Handsfree Windows Control

Guide skill for controlling native Windows apps (UIA) and web browsers (Playwright) via the handsfree-windows CLI. Use when you need to automate or test desktop applications or websites on a Windows machine: launching apps from Start menu, discovering UI controls without guessing, clicking/typing in native apps, opening/snapshotting/clicking in browsers, recording and replaying YAML macros that mix desktop and web steps. REQUIRES handsfree-windows CLI (auto-installed on first use via setup.py).

A guide skill for automating native Windows apps (UIA) and web browsers (Playwright) via the handsfree-windows CLI.

First use: auto-setup

On first use, run setup before issuing any other commands:

powershell

python scripts/setup.py

This will:

1. Clone handsfree-windows from GitHub into ~/.handsfree-windows/cli/ (public repo, read-only)
2. Install it via pip install -e (standard pip editable install)
3. Install Playwright + Chromium browser binaries (~200 MB one-time download from cdn.playwright.dev)
4. Run check_setup.py to verify everything is working

To skip browser installation (browser-* commands will not work):

powershell

python scripts/setup.py --no-browser

To install to a custom directory:

powershell

python scripts/setup.py --install-dir "C:\your\preferred\path"

Already installed? Verify anytime:

powershell

python scripts/check_setup.py

What is written to disk (transparent)

• CLI source code: ~/.handsfree-windows/cli/ (or --install-dir)
• pip editable link: standard site-packages egg-link (pip managed)
• Browser persistent profiles: ~/.handsfree-windows/browser-profiles/<engine>/ Contains cookies and login sessions. Delete to reset browser auth.
• Browser session state: ~/.handsfree-windows/browser-state.json (last visited URL)
• Playwright browser binaries: ~\AppData\Local\ms-playwright\ (~800 MB, Windows)

To fully remove everything:

powershell

pip uninstall handsfree-windows -y
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.handsfree-windows"

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Core rules

• Do not guess UI controls. Run hf tree or hf inspect first, then act on what is actually there.
• Do not type credentials. Navigate to login screens; let the human complete auth.
• Prefer UIA selectors (name + control_type) over raw coordinates.
• Use drag-canvas only for canvas/ink surfaces (Paint, drawing apps, etc.).
• For destructive actions (delete, submit, send), ask the human for confirmation first.

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Workflow: Desktop app (UIA)

powershell

# Launch any installed app
hf start --app "Outlook"

# Find the window
hf list-windows --json

# Discover controls (no guessing)
hf tree --title-regex "Outlook" --depth 10 --max-nodes 30000

# Act on what was found
hf click --title "Outlook" --name "New mail" --control-type "Button"

# Inspect element under cursor
hf inspect --json

Workflow: Browser (Playwright)

powershell

# Open URL - login sessions saved in profile automatically
hf browser-open --url "https://example.com"

# Inspect page before acting
hf browser-snapshot --fmt text

# Act
hf browser-click --text "Sign in"
hf browser-type --selector "#email" --text "[e-mail]"

# Verify
hf browser-screenshot --out result.png

Mixed macro (desktop + web in one YAML)

yaml

- action: start
  args:
    app: "My Desktop App"

- action: browser-open
  args:
    url: "https://app.example.com"
    headless: false

- action: browser-click
  args:
    text: "Get Started"

- action: sleep
  args:
    seconds: 1

Run with: hf run macro.yaml

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References

• Full command reference + selector schema: references/api_reference.md