Desktop Automation

What is Desktop Automation?

Desktop automation involves programmatically controlling a graphical desktop environment: moving the mouse, clicking buttons, typing text, and capturing screenshots. Common use cases include:

GUI Testing: Automated testing of desktop applications
RPA Workflows: Robotic Process Automation for legacy applications
AI Computer Use: LLMs like Claude that can control computers
Screenshot Capture: Rendering application UIs for documentation

Desktop Capabilities

Mouse Control

Move, click, drag, and scroll with pixel precision

Keyboard Input

Type text and send key combinations

Screenshot Capture

Capture the current screen state as an image

VNC Access

Connect via VNC for live viewing and debugging

How to Use BoxLite for Desktop Automation

BoxLite provides a ComputerBox with full desktop environment:

import boxlite

async def automate_desktop():
    async with boxlite.ComputerBox() as computer:
        # Take a screenshot
        screenshot = await computer.screenshot()

        # Move mouse and click
        await computer.mouse_move(500, 300)
        await computer.left_click()

        # Type text
        await computer.type("Hello, World!")

        # Press keyboard shortcut
        await computer.key("ctrl+s")

AI Computer Use

Modern AI models like Claude can control computers through screenshots and mouse/keyboard commands. BoxLite provides the perfect sandboxed environment for AI computer use:

AI sees only the sandbox, not your real desktop
Mistakes are contained—the AI cannot delete your files
Each session starts fresh with no persistent state
Easy to reset if the AI gets stuck

Learn more about AI Agent Sandboxing →

GUI Testing

Test desktop applications in consistent, isolated environments:

Each test runs in a fresh VM with clean state
No interference between parallel test runs
Reproducible across different host machines
Easy screenshot comparison for visual regression testing

RPA Workflows

Automate legacy applications that don't have APIs:

Interact with desktop applications through their GUI
Run multiple isolated instances in parallel
No risk of RPA scripts affecting your host system
Easy to snapshot and restore VM state