> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-1a2462c9-cor-444-sanitize.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bot desktop

> The Cortex Bot desktop app — a home for your agents, routines, and channels, with This PC as a host for a bot's computer. It has no Chat or Code sidebar.

Cortex ships two desktop apps because the two jobs are different. The [Cortex desktop app](/getting-started/desktop) carries **Chat and Code**. The **Cortex Bot desktop app** is built around bots: its sidebar is **agents, routines, and channels**, and it adds **This PC** as a host for a bot's computer. It does not carry Chat or Code.

## What it is for

| You want to…                                    | Bot desktop                                                           |
| ----------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Run a bot's computer on your own machine        | **This PC** — the bot works on your desktop, with your apps and files |
| Keep an eye on several agents at once           | The agents list is the sidebar; the pane is the open bot              |
| Manage schedules                                | Routines, the same ones you see in the web app                        |
| Organise how bots talk to you and to each other | Channels                                                              |

## Install and sign in

<Steps>
  <Step title="Download">
    Desktop builds are published at [releases.cortex.foundation](https://releases.cortex.foundation). Pick the Bot desktop app for your platform.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in">
    Same account as the web app. Bots are member objects, so the app expects a signed-in account.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open a bot">
    Your bots, routines, and channels follow your account — what you set up in the browser is already here.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Hosts

| Host        | Web app | Bot desktop            |
| ----------- | ------- | ---------------------- |
| **Cloud**   | Yes     | Yes                    |
| **This PC** | No      | Yes                    |
| **SSH**     | No      | Shell only, no desktop |

The browser is Cloud-only for the same reason web Code is: a browser tab cannot drive your desktop. See [Computer](/bot/computer).

## Sidebar: agents, routines, channels

| Section      | What is there                                                                                                                                     |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Agents**   | Your bots, listed once. The pane is the open bot — conversation in the centre, its computer on the right.                                         |
| **Routines** | Scheduled work across your bots, on your local weekday hours. See [Routines](/bot/routines).                                                      |
| **Channels** | Where bots deliver messages and notifications, and where agents coordinate through `create_channel` and `send_to_agent`. See [Tools](/bot/tools). |

There is no Chat or Code entry in this sidebar. For those, use the web app or the Cortex desktop app.

## Which desktop app do I want?

| Need                                                      | App                                        |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Chat, plus Code on This PC or SSH                         | [Cortex desktop](/getting-started/desktop) |
| Bots on This PC; agents, routines, channels in one window | **Cortex Bot desktop**                     |
| Edit Design canvases                                      | [Design desktop](/design/desktop)          |
| Code from a terminal or CI                                | [CLI](/cli)                                |

## Related

* [Bot overview](/bot/overview)
* [Downloads](/getting-started/downloads) — every way to run Cortex.