Install Agent.exe: AI Control Computer Guide

Deploy Agent.exe from GitHub main for AI control computer setups: Node engines, .env key, verify steps, and real install errors from open issues.

Alex Carter2026-09-237 min readIntermediate

Most “AI control computer” write-ups sell the fantasy. Agent.exe is the opposite: a thin Electron shell around Claude’s computer-use loop, slapped together as a proof of concept, never tagged for release, and explicitly abandoned by its author. Deploy it if you want a local mouse-and-keyboard demo – not if you want a supported product.

This guide is a deployment path for corbt/agent.exe on the current main branch (the Releases page still has no published builds as of the latest check of that repo). System gates, install, config, verification, error strings from open issues, cleanup.

System requirements for AI control computer demos

macOS is the only OS the README actually stands behind. Windows and Linux show up as “theoretical” because the dependencies look portable – open issues say otherwise. Budget extra time outside Mac.

Item	Minimum (declared / practical)	Recommended
OS	macOS (README-supported)	Current macOS, primary display only; Win/Linux experimental
Node	≥14.x per `package.json` engines (main branch)	Node 18 or 20 LTS – Electron 31-era tooling is less fussy here
npm	≥7.x	Whatever ships with that Node LTS
RAM / disk	Not specified in-repo	Leave real headroom for Electron plus screenshot traffic; `node_modules` is not tiny
Account	Anthropic API key with computer-use capable model access	Billing on; image tokens add up per step
Display	Single primary monitor	Same – multi-monitor is a known non-goal
macOS privacy	Accessibility + screen-capture style grants for the app/terminal host	Approve before any autonomous run

Engines and stack pins come straight from main’s package.json: Electron ^31.3.0, @anthropic-ai/sdk ^0.30.0, @nut-tree-fork/nut-js ^4.2.2, dotenv ^16.4.5, productName Agent.exe – and still noversion field on that file as of the same check.

Download / official source (no installer binary)

No signed Agent.exe on Releases. GitHub is the whole distribution channel.

git clone https://github.com/corbt/agent.exe
cd agent.exe
git log -1 --oneline

Write down that commit hash. Main moves; the author will not maintain this. Rollback is history or a fork – nothing else.

Optional npm run package / electron-builder scripts live in the repo. The README path people actually finish is still dev npm start, not a published binary.

Install Agent.exe step by step

Clean folder. Supported Node/npm pair. Then:

Toolchain check: node -v and npm -v (Node ≥14, npm ≥7; prefer 18/20).
Clone and cd (commands above).
npm install – postinstall runs native checks and electron-builder install-app-deps.
Linux only, if start/packaging yells about version 0.0, put a semver on the root of package.json:
```
"version": "1.0.0"
```
Community fix path matches open issue discussion when electron-builder sees a missing version key on main.

Linux Electron sandbox abort – after install, from repo root:

sudo chown root:root node_modules/electron/dist/chrome-sandbox
sudo chmod 4755 node_modules/electron/dist/chrome-sandbox

Mechanical bits done. Skip .env and the window may open while the agent still dies on auth.

First-time configuration

One-line setup. .env.example on main is only ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=.

cp .env.example .env
# edit .env - must be non-empty:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here

Key from Anthropic’s console. Computer use is a beta-style tool loop on their side – your account needs a model that can run it. Read Anthropic’s computer use announcement and the live computer use tool docs. Headers and model IDs change; this repo still pins @anthropic-ai/sdk at ^0.30.0 (Oct 2024-era range on main). Unmaintained main + moving beta APIs is the quiet drift risk.

Pro tip: Install Firefox before a serious trial. The README’s line is blunt – Claude “really likes Firefox” and behaves worse shoved onto other browsers. Odd constraint. Real one.

macOS: when Electron or the hosting terminal asks for Accessibility / screen recording, allow it. nut.js-class desktop control does nothing useful without those grants (same class of permission story as upstream nut.js docs).

The catch is verification – not a CLI flag.

Verify the install works

npm start

Electron window up (dev server + main via repo scripts). No agent.exe --version on main. You prove it by running it:

Window loads without an immediate sandbox/webpack hard crash.
One tiny reversible prompt – Calculator, scratch editor. Not email. Not banking.
Watch a single screenshot→action cycle. Stop the second it drifts.

UI up but first API call fails on auth? .env empty, missing, or never loaded. Fix the key before blaming Electron.

There’s a strange honesty in how slow each step feels: the missing “confirm every click” mode the author skipped almost doesn’t matter, because you can interrupt between glacial turns. That lag is a safety feature by accident.

Common install errors and fixes

Strings and themes from this project’s tracker – not generic npm lore.

“The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly” / chrome-sandbox abort (Linux) – chown root + chmod 4755 on node_modules/electron/dist/chrome-sandbox after npm install (issues #7, #37).
“App version is not a valid semver version: ‘0.0’” – add "version": "1.0.0" at package root (#7). Main still ships without a version key.
“Could not resolve authentication method” – empty/missing ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or dotenv never read (#29). Re-copy .env.example; avoid stray quotes from shell helpers.
“Invalid header: Does not start with Cr24” – shows up after sandbox permission thrash on Linux (#37). Clean reinstall (rm -rf node_modules && npm install), redo sandbox perms, don’t keep a half-patched Electron dist.
Windows 10/11 “doesn’t work” – open #33. README parity is not a promise. Prefer macOS for this PoC.
macOS: clicks/types do nothing – Privacy & Security → Accessibility (and Screen Recording). Grant the process that is actually running.

Blunt gap: no official troubleshooting matrix. Threads conflict? Treat main as frozen-in-time and fork.

Funny thing about abandoned demos: the install scars teach more than a polished onboarding wizard ever would. You’re not failing the product. You’re mapping where a six-hour PoC stops pretending to be one.

Upgrade, migration, uninstall

Upgrade: No semver channel. git fetch origin && git checkout main && git pull, then rm -rf node_modules && npm install. Re-apply Linux sandbox bits. Expect breakage – the README says merges are not on the menu.

Uninstall:

# from parent folder
rm -rf agent.exe
# scrub .env copies with live keys from backups/trash
# rotate the Anthropic key you used for the demo
# macOS: drop the one-off Accessibility / Screen Recording entry if it existed only for this test

Packaged once? Delete leftover build output you copied out of the tree.

FAQ

Is there a latest Agent.exe version number I should install?

No. Zero tagged Releases. Pin a main commit hash. Anything selling “Agent.exe v2.x installer” is another product or a mirror.

Can I use this unattended on a work laptop?

Picture lunch break, agent alone on your primary display, Stop button unwatched. Technically the loop can drive mouse and keyboard that whole time. Don’t. README already flags full takeover. Disposable user or VM, eyes on the session, no production creds. Anthropic’s computer-use guidance is about consent and tight environments; this PoC adds none of the enterprise brakes.

npm install finished – why does Windows still fail?

Deps installing is not the same as a supported runtime. Supported-systems language centers macOS; Windows stays open on #33. Need AI control computer automation on Windows today? Pick a maintained agent or a vendor desktop computer-use path. Forcing this Electron demo is the long way to the same “no.”

Next: throwaway Anthropic key, clone main somewhere non-work, set .env, npm start, one reversible UI task on the primary display – Stop armed the whole time.