computer-use.ts
```
) — registers public tools and
```
/computer-use
```
command
TypeScript bridge (
```
src/bridge.ts
```
) — manages window state, AX refs, fallback policy, batching, execution metadata
Native Swift helper (
```
native/macos/bridge.swift
```
) — talks to macOS Accessibility, ScreenCaptureKit, AppKit, CoreGraphics

Available Tools

Tool	Purpose
`list_apps`	List running apps
`list_windows`	List windows for an app
`screenshot`	Capture window + return AX state
`click`	Click element or coordinate
`double_click`	Double-click element or coordinate
`move_mouse`	Move cursor
`drag`	Drag from point to point
`scroll`	Scroll element or coordinate
`keypress`	Press key combination
`type_text`	Type raw text
`set_text`	Replace element value via AX
`wait`	Pause execution
`arrange_window`	Position/resize window
`computer_actions`	Batch multiple actions

Core Workflow

Always start a session with

screenshot

to select the controlled window and obtain AX refs:

// 1. Discover apps and windows if target is ambiguous
list_apps()
list_windows({ app: "Safari" })

// 2. Select the window and get AX state
screenshot({ window: "@w1" })

// 3. Act on AX refs returned from screenshot
click({ window: "@w1", ref: "@e1" })
set_text({ ref: "@e2", text: "https://example.com" })
keypress({ keys: ["Enter"] })

AX Ref Targeting (Preferred)

AX refs like

@e1

@e2

are returned by

screenshot

and carry capability metadata:

```
canSetValue
```
— supports
```
set_text
```
```
canPress
```
— supports
```
click
```
```
canFocus
```
— can receive focus
```
canScroll
```
— supports
```
scroll
```
```
adjust
```
— supports value adjustment

// Click by AX ref — no coordinates needed
click({ ref: "@e1" })

// Scroll a specific element
scroll({ ref: "@e3", scrollY: 600 })

// Replace text field value atomically
set_text({ ref: "@e2", text: "hello world" })

Coordinate Fallback

Use coordinates only when no suitable AX target exists. Always include

stateId

from the latest screenshot to guard against stale state:

click({ x: 320, y: 180, stateId: "abc123" })

Batching Actions

Use

computer_actions

to batch obvious sequential steps. One semantic state update is returned after all actions:

computer_actions({
  stateId: "abc123",
  actions: [
    { type: "click", ref: "@e1" },
    { type: "set_text", ref: "@e2", text: "https://example.com" },
    { type: "keypress", keys: ["Enter"] }
  ]
})

Each action in the result includes execution metadata:

```
stealth
```
— background-safe AX path (no focus takeover)
```
default
```
— required focus or raw event fallback

Window Management

// List windows for a specific app
list_windows({ app: "Finder" })

// Target a specific window in all subsequent calls
screenshot({ window: "@w2" })

// Arrange window by preset
arrange_window({ window: "@w1", preset: "left-half" })

// Arrange window with explicit frame
arrange_window({ window: "@w1", frame: { x: 0, y: 0, width: 1280, height: 800 } })

Screenshot Modes

Control when screenshots are attached with the

image

option:

screenshot({ window: "@w1", image: "auto" })   // default: attach when AX coverage is weak
screenshot({ window: "@w1", image: "always" }) // always attach
screenshot({ window: "@w1", image: "never" })  // never attach, AX state only

Common Patterns

Open URL in Safari

list_windows({ app: "Safari" })
screenshot({ window: "@w1" })
// @e1 = address bar (from AX state)
set_text({ ref: "@e1", text: "https://example.com" })
keypress({ keys: ["Enter"] })

Fill a Form

screenshot({ window: "@w1" })
// Use refs from AX state
set_text({ ref: "@e3", text: "Jane Doe" })
set_text({ ref: "@e4", text: "jane@example.com" })
click({ ref: "@e5" }) // Submit button

Keyboard Shortcut

keypress({ keys: ["Cmd", "T"] })       // New tab
keypress({ keys: ["Cmd", "Shift", "N"] }) // New incognito window
keypress({ keys: ["Escape"] })

Scroll a Page

scroll({ ref: "@e2", scrollY: 800 })   // Scroll element down
scroll({ ref: "@e2", scrollY: -400 })  // Scroll up

Drag and Drop

drag({ fromX: 100, fromY: 200, toX: 400, toY: 200 })

Strict AX Mode (Stealth / Background-Safe)

Enable strict AX mode to prevent focus changes, raw pointer events, raw keyboard events, and cursor takeover. All actions must succeed via background-safe AX paths:

// Via config (see Configuration section)
// Actions will report `stealth` in execution metadata when successful

Strict mode errors will surface if an action requires foreground focus and strict mode is active.

Configuration

Inspect effective config in Pi:

/computer-use

Config can be set via config files or environment variable overrides. Key options:

Option	Description
`image`	`"auto"` \| `"always"` \| `"never"` — screenshot attachment mode
`strictAX`	Enable background-safe strict AX mode
`browser`	Browser-aware targeting preference

See

docs/configuration.md

for full config file format and environment variable overrides.

Development

bash

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run checks
npm test

# Run local checkout without loading installed copy
pi --no-extensions -e .

Benchmarks

bash

# Default QA benchmark
npm run benchmark:qa

# Full benchmark (may open apps)
npm run benchmark:qa:full

See

benchmarks/README.md

for metrics, regression policy, and comparison workflow.

Troubleshooting

Permissions not granted

Re-run and grant both Accessibility and Screen Recording to:

~/.pi/agent/helpers/pi-computer-use/bridge

On macOS, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and Screen Recording.

AX refs are stale

Take a fresh

screenshot

to get updated

stateId

and new refs before acting. Stale-action detection uses

stateId

to reject outdated coordinates or refs.

Browser window not targeted correctly

Use

list_windows({ app: "Safari" })

(or Chrome/Firefox) first, then explicitly pass

window: "@wN"

screenshot

and subsequent actions.

Strict AX mode errors

An action failed to complete via background-safe AX path. Either disable strict mode or identify an AX ref with

canPress

canSetValue

that supports the background path.

Helper not found

Ensure Pi installed the native helper:

bash

ls ~/.pi/agent/helpers/pi-computer-use/bridge

If missing, reinstall:

pi install git:github.com/injaneity/pi-computer-use#v0.2.1

Key Concepts

AX refs (
```
@e1
```
,
```
@e2
```
, …) — semantic element handles from macOS Accessibility API, stable within a state
Window refs (
```
@w1
```
,
```
@w2
```
, …) — stable handles from
```
list_windows
```
stateId — opaque ID from the latest screenshot; attach to coordinate-based actions to detect stale state
stealth execution — action completed via AX without foregrounding the app or moving the real cursor
semantic state — structured AX tree returned after every action, used instead of screenshots when coverage is sufficient

pi-computer-use

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

pi-computer-use

Installation

Via Pi (recommended)

Via npm

Remove

First-Run Permissions

How It Works

Available Tools

Core Workflow

AX Ref Targeting (Preferred)

Coordinate Fallback

Batching Actions

Window Management

Screenshot Modes

Common Patterns

Open URL in Safari

Fill a Form

Keyboard Shortcut

Scroll a Page

Drag and Drop

Strict AX Mode (Stealth / Background-Safe)

Configuration

Development

Benchmarks

Troubleshooting

Permissions not granted

AX refs are stale

Browser window not targeted correctly

Strict AX mode errors

Helper not found

Key Concepts

References