> ## 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.

# Cortex Bot

> A bot with its own computer, listed once in the sidebar. An account with no bots gets the setup form, not an empty list. Guests see the public product page.

Cortex Bot is a computer-using agent. Where Chat answers and Code changes a repository, a bot **does things on a desktop**: opens a browser, clicks through a flow, reads files, runs a shell command, and reports back in a few short messages. You can watch its screen while it works, and it asks before it does anything consequential.

<Frame caption="The public Bot page's four commitments: a real desktop, your bots listed once, plugins you chose, one product and one sign-in.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cortex-foundation-add13747-droid-1a2462c9-cor-444-sanitize/f_vF1T0UHRUAu9OO/images/product/bot-public-features.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=f_vF1T0UHRUAu9OO&q=85&s=66fbbfb8d7825013716e8220fc10e6ab" alt="Cortex Bot feature grid — A real desktop not a transcript, Your bots listed once, Plugins you chose, One product one sign-in" width="1280" height="800" data-path="images/product/bot-public-features.png" />
</Frame>

## The shape of the product

| Commitment                           | What it means                                                                                                             |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **A real desktop, not a transcript** | Each bot can have a computer: a screen, a browser, files. You watch it work instead of pasting a web page into chat.      |
| **Your bots, listed once**           | The account's bots live in the sidebar. The pane is the open bot — conversation in the middle, its computer on the right. |
| **Plugins you chose**                | A connected app reaches Chat, Bot, or both — you pick. A bot never inherits a tool you did not assign.                    |
| **One product, one sign-in**         | Create a bot after you sign in. A guest session cannot own something it could never come back to revoke.                  |

## First run

An account with no bots gets the **setup form**, not an empty list. Name the bot, decide what it is for, and create it. There are no pre-made bots with invented names waiting in the list.

## The open bot

| Area                      | What is there                                                                     |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sidebar**               | Your bots, listed once                                                            |
| **Centre**                | The conversation — short bubbles from the bot, your replies, and parked approvals |
| **Computer rail (right)** | The live desktop, with **Open desktop** and **Sleep**, plus routines              |

## Who can drive a bot

Guests see the public product page at `/bot` and the **This space is reserved** gate on deep links. Signed-in members create and drive bots. Bots are private to the account — see [Sharing](/chat/sharing).

## Bot compared with Chat and Code

|           | Chat                         | Code                        | Bot                                              |
| --------- | ---------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Best at   | Questions, writing, research | Changing a repository       | Doing tasks on a desktop, on a schedule          |
| Runs in   | A snippet sandbox            | An isolated guest, headless | An isolated guest **with a desktop**             |
| You see   | A streamed reply             | A turn timeline             | Short user-visible messages plus the live screen |
| Guardrail | Tool round budget            | Ask / Plan / Agent          | Allow / Deny / Always approvals                  |

## Where Bot lives

| Surface                         | Host for the computer  |
| ------------------------------- | ---------------------- |
| Web app (`/bot`)                | Cloud                  |
| [Bot desktop app](/bot/desktop) | Cloud, This PC         |
| SSH                             | Shell only, no desktop |

## Next

* [Bot quickstart](/bot/quickstart)
* [Computer](/bot/computer) · [Tools](/bot/tools) · [Approvals](/bot/approvals)
* [Routines](/bot/routines) · [Skills](/bot/skills)