What is the OpenAI computer use capability and what does it enable?

Computer use is a capability that allows an OpenAI model to interact with a computer's graphical interface - clicking buttons, filling forms, navigating browsers, and reading screen content - just as a human user would. It is available as a built-in tool in the Responses API and as a core feature of the Codex CLI.

# Computer use via the Responses API:
response = client.responses.create(
    model="gpt-5.4",    # gpt-5.4 has strong computer use support
    tools=[{
        "type": "computer_use_preview",
        "display_width": 1280,
        "display_height": 800,
        "environment": "browser",   # or "desktop", "linux", "windows"
    }],
    input="Go to github.com/openai/codex, find all open issues labelled bug, and return a summary.",
    truncation="auto",
)

# In Codex CLI - computer use is built into the tool automatically:
# codex
# > Open the browser and check if our staging deployment is up at staging.example.com
# Codex will: open browser, navigate to URL, read the page, report status

# Safety considerations:
# 1. Sandbox environments recommended
# 2. Require approval for form submissions, purchases, account changes
# 3. Log all actions taken by the computer use agent

Approval modes and computer use: in Codex CLI, the full-access approval mode enables computer use with network access. The auto mode (workspace-scoped) limits computer use to the local workspace. For production use, always implement human-in-the-loop approval for actions that modify state or involve external services.

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