Computer Use

Computer Use lets an agent see and use the apps on your Mac: it reads what’s on screen, then clicks and types like you would. Use it for work an agent can’t do from a terminal or the Hercus Browser, such as checking a desktop app, or a site in your own browser where you’re already signed in.

Set it up

1. Open Settings > Computer Use.
2. Under macOS Permissions, select Open next to Accessibility. In the System Settings pane that opens, turn on Hercus Computer Use.
3. Do the same for Screen Recording.

Grant the permissions to Hercus Computer Use, the helper app Hercus uses for this, not to Hercus itself. macOS may show its own prompt first. When you come back to Hercus, the page updates by itself: as the permissions come through, the status on the page changes from Permissions needed to Observe ready, when agents can see your screen, and then Control ready, when they can also act.

What agents can do

Once Computer Use is set up, an agent can:

• See which apps you have open, and read what’s in them.
• Take screenshots.
• Click, type, paste, scroll, drag, and press keys.

While an agent works, its own cursor appears on screen, separate from your pointer. Agents can use your normal browser this way too, with the accounts you’re already signed in to.

An agent acts as you

With Computer Use, an agent can do anything you can do in the apps it uses, with your accounts. Agents run with full access, so watch what it does and stop it if something looks wrong.

Hercus blocks agents from these password manager apps: 1Password, Bitwarden, Dashlane, KeePassXC, Keychain Access, LastPass, NordPass, and Proton Pass.

Stop an agent

While an agent is using your Mac, the Hercus icon in the menu bar shows Computer Use is active and the app the agent is working in.

• To stop it, choose Stop Computer Use from that menu. Hercus cancels what the agent is doing and pauses Computer Use for every agent.
• To allow it again, choose Resume Computer Use from the same menu.

Limit what agents can do

In Settings > Computer Use, two switches control what agents get. Both are on by default:

Switch	What it does
MCP Exposure	Gives new agent sessions the Computer Use tools. Turn it off to keep Computer Use away from agents you start after that.
Action Tools	Lets agents click, type, paste, scroll, drag, and press keys. Turn it off to let agents look but not act. It applies to sessions already running too.