Linux Desktop

Linux Desktop Interface

Boundary With Host Computer Use

This skill is only for the built-in Desktop surface running inside Agent Zero's Docker/runtime Xpra session. It does not control the user's host OS, real monitor, local Ubuntu/Wayland session, macOS desktop, or Windows desktop.

If the user asks for /computer-use, "my computer", "host machine", "local desktop", screenshots of the user's screen, hiding/minimizing a window on their screen, or any connected A0 CLI Computer Use task, do not use this skill, desktopctl.sh, Xpra, code_execution_tool, or Docker shell commands. Load host-computer-use and use computer_use_remote; if unavailable, tell the user to enable /computer-use on.

desktopctl.sh only targets the internal Agent Zero Xpra display. It cannot observe or control the user's connected host screen.

Use the Desktop as a full Linux GUI when the user explicitly needs a visual workflow, an installed desktop app, or manual layout polish that is awkward through structured file edits alone. Agent Zero may warm the persistent Desktop runtime during initial startup, but visible Desktop surface use remains opt-in. The Desktop is opt-in at the UI level: do not open a surface just because the user asks for a document. Use structured tools first for deterministic content changes, then use the Desktop for inspection, GUI-only actions, and final visual confirmation.

Operating Model

The Desktop is a structured-first X11 control surface. Use this decision hierarchy:

1. Prefer structured tools such as office_artifact for deterministic Office file creation, reads, and edits.
2. Prefer structured Desktop state and window commands: check, state --json, windows, active-window, geometry, and wait-window.
3. Prefer app-native helpers for visible live edits, such as desktopctl.sh calc-set-cell for Calc/UNO spreadsheet changes.
4. Prefer launcher commands, window focus, keyboard shortcuts, menus, paste, and save commands. Batch multi-step actions with sequence/batch so one helper process drives the flow.
5. Use screenshots for visual inspection, OCR, coordinate work, and final evidence when the task depends on pixels. Do not take screenshots merely to learn window titles or readiness that structured state already reports.
6. Use coordinate clicks only as a last resort, and only after a fresh screenshot observation.
7. After any GUI action, verify through Desktop state, active window titles, screenshots when visually necessary, saved file state, or exported output.
8. For terminal or CLI-agent work, prefer deterministic command output or saved transcripts. When exact visible terminal text matters, verify against a fresh final observe --json --screenshot captured after the command has finished or visibly returned to an input prompt. Agent-facing Desktop screenshots are ephemeral refs; desktopctl shell observations with --context-id return chat-scoped screenshot paths. Do not report from an earlier screenshot path.

Keep these standing rules:

1. Treat Markdown as first-class, but use the separate Editor surface for it. For writing, notes, reports, and drafts with no explicit binary Office requirement, create Markdown and let the user open it in Editor instead of Desktop.
2. Treat ODF as first-class for LibreOffice office work: ODT in Writer, ODS in Calc, ODP in Impress. Use DOCX/XLSX/PPTX only for explicit OOXML compatibility.
3. Use the Desktop only when the user asks for the Desktop, a GUI app, binary Office visual work, or visual confirmation.
4. Never open the Desktop surface automatically from a tool result if the user has not opened it. Offer an explicit Open in Desktop action instead.
5. Launch common apps from the Desktop icons, the header buttons, or /a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh.
6. Use the external Agent Zero Browser for web browsing. Do not launch an operating-system browser in this version.
7. Verify GUI work by observing the desktop state, checking window titles, and saving the file before reporting success. If exact terminal text matters, load or inspect the screenshot path returned by the final observation, not a screenshot captured before the text appeared.

Control Flow

Use the helper script when the Desktop is already open and you need reliable app launches, clicks, keystrokes, or window checks from the agent shell. In the live Agent Zero runtime, prefer the absolute path so the command works from any current directory:

DESKTOP=/a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh
$DESKTOP check
$DESKTOP state --json
$DESKTOP observe --json
$DESKTOP launch calc
$DESKTOP wait-window LibreOffice
$DESKTOP windows LibreOffice
$DESKTOP focus LibreOffice
$DESKTOP key ctrl+s

The script targets the persistent agent-zero-desktop X display, sets DISPLAY, XAUTHORITY, and HOME to the XFCE profile, then uses xdotool for input. Startup normally prepares this session. If check fails during explicit Desktop work, report that the Desktop runtime is not ready instead of installing packages ad hoc.

If state --json or observe --json shows a reachable display and visible Desktop/window entries, the Desktop is usable even when active_window is null; a bare XFCE desktop can have no active application window. Treat missing display or unavailable xdotool as blockers and stop with the specific readiness message instead of repeating clicks or inventing a fallback. Use observe --json --screenshot only when you need pixels, and treat unavailable xwd as a screenshot blocker rather than a general Desktop blocker. Shell screenshots captured with --context-id live in the owning chat's screenshot folder; screenshots without a chat context remain temporary.

For direct app launches without coordinates:

DESKTOP=/a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh
$DESKTOP launch writer
$DESKTOP launch calc
$DESKTOP launch impress
$DESKTOP launch terminal
$DESKTOP launch settings
$DESKTOP open-path /a0/usr/workdir
$DESKTOP focus "LibreOffice"
$DESKTOP paste-text "Text to insert"
$DESKTOP key ctrl+s

For multi-step window or terminal actions, batch commands through one helper process:

DESKTOP=/a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh
$DESKTOP sequence - <<'EOF'
focus Terminal
paste-text echo ready
key Return
state --json
EOF

Use one command per line. paste-text joins the remaining words on that line, so it is suitable for ordinary command text; for complex multiline payloads, write the payload to a file or invoke paste-text directly.

