Understudy
Ranked 3 of 4 computer use agents by recommenders
Teaches a desktop agent a task from one demonstration, and falls back to AppleScript when GUI control fails. Caveat: macOS only.
Teaches a desktop agent a task from one demonstration, and falls back to AppleScript when GUI control fails. Caveat: macOS only.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
macOS only
“disappointed that it's macOS only”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Understudy – Teach a desktop agent by demonstrating a task once” “One more tool targeting OSX only.”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Understudy – Teach a desktop agent by demonstrating a task once” Weaker on third-party apps
“it works much better on native macOS surfaces than on arbitrary third-party apps”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Understudy – Teach a desktop agent by demonstrating a task once”
Other computer use agents people recommend
The three most recommended other computer use agents, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Cowork | 163 | 167 | 49% | 10 | 2 mo5 owners | — |
| Codex Computer Use | 8 | 2 | 80% | 4 | — | — |
| UnderstudyThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 1 | — | — |
| Coasty | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“seem some interesting package included”
“disappointed that it's macOS only”
“found this file to be an interesting read”
“I have a hard time believing this is robust.”
“the agent falling back to AppleScript when GUI gets unreliable. That's the real product insight.”
“it works much better on native macOS surfaces than on arbitrary third-party apps”
“One more tool targeting OSX only.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.