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Cua

Lets AI agents use real desktops and apps, plus tools to test them.

GitHub Download cua-spaces-v0.19.3
Stars
31.6k
Forks
2.3k
Licence
MIT
Language
Rust
Last update
4 days ago
Type
Dev tool

What it is

Cua is a set of tools that give AI agents a computer to work on. It includes Cua Spaces, which provides full desktops on your Mac or other machines you own; Cua Driver, which lets agents inspect and operate native apps and browsers; Lume, for local macOS and Linux virtual machines on Apple Silicon; and Cua Bench, for evaluating computer-use agents. People use it to let an agent carry out tasks across apps the way a person would.

  • Have an agent open Calculator and verify that it displays a computed result
  • Create a local macOS Tahoe VM with Lume and connect to it over SSH
  • Share a desktop with an agent, with both you and the agent working on the same screen
  • Create and verify a simulated task with Cua Bench, then export trajectories

Great for

  • Developers building agents that operate desktop apps or browsers
  • Teams that want to evaluate computer-use agents with benchmarks
  • People who want local macOS or Linux VMs on Apple Silicon for agent work
  • Users who want an agent to work in apps while they keep using their own computer

Not ideal for

  • People who only need a simple chatbot or text-based automation, since this focuses on controlling graphical desktops
  • Users on Windows or Linux who want Cua Spaces, since the README describes it as a macOS 26+ install and Spaces on other machines is less clearly documented
  • Non-technical users looking for a finished consumer product, since setup involves terminals, permissions, and agent configuration
Step-by-step guide: how to use CuaInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

How to get it

  1. 1

    See the README

    You'll need: macOS 26 or later for the Cua Spaces installer shown in the README · Apple Silicon for Lume · Windows PowerShell for the Windows installers

    Install Cua Spaces and the cua CLI on macOS

    curl -fsSL https://cua.ai/install.sh | sh

    Install Cua Driver on macOS or Linux

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

    Install Cua Driver on Windows (PowerShell)

    irm https://cua.ai/driver/install.ps1 | iex

    Install Lume

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://cua.ai/lume/install.sh)"
  2. 2

    Run it

    • Run the install command for the component you want
    • Follow the Cua Driver quickstart to connect your agent to Calculator
    • Ask the agent to compute 6 × 7 and verify that the app shows 42
    • For Lume, create a macOS Tahoe VM and connect over SSH using the Lume quickstart
  3. 3

    Get the most out of it

    • Use the Cua Driver guide to connect agents such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor
    • Use Cua Bench to create tasks, evaluate agents, and export trajectories
    • Use Teleport in Cua Spaces to move a signed-in app into a Space, with sessions kept encrypted on your Mac
    • Use the cua CLI and SDK to create local sandboxes, for example with cua sb create ubuntu

Downloads

Source code (.zip)main branch · straight from GitHubRelease cua-spaces-v0.19.38 files incl. Cua-Spaces-0.19.3-x86_64.AppImageOfficial website & docscua.ai

Strengths

  • Covers several pieces of the agent workflow (desktops, app control, VMs, benchmarks) in one repository
  • Uses Apple's Virtualization.Framework for local VMs, according to the README
  • Offers CLI, MCP, and typed SDK access for connecting agents

Trade-offs

  • The README says the Cua Spaces app is source-available under FSL-1.1-MIT, while the directory lists the project as MIT, so check the license for the part you use
  • Background operation depends on app and platform support, and the README points to a separate page for those limits
  • Some features are paid, such as Spaces Pro and Teams, and the README does not describe what the open-source core covers

How it compares

ProjectStarsTypeLevelUpdatedBest for
cua (this)31.6kDev toolintermediate4 days agoDevelopers building agents that operate desktop apps or browsers
CodeEdit23.1kAppbeginner19 days agoDevelopers on a Mac who work on non-Apple projects and want a native macOS editor
ipatool12.1kCLIintermediate12 days agoDevelopers who want to script App Store searches or downloads from the terminal
MonitorControl34.6kAppbeginner22 days agoMac users with an external monitor who want keyboard brightness keys to work on it
AeroSpace23.7kAppintermediate4 days agoKeyboard-centric users who want to manage windows without the mouse
DeepSeek-Reasonix36kAppbeginner4 days agoDevelopers who want an AI assistant to make multi-step changes in a local project

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.