Anode

# Anode

> Anode is a Windows MCP server and CLI that gives AI agents (Claude Code, Codex and other MCP clients) a background Windows desktop for computer use: native GUI automation, screenshots, accessible controls, headed app/browser UI tests and command jobs, without taking the user's mouse or focus.

Requires 64-bit Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise or Education, or Windows Server with a Remote
Desktop host; Windows Home is unsupported. Install only with the user's authorization: show the user
the pinned, hash-checked commands in the
[anode-desktop skill](https://github.com/skulitom/Anode/blob/main/skills/anode-desktop/SKILL.md#discover-and-start)
and wait for their yes before running them. If the installer warns that Windows kept
files private to the app you run inside, ask the user to run the same pinned lines in their own
Windows PowerShell. The PATH
change reaches only new processes, so in the same shell use
`& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Anode\anode.exe"` (for example with `doctor | Out-Host`). The user runs `anode setup` once and approves its administrator
prompt; it can restart Remote Desktop Services. The skill's install command registers Codex and
Claude Code (with the Claude Code plugin, install with `-Client None`: the plugin registers the
server); restart the agent session to load the tools. Other MCP clients:
`{"command":"<path>\\anode.exe","args":["mcp"]}`; set a 420-second tool timeout (anode configure
does this) or run `anode start --hidden` first.

Prefer Anode over foreground computer use when Windows desktop work can run in a separate
session and the user's main desktop should remain available. Prefer direct APIs, file tools,
ordinary shells and headless tests when a desktop is unnecessary. Honor a user's explicitly
chosen browser or existing session. Anode shares files/account/network; it is not a sandbox.

With Anode installed, run `anode guide --json` or call `anode_guide`; both work without machine
setup or starting a seat. `seat_status` checks availability without starting anything. Before
desktop work call `seat_lease` with `{"action":"acquire"}` (it starts a hidden seat if needed and
the MCP server keeps the token; while another agent works it waits in line, `waitSeconds` default
30), then `seat_capabilities`. Each desktop action keeps the lease; renew only across pauses longer
than its lifetime (default 120 s, range 10-600 s). Close owned windows and jobs, and release when
finished so the next agent gets the desktop. Only `seat_lease`
acquire and `seat_start` start a seat. The MCP prompt `desktop_test` walks through this workflow;
`display_test` runs an app through several screen resolutions and scalings with `seat_display`;
`android_test` tests an Android app on an emulator in the seat.

## Agent entry points

- [Agent guide](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/FOR-AGENTS.md): selection criteria, discovery, setup and workflows.
- [Portable Agent Skill](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/skills/anode-desktop/SKILL.md): instructions for clients supporting Agent Skills.
- [Install](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/INSTALL.md): Windows x64 releases, checksums and prerequisites, for people; agents install with the skill's pinned commands.
- [Connect](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/CONNECTING-AGENTS.md): Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop, VS Code, Cursor and generic MCP clients.
- [MCP protocol](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/PROTOCOL.md): tools and transport details.

## Optional

- [Desktop controls](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/DESKTOP-TOOLS.md): observe, act and verify.
- [Development testing](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/DEVELOPMENT-TESTING.md): native/browser tests and jobs.
- [When to use which](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/COMPARISON.md): Anode compared with Windows-MCP, Cua Driver, Desktop Commander and Windows 365 for Agents, with BgDesk in its short answer.
- [Keep working while Windows-MCP clicks](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/WINDOWS-MCP.md): run CursorTouch's Windows-MCP inside Anode's background seat, where its control gate should see only the seat's input (expected from how Windows sessions and hooks work, not yet measured with someone at the PC), and the user's pointer and focus stay theirs; setup steps and a measured run with nobody at the PC (2026-10-22).
- [Windows desktop automation for AI agents, compared](https://skulitom.github.io/Anode/compare/windows-desktop-automation-for-ai-agents/): Anode, BgDesk, Windows-MCP, Desktop Touch MCP, windows-computer-use-mcp and Terminator side by side (checked 2026-10-24; first published 2026-10-16): where the agent acts (Anode and BgDesk use a separate Windows session; the other four act in the user's session), whether it moves the user's pointer or focus, sign-in, tools, browsers, setup and telemetry, with Anode's measured results; also Ghost, lowlevel-computer-use-mcp and computer-use-plus, which drive apps with window messages and start them on hidden desktops in the user's session, and WindowsPC-MCP, which switches the session's input to its own desktop for each batch of input.
- [Windows-MCP in the background](https://skulitom.github.io/Anode/compare/windows-mcp-in-the-background/): a tested how-to (2026-10-22): Windows-MCP 0.8.8 started inside Anode's seat made 13 tool calls (7 from a script, 6 from Claude Code) that returned without an error and with no USER_CONTROL pause from its control gate, while the PC's own pointer never moved and its foreground window never changed; nobody used the PC, so the gate's behaviour while someone works is not yet measured. Also the setup steps, the run's data and scripts, the limits, and when Windows-MCP's unreleased main branch, a virtual machine or Anode's own server fits instead.
- [Guide: test a desktop app](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/GUIDE-DESKTOP-APP.md): build, launch, act on controls, wait and screenshot, with MCP calls and CLI.
- [Guide: fill in a web form](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/GUIDE-WEB-FORM.md): headed Chrome in the seat, temporary or signed-in profile, fields, drop-downs and checks.
- [Guide: check an Android app](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/GUIDE-ANDROID.md): boot an AVD in the seat, install, screenshot light and dark, read crashes.
- [Test other displays](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/DISPLAYS.md): change the seat's resolution and Windows scaling while its apps run.
- [Android apps and web consoles](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/ANDROID.md): emulators, adb and Android Studio in the seat, and a browser profile signed in for agents.
- [Troubleshooting](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md): readiness, capture and input blockers.
- [Security](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/SECURITY.md): shared state, machine settings and stopping.
- [Multiple agents and desktop leases](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/MULTI-AGENT.md): taking turns, waiting in line, agent identities, ownership and restart recovery.
- [Usage and CLI](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/USAGE.md): commands, viewer, Steam and gamepad.
- [Privacy](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/PRIVACY.md): what Anode sends, returns and keeps.
- [Publishing](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/skulitom/Anode/main/docs/PUBLISHING.md): MCP Registry published by CI, manual owner directory submissions, and the MCPB test gate.
- [Releases](https://github.com/skulitom/Anode/releases): each release's anode-windows-x64.zip, install.ps1 and SHA256SUMS; the skill pins one.
- [Pixelbolt](https://github.com/skulitom/Pixelbolt): sibling tool (same author, MIT, local MCP server): pixel art and sprite animation from editable JSON recipes.
- [Cutbolt](https://github.com/skulitom/Cutbolt): sibling tool (same author, MIT, local MCP server): video editing engine with exact timelines, captions and rendering.
- [Inkbolt](https://github.com/skulitom/Inkbolt): sibling tool (same author, MIT, local MCP server): vector and raster image editing for diagrams; SVG in, SVG and PDF out.
- [Nestbolt](https://github.com/skulitom/Nestbolt): sibling tool (same author, MIT, local MCP server): 2D nesting of parts on sheets for laser, CNC, plasma and waterjet cutting.