For live spreadsheet coworking, use the Calc helper instead of hand-written UNO snippets:

DESKTOP=/a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh
$DESKTOP calc-set-cell /a0/usr/workdir/example.xlsx Sheet1 B2 "Cowork verified live"

This opens the workbook in the visible Desktop Calc session if needed, changes the cell through LibreOffice, saves the workbook, and verifies the .xlsx on disk. Because the edit happens through the running LibreOffice session, the user can see the sheet update without refreshing the Desktop surface.

For coordinate actions, clicks are explicitly last resort. First try launch, open-path, wait-window, focus, key, paste-text, save, or an app-native helper. If a coordinate action is still necessary, base it on a fresh screenshot observation and verify immediately afterward:

DESKTOP=/a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh
$DESKTOP observe --json --screenshot
$DESKTOP click 120 180
$DESKTOP dblclick 120 180
$DESKTOP right-click 120 180
$DESKTOP drag 120 180 400 180
$DESKTOP scroll down 3
$DESKTOP type "Text to enter"
$DESKTOP observe --json

When browser automation is available, the higher-level QA flow is:

1. Open http://127.0.0.1:32080.
2. Open the Desktop surface from the UI or with Alpine.store("rightCanvas").open("desktop").
3. Use browser mouse events into the Xpra iframe for real user-path testing.
4. Cross-check with desktopctl.sh location and desktopctl.sh windows PATTERN.
5. Capture the browser screenshot as visual evidence.

Terminal And CLI Agent Verification

Terminal apps are visual state, not structured logs. When the task depends on exact terminal output, follow this stricter loop:

1. Run desktopctl.sh state --json or desktopctl.sh windows Terminal before acting to confirm the target window. Add observe --json --screenshot only if the current prompt or screen contents must be read visually.
2. Use sequence, focus, paste-text or type, and key Return to drive the terminal. Prefer CLI-native commands and keyboard input over clicks.
3. Wait until the CLI has visibly produced a response or returned to an input prompt.
4. If exact visible text matters and no deterministic transcript was saved, run a new final desktopctl.sh observe --json --screenshot.
5. Verify exact text only from the screenshot path returned by that final observation, or from a newer screenshot. Never use an earlier screenshot path as final evidence.
6. If the final screenshot is cropped, stale, or unreadable, capture another screenshot or report the result as unverified with that specific reason.

For nested CLI agents, a successful proof requires both the input prompt and the nested agent's visible response in the final screenshot, or another deterministic saved transcript produced by the CLI itself.

Guard the boundary between the shell and the target CLI carefully:

• A shell prompt such as root@...# means the target CLI is not currently receiving chat input. Never paste natural-language text into that shell prompt unless it is deliberately quoted as an argument to a shell command.
• If launching a CLI by name can fail, use a shell-safe fallback command and wait for the CLI's own prompt before sending the user's natural-language message.
• After a launch failure such as command not found, do not continue by sending the chat message. Start the fallback CLI command or report the blocker.
• A prompt like >, Implement {feature}, or a CLI-specific input box inside the terminal is different from a shell prompt. Only then should paste-text "natural language" followed by key Return be used as chat input.

Example for a nested CLI-agent smoke test:

DESKTOP=/a0/plugins/_desktop/skills/linux-desktop/scripts/desktopctl.sh
$DESKTOP sequence - <<'EOF'
focus Terminal
paste-text TARGET_CLI="example-cli-agent"; FALLBACK_CMD=""; if command -v "$TARGET_CLI" >/dev/null 2>&1; then "$TARGET_CLI"; elif [ -n "$FALLBACK_CMD" ]; then sh -lc "$FALLBACK_CMD"; else echo "CLI agent not found: $TARGET_CLI"; fi
key Return
EOF
$DESKTOP observe --json --screenshot
# Verify the screenshot shows the target CLI prompt, not a shell prompt, before sending natural language:
$DESKTOP sequence - <<'EOF'
paste-text Reply with exactly the requested smoke-test token.
key Return
EOF
$DESKTOP observe --json --screenshot

Desktop Locations

The Desktop exposes stable folders for common user work:

• Workdir -> configured Agent Zero workdir (default /a0/usr/workdir)
• Projects -> /a0/usr/projects
• Skills -> /a0/usr/skills
• Agents -> /a0/usr/agents
• Downloads -> /a0/usr/downloads

Use these folders when the user asks to inspect or manipulate project files, skills, agent profiles, or downloaded artifacts from the GUI.

App Map

• LibreOffice Writer: ODT word processing and DOCX compatibility layout.
• LibreOffice Calc: ODS spreadsheets, formulas, tables, charts, and XLSX compatibility.
• LibreOffice Impress: ODP presentations, slide polish, and PPTX compatibility.
• Workdir: graphical file management with Thunar at the configured Agent Zero workdir (default /a0/usr/workdir).
• Terminal: shell work inside the Agent Zero runtime.
• Settings: XFCE system settings.

Practical Rules

• Keep installs inside normal plugin hook or image install flows; do not install packages ad hoc just to complete one desktop action.
• The persistent Desktop can be running in the background while the canvas stays closed; that is expected and still respects user ownership of the visible UI.
• Do not treat closing a document tab as closing the whole Desktop. The Desktop is persistent while Agent Zero is running.
• Save before sync or final verification when the GUI app has edited a file.
• If a GUI action is flaky, switch to structured file editing for content and return to the Desktop only for visual confirmation.
• For live Calc edits that the user should see immediately, prefer desktopctl.sh calc-set-cell FILE SHEET CELL VALUE.
• For enterprise workflows, leave printing available.