I Let Claude Use My Computer for 2 Days. Here's What It Can Actually Do.

6 real workflows tested with Claude controlling my computer. Content research, sponsor outreach, product listings, and more. Honest verdicts and exact prompts.

Ever since I was little, I’ve had two dream superpowers. Teleportation, so I could travel anywhere, anytime. And clones, so I could go play outside while a clone does my homework and cleans my room.

Now, given how much of my day lives on a screen, the clone I wish for isn’t one that cleans my house anymore (as an adult, I somehow started to enjoy that more).

It’s one that handles all the stuff that keeps me glued to my computer, so I can spend more time in the real world.

And Anthropic recently released something that might be that clone.

Claude can now use your computer. Open your apps, click buttons, navigate your screen, handle tasks on your desktop. It works in both Cowork and Claude Code, so your work buddy Claude can tackle work for you on your computer. And with Dispatch, it goes further. You text Claude from your phone and it works on your computer while you're not even there.

That sounds a lot like the clone I’ve been waiting for.

Everything Anthropic ships excites me, but browser use has been pretty bad in my experience, so I had to put this to the test.

Six workflows, some my own, some requested by you. No demo tasks, just real work. I wanted to see what computer use can actually handle today, where it falls short, and whether it’s worth your time.

By the way, there’s a 30% discount on premium subscriptions until April 8. That’s ~$8/month or $70/year instead of $12/month or $100/year, and if you lock it in now, that rate stays yours forever.

You get full access to posts like this one, all my prompts and workflows in the AI Blew My Mind MCP I just launched, and every other premium perk.

Here is what we are covering

• What makes computer use different

• The three ways Claude can use your computer (and how each works)

• How to set up Claude computer use (step by step)

• 6 workflows I tested by letting Claude use my computer

• What works, what doesn’t, and what to watch out for

• So… did I get my clone?

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What makes computer use different

Before Claude and computer use, you could still automate a lot of your work. Build an n8n workflow, connect some APIs, set it and forget it. Or use AI agents like OpenClaw.

But that requires technical knowledge. And even if you have it, you’d only invest the time (or the budget) for tasks that were super repeatable and well-defined. The ones where you knew every step and they ran the same way every time.

The problem is, not everything works like that. Some days you just have too much to do and not enough time to do it all. And those tasks don’t fit neatly into an automation. They’re messy, they change, they need judgment.

That’s what makes computer use different, at least on paper. Claude doesn’t need a pre-built workflow. It just uses your computer the way you would. Whether it’s a task you do every morning or something that just came up five minutes ago.

And all you need is a paid Claude subscription and a Mac (Windows support is coming soon).

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The three ways Claude can use your computer (and how each works)

Computer use works the same way under the hood no matter where you start. Claude takes screenshots of your screen, figures out what’s there, and clicks, types, and navigates like you would.

The difference is just where you’re giving the instructions from.

This infographic was created with the AI Blew My Mind MCP, right inside Claude. Try it yourself.

The desktop app (Cowork tab + Code tab)

This is the “sit at your desk and watch” version. Or don’t watch, go prepare lunch. Or work side by side and get twice as much done.

You open either tab, give Claude a task, and let it work. It takes screenshots of your screen, moves the mouse, clicks buttons, types text, opens apps. It’s like watching someone remote into your computer, except that someone is Claude.

Dispatch (from your phone)

This is the “I’m doing work and I’m not even at my computer” version.

You pair your phone with your desktop through the Claude app using Dispatch, and then you can text Claude tasks from anywhere. Claude works on your desktop while you’re at the coffee shop, on the train, out for a walk. When it’s done, it sends you the result. The only trick is that your computer needs to stay on. (Some people buy a Mac Mini for this, just like they got them for OpenClaw.)

Claude Code CLI (the terminal)

This is the "I'm building working stuff and I haven't lifted a finger" version.

If you've read my Claude Code articles before, you know the deal: you type plain English into the terminal and Claude builds it. But before, that’s where it stopped. Now Claude can step out of the terminal and onto your screen. It can open the app it just built, click through it, test it in the browser, interact with it the way a user would.

Now that you know what each one does, let me show you how to set them up. And once you’re ready to go, I’ll walk you through 6 workflows so you can see exactly what computer use looks like in action and what’s possible.

How to set up Claude computer use (step by step)

All three entry points take just a few minutes to set up. Here’s how to get each one running.

