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Desktop Agent (Windows)

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Install the Kareenos Desktop Agent on your Windows computer and connect it to a project so agents can work in your programs while you are at your desk.

On this page

The Kareenos Desktop Agent lets your agents work in the programs on your own Windows computer: an accounting system, Excel, a desktop app that has no API. Agents see a window the way a person does, click, type, press keys and take screenshots, while you sit at the computer. You stay in control: agents pause while you use the mouse or keyboard, you can pause them from the tray, and the agent never learns your passwords. You log in to your programs yourself.

You need it only when an agent has to act inside a Windows program. Agents that work with data, documents, email, messaging channels and websites do not need it; websites are the browser extension's job.

Installing takes a few minutes and you do it once per computer. After that the agent stays connected on its own, through restarts, sleep and dropped Wi-Fi, until you sign it out.

Where to find it

The installer is on the Downloads page of the website. The computer is linked to your account on the Browsers & Desktops page inside the app, in its Connect this computer (Windows) card. To reach it, open Connections, then Manage connections and Browsers & Desktops; it is a builder page.

Before you start

  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
  • A Kareenos login and at least one project. A computer serves the projects its owner chooses (all of them by default) and up to five people.
  • The project must have Desktop Agent turned on in its settings (K Projects → Edit). New projects have it on; an account admin can switch it off, or switch off Auto-approve desktop clicks so agents may only look and read.

Install the Desktop Agent

  1. Download KareenosDesktopAgent-Setup-x64.msi from the Downloads page and run it.
  2. Windows may show a SmartScreen notice the first time. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
  3. When the installer finishes, a Kareenos icon appears in the tray (next to the clock). It says Signed out.

Connect the computer to a project

  1. In Kareenos, open Browsers & Desktops and pick the project.
  2. In the Connect this computer (Windows) card, click Connect this computer.
  3. A small window opens and asks to open the Kareenos Desktop Agent. Allow it. The tray icon turns to Connected with the project name.
  4. If nothing opens, the same window shows a connection code. Copy it, open the Desktop Agent from the tray, choose Sign in and paste the code.

The card now lists the computer with Connected. From then on the agent reconnects by itself whenever the computer is on.

What agents can do on it

  • See the window that is in front (a numbered list of its buttons, fields, menus and tables), the running programs, and screenshots.
  • Act: start a program, bring a window to the front, click, type into fields, choose options, tick boxes, press keys, scroll, wait for a dialog.
  • Not do: open a command prompt, PowerShell or system tools, read or write files on the disk, or run scripts. Shell work on servers is the Kareenos CLI Client's job.

Each project decides whether agents may change things. With Auto-approve desktop clicks off, agents can only look and read; a click or a key press answers "not approved" and the agent tells you which setting to change.

While an agent works

  • A small banner on the screen shows what the agent is doing ("Clicking Save", "Typing").
  • The moment you move the mouse or type, the agent pauses its next step for a few seconds and tries again later. Keep working if you need to; the agent waits.
  • Pause agents in the tray menu stops every action until you resume. Agents are told you paused them.
  • Agents never ask you for a password or a code, and never type one. When a program needs a login, the agent asks you to log in yourself, then continues.

Several computers

Since November 2026 a computer is an object of its own, with a name, a code and a description. The Browsers & Desktops page lists yours under Computers, with their state (Connected, Busy, Paused, Locked, Offline). To add one, click Add a computer, give it a name (the code is made for you, PC-001, or type your own, LAB-01), and copy its connection code: on that computer, open the Desktop Agent from the tray, choose Sign in and paste it. The code works once.

Agents name a computer with its code (computer=LAB-01). Without one they use your default computer (the star in the list; Set as my default changes it). When you may use several and have no default, the agent asks you which.

Sharing a computer

A computer can serve up to five people: its owner picks them under Edit → People who may use it, and the projects it serves. One person's agents drive it at a time. While Sara's agent is working on it, Omar's agent is told the computer is busy, by whom, and waits or asks. The hold ends when that run closes its lane, or 90 seconds after its last command; the owner or an account admin can release it from the list.

Unattended computers

A computer nobody sits at (a warehouse PC, a kiosk, a server with a desktop application) can run unattended: an account admin registers it so, installs the Desktop Agent with its service feature, and keeps it signed in. Agents drive it on the computer's own approval switch. The setup is in Computers for IT departments.

Sign out or remove

  • Sign out this computer on the Browsers & Desktops card disconnects it within a minute, and the agent asks to be connected again next time.
  • Sign out in the tray menu does the same from the computer's side.
  • To remove the program, uninstall Kareenos Desktop Agent from Windows Settings → Apps. Your sign-in is removed with it.

Troubleshooting

What you see What it means What to do
The tray icon says Signed out No sign-in on this computer Connect it from the Browsers & Desktops card
The tray icon says Off on the platform The Desktop Channel is switched off on this Kareenos platform Wait; the platform owner turns it on
The card says Offline The computer is off, asleep, or has no network Turn it on or wake it; it reconnects by itself
The card says Paused by you Pause agents is on in the tray Resume from the tray menu
An agent reports Desktop Agent is off for this project The project switch is off An account admin turns it on in K Projects → Edit
An agent reports not approved for a click Auto-approve desktop clicks is off Turn it on in the project settings, or let the agent only read
Another computer connected to this project A second computer signed in to the same project; the first stepped aside Click Use this computer in the tray of the one you want
A program cannot be started by an agent This computer's local policy refuses it (shells and system tools are refused by default) Ask your IT administrator; the policy file is %ProgramData%\Kareenos\DesktopAgent\policy.json
An agent reports the computer is busy Another person's agent holds it right now Wait, ask that person, or release the hold from the Computers list (owner or admin)
The list says Locked The computer is locked or at the Windows sign-in screen Sign in on it and keep it unlocked; an unattended computer must stay signed in
An agent asks which computer You may use several and have no default Name it (computer=<code>) or set a default in the Computers list
An agent reports not among the people who may use a computer You are not on that computer's people list Its owner adds you under Edit

How the agent knows it is talking to Kareenos

  • The agent only ever dials out, over TLS, and only to Kareenos servers: a connection code or link that points anywhere else is refused with the host named.
  • Every connection code and link is signed by Kareenos. The agent checks the signature before it does anything; an altered or forged code is refused.
  • Before a new connection is made, the agent shows you where it points — the Kareenos server, the account, the computer and its mode — and waits for you to click Connect. A silent install by your IT department skips this step, because an administrator already decided.
  • The agent never types a password, PIN or passcode, even when an agent asks it to: such a field answers PASSWORD_FIELD and the person enters it. Windows-key shortcuts and Ctrl+Shift+Esc are refused (KEY_NOT_ALLOWED); a machine's local policy file can change that list.