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Install the desktop app

OpenAdapt Desktop is a graphical front end for the same engine the openadapt flow commands use. You record, compile, replay, review, and approve saves on your own computer. Nothing leaves the computer unless you connect it to OpenAdapt Cloud.

1. Download and install

Get the installer from openadapt.ai/download. The page detects your operating system and offers the right build. The current build is the GitHub pre-release desktop-v0.15.0:

Operating system Installer
Windows .msi or .exe
macOS (Apple silicon or Intel) .dmg
Linux .AppImage or .deb

The Windows and Linux installers are unsigned, and the macOS installers are ad-hoc signed, so your operating system may warn on first launch. Before you override that warning, check the file against the release's SHA256SUMS. The release also includes a CycloneDX software bill of materials. See Release integrity.

2. Grant permissions

Until these are granted, recordings come out blank and the operating system shows no error.

OpenAdapt needs three permissions: Screen Recording to capture the screen, Accessibility to observe and replay input, and Input Monitoring to record keyboard and mouse input from desktop apps.

  1. Open System Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security → Screen Recording and turn on OpenAdapt.
  3. Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility and turn on OpenAdapt.
  4. Go to Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring and turn on OpenAdapt.
  5. Quit and reopen OpenAdapt. macOS applies a new Screen Recording permission only after the app restarts.

If OpenAdapt isn't listed, select + and add it from /Applications. If a recording doesn't start and shows "Input Monitoring permission is required", turn on Input Monitoring and start again.

Ordinary windows need no permission. Windows blocks an app from seeing or driving a window that runs as administrator. If the app you want to record runs as administrator, run OpenAdapt as administrator too. Otherwise that window records blank and input is ignored.

Recording and replay of native apps use the AT-SPI accessibility service on X11. Run openadapt doctor --backend linux to see which system packages are missing.

3. Check a first recording

Record a few seconds of any app, then stop. If the frames show your screen, the permissions are right. If they're blank, recheck step 2 and restart the app. Troubleshoot covers other first-week problems.

Approving saves in Desktop

When a run waits for approval before a save (the each_item mode), Desktop shows the filled form in Run it. Approve it to save exactly what you see, or decline with a reason: wrong values, wrong record, or a screen problem. See Run a workflow.