Cursor's agent can now click and type across desktop apps, including the iOS Simulator, to test what it builds

Cursor announced on October 23 that the agent inside its desktop app can now drive other apps on your computer, such as the iOS Simulator, to test the features it builds. The feature is called Computer Use, and it lets the agent click, type and capture screens across GUI apps on a developer's machine.

In practice, that means an agent can build a signup screen, open the simulator, tap through the flow, look at what rendered and then fix the code. You can call it by typing @ in an Agent conversation and picking Computer Use from the mention menu, and the agent can also choose it on its own when a task requires it. It ships as an update to the desktop app, with no pricing change announced.

This kind of control already existed in Cursor's cloud agents, which each run in their own isolated virtual machine with a full desktop environment, and in self-hosted workers. What is new is that it now reaches the machine you actually work on. Developers had asked for it: a forum request from July sought local desktop control with opt-in permission and an audit of actions, and as late as October 6 a Cursor staff reply said the company was still exploring it.

That shift is also the risk. On your own machine the same screen holds your email, your password manager and your signed-in browser. The developer write-up that covered the launch recommends granting operating system access only to Cursor's helper app rather than broader permissions.

Why it matters for builders: closing the loop between writing code and seeing it run is the step that makes coding agents useful for UI and mobile work, where tests rarely cover what a person would notice on screen. It also brings the security questions of computer use agents straight onto developer laptops.

What to try: test it on a throwaway project first, watch what the agent clicks, and decide which apps you are comfortable leaving open before using it on real work.

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