Atlas releases Mac hidden desktop agent tool
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Atlas has released a Mac tool that provides a hidden second desktop for AI agents: agents open apps, click, and type within it, while users can continue using their own screen, mouse, and keyboard. The tool is free and open source under the MIT license, with code hosted on GitHub. Use requires macOS 14 or later and an administrator account; native save/open panels and Safari web views require a screen-sharing session to be connected, while Chrome and Firefox do not need that session; dragging and dropping files onto apps is not supported. Atlas officially states that with the same model, Claude Opus 5.5 completing tasks via Atlas consumes 36k tokens, compared with 232k for its built-in Computer Use; Codex with GPT-6.1 Sol is 20k versus 28k.
AI overview based on source reports · Updated 1 days ago
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- Hacker News AIShow HN: Atlas – Let AI agents use your Mac without taking over your screen
Atlas is a free, open-source MIT-licensed tool that gives AI agents a hidden second macOS login on your Mac, where they can open apps, click and type while you keep working in your own account. It supports Claude, Codex, Cursor, opencode and Pi, queues agents one at a time, and reports lower context use than native Computer Use (e.g. 36k vs 232k tokens for Claude Opus 5.5 across three tasks). It is not a security sandbox, and some features like native Save/Open panels and Safari web views require a connected Screen Sharing session.
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- 10Nov 5 03:00
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