Setting up computer use in the desktop app (Cowork + Claude Code)

1. Open the desktop app on your Mac and click your name in the bottom left corner, then Settings

2. Go to Desktop app → General

3. Turn on Keep computer awake

4. Turn on Browser use

5. Turn on Computer use (you’ll need to click “Turn on” to confirm)

6. Grant Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions when macOS asks for them

7. Add apps you want to block to the deny list.

That’s it. Open Cowork or Claude Code, give it a task that involves your desktop apps, and watch it work.

Setting up Dispatch (assign tasks to your computer from your phone)

You need both the desktop app AND the Claude mobile app on your phone, both signed into the same account and updated to the latest version.

1. Open the Claude desktop app

2. Click Dispatch in the left sidebar

3. Scan the QR code with your phone to pair the devices (make sure you’re logged into the mobile app)

4. Toggle on all the permissions: file access, keep computer awake, browser use, and computer control (make sure Accessibility and Screen Recording are both granted)

5. Click Finish setup

Now open the Claude app on your phone, go to Dispatch, and start texting Claude tasks. It works on your computer and sends you results when it’s done. You’ll get push notifications when a task is complete or if Claude needs your input.

Remember: your computer needs to stay on and awake. If it sleeps, Claude stops.

Setting up computer use in Claude Code CLI (terminal)

1. Open Claude Code in your terminal (type claude)

2. Make sure you have the latest version of Claude Code (v2.1.85 or later). Run claude --version in your terminal to check and update

3. Type /mcp

4. Find computer-use in the server list (it’s disabled by default)

5. Select it and choose Enable

6. The first time Claude tries to use your computer, macOS will ask you to grant two permissions: Accessibility (lets Claude click, type, and scroll) and Screen Recording (lets Claude see what’s on your screen)

That’s it. Now when you ask Claude Code to do something that needs the screen (like opening an app or testing a UI), it’ll automatically use computer use.

One thing to know: Claude doesn’t jump straight to controlling your screen. If there’s a direct connector (like Gmail, Google Drive, or Slack), it uses that first because it’s faster. If not, it tries Claude in Chrome. Screen control is the last resort because it’s the slowest (it takes screenshots, processes them, figures out where to click). Claude picks the fastest path available, and this works the same across Cowork, Dispatch, and Claude Code.

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6 workflows I tested by letting Claude use my computer

Now for the fun part. I spent two days testing real workflows to see how capable Claude is when it’s the one using my computer, so you can see what’s worth your time and what’s not.

Everything from content research across social media, to creating products and listing them for sale, to building outreach pipelines that draft and save emails in my Gmail, to an analytics platform that pulls my subscriber data from Substack every Monday and analyzes it.

This is work that I either don’t do and should or that takes me too long to do. Some were my own needs, some were requested by you.

For each one, I’ll walk you through the mode I used, the prompt, a video demo, and my honest verdict.

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Workflow 1. Research a content topic across X, Reddit, and LinkedIn

Mode: Dispatch (from my phone)

The problem: Every time I write an article, I spend at least an hour researching what people are saying about the topic across X, Reddit, and LinkedIn. Essential work, but very manual, time-consuming, and scattered. Matt Tilmann also mentioned this exact need in our community chat, so I figured it was the perfect first workflow to test.

Here’s the exact prompt I used:

I'm writing an article about Claude computer use and how non-technical people can use it. I need you to research what people are discussing about this topic across three platforms: X (Twitter), Reddit, and LinkedIn.

For each platform:
- Search for the topic and related keywords
- Find the 10-15 most interesting or high-engagement posts from the last 2 weeks
- Note what questions people are asking, what angles they're covering, and what's getting the most engagement

Put everything in an Excel spreadsheet with these columns:
- Platform (X, Reddit, or LinkedIn)
- Author/username
- Post content summary (2-3 sentences)
- Engagement (likes, comments, reposts/upvotes)
- Link to the original post
- Key takeaway (what this post adds to the conversation)

Save the file to my Desktop as "content-research-[topic].xlsx"

What happened: Claude took over my computer and came back with 44 posts in an Excel file with two sheets: one with the research I asked for (platform, author, content summary, links, key takeaways), and another with the key themes from what it found. Here's what the output looks like. It grabbed engagement numbers for LinkedIn but not for X and Reddit, not sure why. The whole thing took about 10 minutes.

Verdict: Exactly what I would have extracted myself, except I would have never organized it this well in a spreadsheet. That would take me too long to do manually. I’ll definitely use this again.

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