Last week, it was revealed that Claude users can now enable Claude to use their computer to complete tasks. This feature was in research preview and was made available for Claude Cowork and Claude Code.
It is now announced that users can enable computer use in the Claude Code CLI so Claude can open apps, click, type, and see their screen on macOS.
Computer use is now in Claude Code.
Claude can open your apps, click through your UI, and test what it built, right from the CLI.
Now in research preview on Pro and Max plans. pic.twitter.com/s2FDQaDmr1
— Claude (@claudeai) March 30, 2026
Computer use in Claude Code CLI
Computer use handles tasks that require a GUI:
- Build and validate native apps- ask Claude to build a macOS menu bar app. Claude writes the Swift, compiles it, launches it, and clicks through every control to verify it works before you ever open it.
- End-to-end UI testing- point Claude at a local Electron app and say “test the onboarding flow.” Claude opens the app, clicks through the signup, and screenshots each step.
- Debug visual and layout issues- tell Claude “the modal is clipping on small windows.” Claude resizes the window, reproduces the bug, screenshots it, patches the CSS, and verifies the fix.
- Drive GUI-only tools- interact with design tools, hardware control panels, the iOS simulator, or proprietary apps that have no CLI or API.
Compute use applies:
- If you have an MCP server for the service, Claude uses that
- If the task is a shell command, Claude uses Bash
- If the task is browser work and you have Claude in Chrome set up, Claude uses that
- If none of those applies, Claude uses Computer use
How to enable Computer use?
Computer use is available as a built-in MCP server called computer-use. You need to enable it to use the feature:
- Open the MCP menu
- Enable the server
- Grant macOS permissions
After setup, ask Claude to do something that needs the GUI.
Do note that enabling the computer-use server doesn’t grant Claude access to every app on your machine. The first time Claude needs a specific app in a session, a prompt appears in your terminal showing which app Claude wants to control, any extra permissions requested, such as clipboard access and how many other apps will be hidden while Claude works.
You can then choose Allow for this session or Deny. Approvals last for the current session. You can approve multiple apps at once when Claude requests them together. Claude’s level of control also varies by app category: browsers and trading platforms are view-only, terminals and IDEs are click-only, and everything else gets full control.
Claude works for one session at a time, apps are hidden while Claude works, and you can stop Claude at any time.
For safety concerns, Claude needs pre-app approval, sentinel warnings are sent to users, the terminal is excluded from screenshots, the Esc key aborts computer use from anywhere and only one session can control your machine at a time.
Availability
Computer use in Claude Code CLI is a research preview on macOS that requires a Pro or Max plan. It requires Claude Code v2.1.85 or later and an interactive session, so it is not available in non-interactive mode with the -p flag.
