## What I asked for From a Claude Desktop (Code tab) session on macOS, I asked Claude to open CapCut and apply a colour LUT to a clip for me. Nothing more than that. ## What happened 1. **Background control worked for simple clicks.** Claude could close pop-ups, start a project, and open File > Import in CapCut. 2. **It could not use the file picker.** The macOS Open panel counted as "on another Space". Keystrokes (Cmd+Shift+G, then typing a path) were refused. `app_bring_to_current_space` fa

Desktop computer use: background mode can't use the macOS file picker, full-screen mode takes over the screen, and prompts can't be answered over Remote Control

Status Open

Reported on v2.1.280

Maintainer reply None cached

Activity 0 comments · opened Sep 24, 2026

From a Claude Desktop (Code tab) session on macOS, I asked Claude to open CapCut and apply a colour LUT to a clip for me. Nothing more than that.

Background control worked for simple clicks. Claude could close pop-ups, start a project, and open File > Import in CapCut.
It could not use the file picker. The macOS Open panel counted as "on another Space". Keystrokes (Cmd+Shift+G, then typing a path) were refused. app_bring_to_current_space failed with "a transient system query failure".
The only way forward was full-screen control. That takes over my screen, so I can't use my own computer while it runs.
Full-screen control kept breaking whenever I touched my own apps. When Chrome came to the front, every action failed with "Google Chrome is not in the allowed applications and is currently in front". That stayed true even after Claude brought CapCut back to the front.
Nothing works from my phone either. When I drive the session from my phone over Remote Control, the access prompts and the full-screen approval prompts appear on the Mac. So I can't approve them from the phone.

The one case it handles is someone sitting at the Mac and not using it. That is the case where I could just do the task myself.

The file picker: let background control drive the standard macOS Open and Save panels. Typing a path and pressing Import is the most common step in nearly every desktop workflow.
Remote Control: let access prompts and full-screen prompts be answered from the phone, in the Claude app, when the session is driven over Remote Control.
Focus: let full-screen control run on one monitor while I keep working on another. Don't abort a batch because I clicked into a different app on a different display.