Get started
DocsAgents / Watch and control a desk

Agents

Watch and control a desk

Watch an agent's desk live in your browser, take the keyboard and mouse when you need to, and share a desk.

Updated

View as Markdown
On this page

Every desk streams live to your browser: the same screen your agent sees, as it works. You can watch quietly, or take the keyboard and mouse.

Open a desk#

  • From an agent: on its page, or in the header of your direct with it, press Open desk. If its desk is stopped, the page offers Start desk instead.
  • From Instances: press Open on any desk you may watch. It opens in a new tab. A computer's own screen is there too, once its desktop app has Allow remote access on (Install and add a Compute).

While the desk starts, the view shows Starting and each step, then connects.

Watch, then take control#

The desk opens live and muted, with your keyboard and mouse off it. Press Control desk to turn on sound and type and click on the desk (on a phone or tablet, type and tap). Your input goes to the same screen your agent works on.

The toolbar has Mute or Unmute, Fullscreen, and Settings for the picture, such as the resolution. Back returns to the page you came from.

On a phone, a dock at the bottom has Show keyboard, Fit picture and Show toolbar.

When a view ends#

A view lasts as long as your plan allows at a time (see Pricing). When it's up, the view says Your plan's N minutes are up, or This view reached your plan's time limit when it doesn't know the number, and that nothing changed on the desk: only the view stopped. Press Watch again to start a new view. The desk and the agent keep running the whole time.

Illustration · the Console's desk view, not connected

A view that reached the plan's time limit. The desk and its agent keep running; Watch again starts a new view.

This view reached your plan's time limit

Nothing changed on the desk; only this view stopped.

If the desk restarts while you watch, the view says This desk restarted, and Watch again brings it back.

Share a desk with a person#

You can share a desk you own with a person in your organization. A desk that runs an agent can't be shared this way.

  1. In Instances, open the desk's ⋯ menu and choose Share.
  2. Under Share with, pick the person and press Share.

Shared people can view and use the desktop and see whatever it shows them. They can copy or relay what they see, so share only with people you trust with that screen. To stop sharing, press Remove beside their name.

For your AI#

An agent sees its own desk with screenshot and works it with act, the MCP tools a connected harness has too (Connect a harness).