terminator 🤖

paint051225.mp4

Computer use SDK for building agents that learn from human screen recordings. Accessibility-first. Cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux), near-deterministic.

There are three paths to train deterministic workflows with AI fallback:

1. AI-Assisted Workflow Building: Use an MCP client like Cursor to iteratively build and test complex workflows with an AI assistant in a human-in-the-loop process.
2. Record Human Baselines: Use our open-source tools to record a human demonstrating a task (our MCP has a recording tool). This generates a baseline workflow that can be refined and automated.
3. Enterprise-Grade Recording: For businesses needing scalable, high-fidelity workflow creation from human experts, our enterprise recorder provides the most robust solution.

For detailed instructions on building with AI agents through MCP client, see our Terminator MCP Agent README.

⚡ Quick Start: Programmatic Control

🐍 Python

import terminator

# Control applications programmatically
desktop = terminator.Desktop()
desktop.open_application('calc')
desktop.locator('name:Seven').click()
desktop.locator('name:Plus').click()  
desktop.locator('name:Three').click()
desktop.locator('name:Equals').click()
# Result: 10 appears in calculator

Installation:

pip install terminator.py

🟦 TypeScript / Node.js

const { Desktop } = require('terminator.js');

// Async/await for modern control flow
const desktop = new Desktop();
await desktop.openApplication('notepad');
await desktop.locator('name:Edit').typeText('Hello from TypeScript!');
await desktop.pressKey('{Ctrl}s'); // Save

Installation:

npm install terminator.js
# or: bun add terminator.js

Feature Support

While Terminator aims for full cross-platform support, current capabilities vary by OS. Windows is the primary development target and has the most complete feature set.

Feature	Windows	macOS	Linux	Notes
Core Automation
Element Locators	✅	🟡	🟡	Find elements by name, role, window, etc.
UI Actions (click, type)	✅	🟡	🟡	Core interactions with UI elements.
Application Management	✅	🟡	🟡	Launch, list, and manage applications.
Window Management	✅	🟡	🟡	Get active window, list windows.
Advanced Features
Workflow Recording	✅	❌	❌	Record human workflows for deterministic automation.
Monitor Management	✅	🟡	🟡	Multi-display support.
Screen & Element Capture	✅	✅	🟡	Take screenshots of displays or elements.
Language Bindings
Python (terminator.py)	✅	✅	✅	pip install terminator.py
TypeScript (terminator.js)	✅	✅	✅	npm i terminator.js
MCP (terminator-mcp-agent)	✅	✅	✅	npx -y terminator-mcp-agent --add-to-app [app]
Rust (terminator-rs)	✅	✅	✅	cargo add terminator-rs

Legend:

• ✅: Supported - The feature is stable and well-tested.
• 🟡: Partial / Experimental - The feature is in development and may have limitations.
• ❌: Not Supported - The feature is not yet available on this platform.

🕵️ How to Inspect Accessibility Elements (like name:Seven)

To create reliable selectors (e.g. name:Seven, role:Button, window:Calculator), you need to inspect the Accessibility Tree of your OS. Here's how to explore UI elements on each platform:

🪟 Windows

• Tool: Accessibility Insights for Windows
• Alt: Inspect.exe (comes with Windows SDK)
• Usage: Open the app you want to inspect → launch Accessibility Insights → hover or use keyboard navigation to explore the UI tree (Name, Role, ControlType, AutomationId).

These tools show you the Name, Role, ControlType, and other metadata used in Terminator selectors.

---

🍎 macOS

• Tool: Accessibility Inspector
• Usage: Comes with Xcode → Open Xcode > Open Developer Tool > Accessibility Inspector → Use the target icon to explore UI elements on screen.

---

🐧 Linux

• Tool: Accerciser

• Install:

  sudo apt install accerciser

• Usage: Launch Accerciser → Select the window/app → Browse the accessible widget tree.

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💡 Tip

Once you identify the structure of your UI:

# Sample pattern
desktop.locator('window:Calculator')
       .locator('role:Button')
       .locator('name:Seven')

You can build and debug selector paths incrementally using .locator() chaining.

Explore Further

• https://github.com/mediar-ai/terminator-typescript-examples
• https://github.com/mediar-ai/terminator-python-examples
• https://github.com/mediar-ai/terminator/examples

contributing

contributions are welcome! please feel free to submit issues and pull requests. many parts are experimental, and help is appreciated. join our discord to discuss.

businesses

if you want desktop automation at scale for your business, let's talk