Claude Desktop for Linux (with Computer Use)

Unofficial Linux build of Claude Desktop with full Computer Use support. Extracts the macOS app, replaces native modules with Linux implementations (xdotool + scrot), and packages as a .deb.

Based on stslex/claude-desktop-linux with the addition of working Computer Use — screenshots, mouse control, keyboard input, and window management via standard Linux tools.

Features

• Full Claude Desktop app (chat, projects, artifacts)
• Computer Use — screenshots, mouse, keyboard, window management
• Cowork mode (Claude Code integration)
• MCP server support
• Dispatch (task delivery when app is open)
• System tray integration
• OAuth login via browser

Computer Use Implementation

The macOS app uses CoreGraphics and Accessibility APIs for computer control. This build replaces those with Linux equivalents:

Function	macOS	Linux (this build)
Screenshots	CoreGraphics	scrot
Mouse control	Accessibility API	xdotool
Keyboard input	Accessibility API	xdotool
Window management	AXUIElement	wmctrl + xdotool
Monitor info	CoreGraphics	xrandr

Quick Install (pre-built .deb)

Download the latest .deb from Releases, then:

sudo apt install -y xdotool scrot wmctrl
sudo dpkg -i claude-desktop-*.deb

Build from Source

Prerequisites

# Build dependencies
sudo apt install -y nodejs npm unzip dpkg-dev

# Computer Use dependencies
sudo apt install -y xdotool scrot wmctrl icnsutils

# Optional (icon extraction)
sudo apt install -y imagemagick librsvg2-bin

Requires Node.js >= 20. If your system package is older, use nvm.

Build

git clone https://github.com/buckstrdr/claude-desktop-linux.git
cd claude-desktop-linux

# Step 1: Fetch and extract the macOS app
bash scripts/fetch-and-extract.sh

# Step 2: Inject Linux native module stubs (with computer use)
bash scripts/inject-stubs.sh

# Step 3: Patch platform gates for Cowork/Dispatch
bash scripts/patch-cowork.sh

# Step 4: Build .deb package
bash scripts/build-deb.sh

The .deb will be in output/claude-desktop-<version>-x86_64.deb.

Install

sudo dpkg -i --force-depends output/claude-desktop-*.deb

The --force-depends is needed if your system Node.js package is < 20 (the app bundles its own Electron runtime and doesn't actually need system Node at runtime).

Usage

# Launch from terminal
claude-desktop

# Or find "Claude Desktop" in your application menu

On first launch, you'll need to log in with your Anthropic account via the browser OAuth flow.

Computer Use

Computer Use is available when Claude offers to control your computer. The implementation uses:

• xdotool for mouse movement, clicking, scrolling, and keyboard input
• scrot for taking screenshots (full screen, window, or region)
• wmctrl for window listing and focus management
• xrandr for monitor/display detection

All tools run as your user — no elevated privileges required.

Cowork Mode

Cowork (Claude Code) works out of the box. It spawns claude directly on the host (no VM needed, unlike macOS which uses Apple's VZVirtualMachine). Optionally install bubblewrap for sandboxed execution:

sudo apt install bubblewrap

Architecture

macOS:
  Claude Desktop (Electron)
    -> @ant/claude-native (CoreGraphics, Accessibility)
    -> @ant/claude-swift (VZVirtualMachine)
      -> Linux VM -> claude-code

This build:
  Claude Desktop (Electron)
    -> @ant/claude-native (xdotool, scrot, wmctrl)
    -> @ant/claude-swift (child_process.spawn)
      -> claude-code (directly on host)

See ARCHITECTURE.MD for detailed design decisions.

Known Limitations

• X11 only — xdotool requires X11. Wayland support would need different tools (ydotool, grim).
• No push notifications — Dispatch tasks only arrive when the app is open (no APNs/FCM on Linux).
• No ARM64 — x86_64 only for now.
• Electron version lock — if Anthropic's app requires a newer Electron, rebuild is needed.

Troubleshooting

App won't launch:

# Check if Electron works
/usr/lib/electron/electron --version

# Launch with debug output
claude-desktop 2>&1 | tee /tmp/claude-debug.log

Computer Use not working:

# Test xdotool
xdotool getmouselocation

# Test scrot
scrot /tmp/test-screenshot.png && ls -la /tmp/test-screenshot.png

# Test wmctrl
wmctrl -l

OAuth login fails: Make sure xdg-open works and the claude:// URI scheme is registered:

xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/claude
# Should show: claude-desktop.desktop

Credits

• stslex/claude-desktop-linux — base project (DMG extraction, Cowork stubs, platform patching)
• k3d3/claude-desktop-linux-flake — reference for native bindings API shape
• Anthropic — Claude Desktop app

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

This project repackages Anthropic's proprietary application. Use is subject to Anthropic's Terms of Service.