Play / The map / The products / Claude Desktop — local tools
Claude Desktop (a desktop app with local tools)
A desktop application running as your user account, with connectors and local tools that can read files and run commands with a prompt. DERIVED from the assess library's desktop tree; not measured on any instance.
Anthropic · surface desktop · variant default · profile version 2026-09-05 · reaches 10 of 23 capabilities, 5 of which cannot be undone. Edit this profile · the file.
| Capability | Undo | Claude Desktoplocal tools |
|---|---|---|
| filesystem — files and directories | ||
| Read the project it is working onread.file.project | yes | ● |
| Change the project it is working onwrite.file.project | with-effort | ● |
| Read any file the account can reachread.file.host | no | ◐ |
| Change any file the account can reachwrite.file.host | with-effort | ◐ |
| Delete files anywhere the account can reachdelete.file.host | no | · |
| Read a retained record: shell history, past sessionsread.record.history | no | ● |
| process — programs and their execution | ||
| Run programs as the accountexecute.process.host | with-effort | ◐ |
| Run programs inside its own sandbox onlyexecute.process.self | yes | · |
| network — endpoints and hosts | ||
| Reach a permitted list of hostssend.endpoint.allowed | no | · |
| Reach any host on the internetsend.endpoint.world | no | ● |
| identity — credentials and who the agent can act as | ||
| Read credentials stored where it runsread.credential.host | no | ● |
| Act in accounts with the credentials it holdsauthenticate-as.credential.tenant | no | ● |
| Change its own permission settingsgrant.credential.self | yes | ◐ |
| communication — messages to people | ||
| Send a message to anyonesend.message.world | no | · |
| Read mail or chat it is connected toread.message.tenant | no | · |
| code — repositories and what lands in them | ||
| Commit to the repository it was pointed atwrite.repository.project | with-effort | · |
| Push to a code host (any branch it can reach)write.repository.tenant | with-effort | · |
| Sign commits with the key it holdsauthenticate-as.credential.signing | no | · |
| Publish packages, images or pages under the name it holdscreate.record.world | no | · |
| money — budgets and spend | ||
| Spend money or tokens against an account it holdswrite.budget.tenant | no | · |
| schedule — things that outlive the turn | ||
| Create something that outlives the turn where it runs (a cron, a service)create.schedule.host | yes | · |
| Create something that outlives the session, on the platform (a routine, a scheduled trigger, a new session)create.schedule.tenant | yes | · |
| browser — what a browser extension or automation can see and do in your browser | ||
| Read every page you visitread.record.browsing | no | · |
What host, tenant and world mean here
| Reach | Here, it means |
|---|---|
| host | your machine, as your user account |
| tenant | your accounts |
| world | the internet |
The grant, tool by tool
Two tools in one session reach different things, which is why the unit of mapping is the tool and not the product. Each row carries the control on the path and the tier of evidence behind it.
conversation
| Capability | Control | Evidence | What is on the path |
|---|---|---|---|
Read the project it is working on read.file.project | ● none | derived | — · what you paste or attach |
local files and commands (when enabled)
| Capability | Control | Evidence | What is on the path |
|---|---|---|---|
Read the project it is working on read.file.project | ● none | derived | — |
Change the project it is working on write.file.project | ● none | derived | — |
Read any file the account can reach read.file.host | ◐ setting | derived | the app's folder permission |
Change any file the account can reach write.file.host | ◐ setting | derived | the app's folder permission |
Run programs as the account execute.process.host | ◐ setting | derived | a confirmation prompt · run terminal commands as you |
Read credentials stored where it runs read.credential.host | ● none | documented | — |
Act in accounts with the credentials it holds authenticate-as.credential.tenant | ● none | derived | — |
Read a retained record: shell history, past sessions read.record.history | ● none | documented | — |
Change its own permission settings grant.credential.self | ◐ setting | derived | the app's own settings file |
Reach any host on the internet send.endpoint.world | ● none | derived | — |
What narrows it
For each capability in the grant: the specific setting or arrangement that narrows it, what it costs, and the tier the control reaches afterwards. Guidance is free and stays free.
| Capability | The setting | What it costs | Tier after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Act in accounts with the credentials it holds | scoped, short-lived tokens issued to the agent rather than your own; read-only where read is all it needs | an hour per service, and rotation | boundary |
| Run programs as the account | keep the confirmation prompt on for commands, and run in a container: execution survives inside it and stops being execution on your machine | a click per command · an afternoon for the container | setting (prompt) · boundary (container) |
| Change its own permission settings | settings owned by a different user than the one the agent runs as, or set above the session by the platform | minutes, if the platform supports it; otherwise the separate account | boundary |
| Read credentials stored where it runs | keep credentials out of the account the agent runs as: a credential helper, a separate account, or a container without your home mounted | an afternoon, and re-authenticating where the agent needs a credential of its own | boundary |
| Read any file the account can reach | run the agent in a container with only the project mounted, or under a separate user account | an afternoon, then ongoing friction (container) · days, and it fights you (account) | boundary |
| Read the project it is working on | none: this is what it is for | nothing | none |
| Read a retained record: shell history, past sessions | history off, or a fresh environment per task, so the grant is a tree over the present rather than a union over every prior turn | the agent forgets between tasks | boundary |
| Reach any host on the internet | route outbound traffic through an allow-list — the one control the hosted container already has, demonstrated rather than claimed | an hour, if you already have somewhere to put it | boundary |
| Change any file the account can reach | the same container or account; the tool's own directory restriction is a setting anything running as you can step around | as above | boundary |
| Change the project it is working on | a review before merge | a reviewer's time | setting |
Against the mandates
What a reasonable person wanted from this setup, and the gap: ▲ excess is what it can do that they did not want; ▼ shortfall is what they wanted that it cannot do.
| Mandate | Excess | Shortfall |
|---|---|---|
| The desktop app, with local tools switched on | ▲ 6 | ▼ 1 |
Sources
assess/library.json (surface desktop)
A derived row is an inference from what this kind of program architecturally is. It is a claim, and the most useful pull request on this page is one that replaces a claim with a probe run — how.