Get started with the GUI
The desktop GUI puts projects, sessions, approvals, diffs, terminal output, plugins, automations, and browser automation in one local workspace.
First launch
Pick your platform on /downloads. macOS ships a signed .dmg, Windows a signed .msi, and Linux .deb / .rpm / .AppImage. First launch connects to the local App Server and asks you to sign in with the same Acosmi account.
These screenshots were captured from the real /Applications/Crab Code.app desktop window. Once signed in and connected to the App Server, the main workspace shows the left navigation, project/session list, central workspace, top status bar, and composer.
Use the project workspace for repo-bound coding tasks:
Use the butler workspace for cross-project todos, reminders, progress summaries, and tasks that do not belong to one repo:
If you see "account service unavailable", that is a backend/account connection state rather than the normal GUI. Click Retry; if it persists, restart the desktop app or confirm that crabcode-app-server can start locally.
Left navigation
| Entry | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Butler chat | Cross-project assistant conversations |
| Plugins / skills | Installed plugins, skills, marketplace, plugin detail and management |
| Automations | Cron daemon status, one-time jobs, recurring jobs, trigger/run history |
| Browser | Local browser automation panel |
| Dream space | Memory, archive, dream automation, and extraction/search state |
| Projects | Register local folders, enter projects, resume sessions |
| Settings / account | Account, quota, wallet, language, config, and external links |
Project sessions
Register a local folder from the project area. Project chat uses that folder as the working directory, so file reads/writes, commands, Git operations, and session restore all anchor to that workspace.
The center pane shows the conversation stream, tool progress, compaction banners, and assistant output. The right-side panels surface approvals, user input requests, diffs, and terminal output when relevant.
Plugins, automations, and browser
The Plugins / skills page uses the same plugin model as /plugin and --plugin-dir. Some plugin changes take effect after reloading plugins or starting a new session.
The Automations page talks to App Server cron/* methods: cron/status, cron/list, cron/runs, cron/add, cron/update, cron/remove, and cron/run. See Automations.
The Browser page uses App Server browser automation. Use Chrome extension mode when a task needs your real browser login state; see Browser automation.