LobsterAI: Desktop Intelligence that Autonomously Operates Computers and Delivers Complex Task Results

LobsterAI (Chinese name: Youdao Lobster) is a desktop-level full-scene personal assistant intelligent body (AI Agent) launched by NetEase Youdao open source. With the traditional “question and answer” chat big model is different, LobsterAI core positioning is “direct hands-on work”, it can act as the user's digital alter ego, autonomous takeover and operation of personal computers, direct delivery of multimodal task results.

Based on the powerful underlying architecture of the intelligent body and Cowork conversation system, users only need to give commands through the Great White Way, LobsterAI can autonomously plan the path in the local environment, invoke the built-in 16 kinds of office skills, and automatically complete the data analysis, document processing, automated retrieval of webpage information, and even automatic generation of PPT and video. It has the ultimate localized experience, deeply adapting to the domestic mainstream communication software such as Nail, Flybook, etc., realizing the sci-fi scenario of cell phone cross-end remote control desktop computer work. At the same time, LobsterAI insists on localized data operation, and all key executions must be authorized by the user, completely eliminating the risk of privacy leakage, so that every ordinary user with zero code base can safely and easily have a super assistant on standby for 7×24 hours.

Function List

• Autonomous operation and delivery of results (Cowork model): Instead of mere text dialog, it takes over the workflow directly. With just one natural language command, the intelligent body can autonomously operate local tools to process Word/Excel/PDF, perform in-depth data analysis, generate complete PPTs or videos, and deliver the finished document directly to your desktop.
• Remote control desktop across cell phones: Deep integration with Nail, Flybook, Telegram, Discord and other mainstream IM communication software. When you send a message from your cell phone on the way to work, LobsterAI on the office computer is instantly awakened and starts to work automatically, and the result will be sent back to your cell phone automatically after the task is completed.
• Natural Language Timed Task ConstructionSet up an automation schedule with no programming at all. Tell it to “search and summarize AI industry news for me every weekday at 9 a.m.” and it will automatically trigger, grab data, organize and send a presentation on time, making it a 24/7 assistant.
• Personalized long lasting memory: Built-in intelligent memory system that automatically extracts and remembers your identity preferences, work habits, and formatting requirements (e.g., your preferred analysis dimensions and language styles) across different dialog sessions, so that the more you use it, the more it understands you, and there's no need to repeatedly set up prerequisites.
• Zero-threshold out-of-the-box experienceThe AI Agent is designed to help you get started in less than 3 minutes by providing a minimalist “one-click installer” and an intuitive GUI that allows the average office worker with no command line experience to get up and running in less than 3 minutes.
• Rich multimodal built-in skills: In addition to the basic office, built-in up to 16 kinds of extended skills, support for Canvas-based poster drawing, front-end UI prototyping, video automation generation based on the Remotion engine, as well as Playwright-driven web page automation operation interaction.
• Strict local operation and privacy segregationLocal Priority Policy: Zero data on the cloud (local SQLite storage). Applied process isolation and sandbox execution (optional Alpine Linux virtual machine), all sensitive operations involving file read/write and terminal commands must be approved by your click, absolute protection of personal privacy and data asset security.

Using Help

Welcome to LobsterAI, a desktop-level intelligent assistant that really “does the work for you”. In order to help you master this revolutionary AI Agent tool and maximize your daily office and creative efficiency, we have prepared this detailed configuration and operation guide. Follow the steps below to unlock your 24/7 digital alter ego.

I. Software Download and Quick Installation

LobsterAI offers two installation options for regular users and developers, completely erasing the technical barrier.

1. Minimalist installation for the average user (recommended)
LobsterAI fully supports Windows and macOS (compatible with Intel and Apple Silicon chips).

• Step 1: Visit the official LobsterAI website (https://lobsterai.youdao.com).
• Step 2: Click “Download Now” on the homepage and select the appropriate installation package for your computer's operating system..exe 或 .dmg）。
• Step 3Once the download is complete, double-click on the installer and follow the regular software installation wizard all the way to “Next”. The installation process takes less than 3 minutes on average.
• Step 4: Open the software and you will be presented with an extremely intuitive Graphical Interactive Interface (GUI) that is ready to use right out of the box without the need to configure any complex environmental parameters.

