Cua

c/ua is the Docker Container for Computer-Use AI Agents.

Cua logo

Python Swift macOS Discord

TL;DR: c/ua (pronounced "koo-ah", short for Computer-Use Agent) is a framework that enables AI agents to control full operating systems within high-performance, lightweight virtual containers. It delivers up to 97% native speed on Apple Silicon and works with any vision language models.

What is c/ua?

c/ua offers two primary capabilities in a single integrated framework:

  1. High-Performance Virtualization - Create and run macOS/Linux virtual machines on Apple Silicon with near-native performance (up to 97% of native speed) using the Lume CLI with Apple's Virtualization.Framework.

  2. Computer-Use Interface & Agent - A framework that allows AI systems to observe and control these virtual environments - interacting with applications, browsing the web, writing code, and performing complex workflows.

Why Use c/ua?

  • Security & Isolation: Run AI agents in fully isolated virtual environments instead of giving them access to your main system
  • Performance: Near-native performance on Apple Silicon
  • Flexibility: Run macOS or Linux environments with the same framework
  • Reproducibility: Create consistent, deterministic environments for AI agent workflows
  • LLM Integration: Built-in support for connecting to various LLM providers

System Requirements

  • Mac with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4 series)
  • macOS 15 (Sequoia) or newer
  • Python 3.10+ (required for the Computer, Agent, and MCP libraries). We recommend using Conda (or Anaconda) to create an ad hoc Python environment.
  • Disk space for VM images (30GB+ recommended)

Quick Start

Option 1: Lume CLI Only (VM Management)

If you only need the virtualization capabilities:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install.sh)"

For Lume usage instructions, refer to the Lume documentation.

Option 2: Full Computer-Use Agent Capabilities

If you want to use AI agents with virtualized environments:

  1. Install the Lume CLI:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trycua/cua/main/libs/lume/scripts/install.sh)"
    
  2. Pull the latest macOS CUA image:

    lume pull macos-sequoia-cua:latest
    
  3. Start Lume daemon service:

    lume serve
    
  4. Install the Python libraries:

    pip install cua-computer cua-agent[all]
    
  5. Use the libraries in your Python code:

    from computer import Computer
    from agent import ComputerAgent, LLM, AgentLoop, LLMProvider
    
    async with Computer(verbosity=logging.DEBUG) as macos_computer:
      agent = ComputerAgent(
          computer=macos_computer,
          loop=AgentLoop.OPENAI, # or AgentLoop.ANTHROPIC, or AgentLoop.OMNI
          model=LLM(provider=LLMProvider.OPENAI) # or LLM(provider=LLMProvider.ANTHROPIC)
      )
    
      tasks = [
          "Look for a repository named trycua/cua on GitHub.",
      ]
    
      for task in tasks:
        async for result in agent.run(task):
          print(result)
    

    Explore the Agent Notebook for a ready-to-run example.

  6. Optionally, you can use the Agent with a Gradio UI:

    from utils import load_dotenv_files
    load_dotenv_files()
     
    from agent.ui.gradio.app import create_gradio_ui
    
    app = create_gradio_ui()
    app.launch(share=False)
    

Option 3: Build from Source (Nightly)

If you want to contribute to the project or need the latest nightly features:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/trycua/cua.git
cd cua

# Open the project in VSCode
code ./.vscode/py.code-workspace

# Build the project
./scripts/build.sh

See our Developer-Guide for more information.

Monorepo Libraries

LibraryDescriptionInstallationVersion
LumeCLI for running macOS/Linux VMs with near-native performance using Apple's Virtualization.Framework.DownloadGitHub release
ComputerComputer-Use Interface (CUI) framework for interacting with macOS/Linux sandboxespip install cua-computerPyPI
AgentComputer-Use Agent (CUA) framework for running agentic workflows in macOS/Linux dedicated sandboxespip install cua-agentPyPI

Docs

For the best onboarding experience with the packages in this monorepo, we recommend starting with the Computer documentation to cover the core functionality of the Computer sandbox, then exploring the Agent documentation to understand Cua's AI agent capabilities, and finally working through the Notebook examples.

Demos

Demos of the Computer-Use Agent in action. Share your most impressive demos in Cua's Discord community!

MCP Server: Work with Claude Desktop and Tableau
AI-Gradio: multi-app workflow requiring browser, VS Code and terminal access
Notebook: Fix GitHub issue in Cursor

Accessory Libraries

LibraryDescriptionInstallationVersion
CoreCore functionality and utilities used by other Cua packagespip install cua-corePyPI
PyLumePython bindings for Lumepip install pylumePyPI
Computer ServerServer component for the Computer-Use Interface (CUI) frameworkpip install cua-computer-serverPyPI
SOMSelf-of-Mark library for Agentpip install cua-somPyPI

Contributing

We welcome and greatly appreciate contributions to Cua! Whether you're improving documentation, adding new features, fixing bugs, or adding new VM images, your efforts help make lume better for everyone. For detailed instructions on how to contribute, please refer to our Contributing Guidelines.

Join our Discord community to discuss ideas or get assistance.

License

Cua is open-sourced under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Microsoft's OmniParser, which is used in this project, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY-4.0) - see the OmniParser LICENSE file for details.

Trademarks

Apple, macOS, and Apple Silicon are trademarks of Apple Inc. Ubuntu and Canonical are registered trademarks of Canonical Ltd. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple Inc., Canonical Ltd., or Microsoft Corporation.

Stargazers over time

Stargazers over time

Contributors

f-trycua
f-trycua

💻
Pedro Piñera Buendía
Pedro Piñera Buendía

💻
Amit Kumar
Amit Kumar

💻
Dung Duc Huynh (Kaka)
Dung Duc Huynh (Kaka)

💻
Zayd Krunz
Zayd Krunz

💻
Prashant Raj
Prashant Raj

💻
Leland Takamine
Leland Takamine

💻
ddupont
ddupont

💻
Ethan Gutierrez
Ethan Gutierrez

💻
Ricter Zheng
Ricter Zheng

💻
Rahul Karajgikar
Rahul Karajgikar

💻
trospix
trospix

💻
Ikko Eltociear Ashimine
Ikko Eltociear Ashimine

💻
한석호(MilKyo)
한석호(MilKyo)

💻
Rahim Nathwani
Rahim Nathwani

💻
Matt Speck
Matt Speck

💻
Share:
Details:
  • Stars


    4,978
  • Forks


    189
  • Last commit


    24 hours ago
  • Repository age


    3 months
  • License


    MIT
View Repository

Auto-fetched from GitHub .

MCP servers similar to Cua:

 

 
 
  • Stars


  • Forks


  • Last commit


 

 
 
  • Stars


  • Forks


  • Last commit


 

 
 
  • Stars


  • Forks


  • Last commit