Anthropic Gives Claude Hands and a Mouse
Anthropic released the computer-use preview for Claude 3.5 Sonnet. The model can now move the cursor, click, type, and complete desktop tasks such as filling web forms or editing spreadsheets in Google Sheets. Users trigger the feature through the Anthropic API with the computer_20241022 tool.
This shifts AI from text generation to direct execution on your machine. You stop describing what you want and start letting the model perform the clicks and keystrokes. The workflow change is moving from prompt-and-copy to prompt-and-complete.
Anthropic is running the computer-use beta with selected developers. Early testers report completing multi-step spreadsheet edits and form submissions without writing any Python scripts or hiring contractors.
Step 1: Sign up for Anthropic API access and request the computer-use preview at https://www.anthropic.com/news/3-5-models-and-computer-use. Step 2: In your code, set the tool parameter to computer_20241022 and provide a screenshot plus the task description. Step 3: Run the script and watch Claude control the mouse and keyboard to finish the task on screen.