Paradev Computer Control

paradev is an alias for the superset CLI: every superset command here also runs as paradev.

Operate the user's real desktop through an accessibility-first driver: a local CLI that exposes accessibility snapshots, exact window screenshots, native menu operations, and targeted input without making the agent guess at stale screen coordinates. The contract in this skill (preflight, task-scoped session, snapshot, act, verify, semantic operations first, conservative failure handling, clean teardown) is driver-agnostic. The command reference below is for Cua Driver, the default.

Choose the right surface

• Use this skill for native apps, OS UI, and browser windows outside Paradev.
• Use superset:browser for Paradev's in-app browser pane.
• Prefer an application API, purpose-built CLI, or direct filesystem operation when the requested result does not require GUI interaction.

Choose a driver

• If the user names a driver, use that one.
• Otherwise use whichever supported driver is already installed: Cua Driver (cua-driver, cross-platform, the default) or Peekaboo (peekaboo, macOS only). If both are installed, use Cua Driver and mention the alternative once.
• If neither is installed, ask the user which to install before installing anything; recommend Cua Driver unless the user is macOS-only and prefers Peekaboo.
• With a driver other than Cua Driver, apply this skill's contract through that driver's own command surface; discover it with the driver's help output and documentation rather than assuming the Cua command shapes below.

Set up Cua Driver (default)

1. Confirm the installed executable with command -v cua-driver on macOS or Linux, or Get-Command cua-driver in Windows PowerShell, then inspect cua-driver --version. Do not silently install or upgrade it. If it is missing, ask the user to authorize an installer from the Cua Driver installation guide. On macOS or Linux, use:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://cua.ai/driver/install.sh)"
   

   On Windows, use PowerShell:

   irm https://cua.ai/driver/install.ps1 | iex
   cua-driver autostart enable
   cua-driver autostart kick
   

2. Run cua-driver doctor and cua-driver status. On macOS, also run cua-driver permissions status. If Accessibility or Screen Recording is missing, ask the user to run cua-driver permissions grant and complete the OS prompts. Never work around missing OS permissions with AppleScript, synthetic shell input, or another GUI driver.

3. Preserve an already-running daemon's permission mode; do not restart it merely to broaden permissions. If the environment needs explicit service setup, follow the platform-specific guidance reported by doctor.

4. Inspect the installed tool surface instead of assuming a version-specific schema:

   cua-driver list-tools
   cua-driver describe get_window_state
   cua-driver describe click
   

Invoke tools with cua-driver call <tool> '<json>'. Use describe whenever an argument is uncertain.

Declare a task session

Create a unique session before the first GUI observation:

cua-driver call start_session '{"session":"superset-computer-<unique>"}'

Pass the same session to every tool that accepts it. It owns this run's agent cursor and lifecycle cleanup. It does not select the capture mode or grant access beyond the daemon's fixed permission mode.

Snapshot, act, verify

Follow this loop for every GUI action:

1. State the exact postcondition, such as "Settings shows Dark mode selected."
2. Discover the target with get_accessibility_tree or another semantic tool, then take a fresh get_window_state snapshot for the exact PID and window.
3. Prefer the snapshot's element_token over element_index, and prefer both over pixel coordinates. Tokens identify the control and fail closed when the snapshot becomes stale.
4. Perform one action. Default to background delivery; use foreground delivery only when fresh evidence shows the background action did not land.
5. Take a new snapshot and verify the postcondition before continuing. A successful tool response proves delivery, not the resulting UI state.

Minimal shape:

cua-driver call get_accessibility_tree '{}'
cua-driver call get_window_state '{"pid":844,"window_id":10725,"session":"superset-computer-<unique>"}'
cua-driver call click '{"pid":844,"element_token":"s0000002a:14","session":"superset-computer-<unique>"}'
cua-driver call verify_state '{"pid":844,"window_id":10725,"session":"superset-computer-<unique>","expect":[{"element":{"selector":{"label_contains":"Saved"},"exists":true}}]}'

Re-snapshot before every later action. Never reuse a token after a snapshot of the same window, navigation, modal transition, or substantial repaint.

Use semantic operations first

• Use invoke_menu for native application-menu paths.
• Use set_value or type_text for accessible fields and press_key or hotkey for non-text keys.
• Use set_window_frame for window geometry and verify it with list_windows.
• For Chromium or Electron page content, discover the exact browser PID and window ID, then call get_browser_state. If it reports browser_requires_setup, call browser_prepare under its approval rules. After preparation, use its returned PID to rediscover the window and call get_browser_state again. Use the returned target_id and tab_id with browser_click, browser_type, browser_navigate, and browser_pointer, refreshing the page snapshot before each later browser action.
• For browser pixel actions, browser_click and browser_pointer coordinates must be viewport CSS pixels from the latest get_browser_state page snapshot. For native pixel actions, use coordinates only for canvas, video, WebGL, or custom-drawn controls absent from the accessibility tree, and take them from the same fresh get_window_state snapshot used by the action.

Handle failures conservatively

• If a control is absent, refresh the snapshot and inspect dialogs, sheets, and application menus before escalating.
• If an action has no verified effect, retry only the narrowest failed step: background accessibility, then background pixel input, then foreground input.
• Escalate to full-desktop control only after semantic, accessibility, pixel, and foreground-window routes are exhausted, and only through the mechanism advertised by the installed driver version.
• If the target or resulting state is ambiguous, stop and report what is visible. Do not click through unknown dialogs or retry destructive actions.
• Leave the user's windows, focus, tabs, and clipboard as you found them unless changing them is part of the request.

Finish cleanly

Take a final fresh snapshot or semantic readback, report the observable result, and end only the session created for this task:

cua-driver call end_session '{"session":"superset-computer-<unique>"}'

Do not stop a shared driver daemon or close unrelated windows when the task ends.

When the screenshots are the point, a verification run someone else has to read, publish them instead of leaving a list of paths on their disk. Collect them in a directory beside an index.html that lays them out, and publish the directory so the images ride along at their relative paths:

superset pages publish ./evidence/ --workspace <id> --title "Export dialog: verified"

A desktop screenshot catches whatever else was on screen: mail, messages, a password manager, another customer's data. Look at each one, drop or crop what the report does not need, and pass --visibility just_me unless the org needs it. Publishing is one of the actions the Safety rules below require you to confirm first.

Safety

This skill reaches real apps and signed-in sessions. Limit inspection and actions to the user's request; never extract credentials, cookies, tokens, or unrelated private data. Obtain confirmation immediately before sending a message, submitting a form that creates an external commitment, publishing, purchasing, deleting data, changing an account, accepting legal terms, or taking another consequential external action. Authentication prompts, passkeys, passwords, and MFA stay with the user.