2. Source code deployment for developers
If you wish to do secondary development or experience the latest features, they can be deployed via the GitHub source code:

# 克隆官方代码仓库
git clone https://github.com/netease-youdao/LobsterAI.git
cd lobsterai
# 安装项目依赖环境
npm install
# 启动开发模式（支持Vite + Electron热重载）
npm run electron:dev

II. Detailed explanation of the operation of the core functions

1. Use of the Cowork (core work session) model for complex tasks
Cowork is the soul of LobsterAI, and it's the key to moving AI from “chat” to “autonomous work”.

• Selecting a working directory: Create a new Cowork session in the left sidebar. You will first be asked to specify a “Workspace”.urgePut the files you need to process for this task (e.g. Excel tables, material pictures, etc.) into this directory, and all the reading and generating operations of Agent will be strictly limited to this directory to protect your system security.
• issue natural language commands: In the input box at the bottom, tell it what you want to do in the most colloquial terms possible. For example:“Analyze the ‘First Quarter Sales Data.xlsx’ in the working directory to identify the three provinces with the highest sales volume and use this data to help me generate a PowerPoint presentation that includes bar charts.”
• Authorization and implementation: When LobsterAI receives a command, it will automatically disassemble the task steps. When it needs to run code (e.g. call Python libraries to analyze data) or create a file, a **[Tool Call Authorization]** prompt box will pop up on the interface. You just need to check its intention and click “Approve”.
• Direct access to results: After the execution, you don't need to copy and paste the content from the chat box, directly open your working directory, you will find that the beautiful PPT file is already lying in your folder!

2. Cross-end remote control setup (cell phone directing computer work)
Suddenly want your office computer to run a data for you on your way from work? With the IM (Instant Messaging) bridging feature, you can wake up your desktop Agent anytime, anywhere.

• Step 1: Open the LobsterAI client and go to the **“Settings ”** panel.
• Step 2: Find the **“IM Integration ”** tab in the left menu.
• Step 3LobsterAI is deeply optimized for domestic users.staple和obscure or illegible writingIt also supports Telegram and Discord.
• Step 4: Create an internal robotics application according to the platform guidelines, and get the Token 和 Secret Fill in the LobsterAI configuration box and save.
• Step 5: Keep your computer on and LobsterAI running in the background. Now, you can send a message to that bot directly from your cell phone pinning/flying:“Help me send an email to Mr. Chang with a summary of last week's report.”, the Agent on the computer side will immediately and automatically take over and complete the job.

3. Timed automated task management
Give repetitive daily tasks to the machine completely.

• Creation method: You can say directly to LobsterAI in the dialog box:“Every morning at 8:30am, help me monitor the latest AI news from 36 Krypton and summarize it into a Markdown document saved on my desktop”. The system will automatically recognize your time intent and create a Cron timed task in the background.
• visualizationIf you want to modify the task time or pause the task, you can click on the **“Timed Task Management ”** icon on the left side of the interface, and in the graphical panel you can clearly see all the running automation queues, and support to start and stop or modify the execution logic at any time with one click.

III. Advanced Tips and Safety Must Reads

• Tuning Your “Long-Term Memory”: LobsterAI has a built-in intelligent persistent memory engine. In everyday conversations, you can actively tell it:“Remember, I'm going to use the blue and white business color scheme for all future PPTs!"or"My English name is David and my position is Data Analyst.”. The system automatically extracts this information and writes it to a local database. The next time you ask it to write a report, it will automatically bring in your identity and aesthetic preferences, completely eliminating the need to repeat prompts.
• Security and Privilege Boundaries: As powerful as LobsterAI is, its access is entirely in your hands. All tasks are run locally by default and data does not touch the cloud. In the Cowork configuration in the Settings panel, you can change the execution mode from local（本地执行） switch to sandbox（沙箱执行）At this point, all of AI's code runs in an isolated Alpine Linux virtual machine, which provides the highest level of security when working with untrusted, unknown files or running complex scripts.

Once you've mastered the above process, you've completely tamed the “Lobster”. It is no longer a simple chatbot, but a super assistant that you can use to increase productivity!

application scenario

1. Automated data analysis and weekly report generation
   As a white-collar worker or operations staff in the workplace, facing a huge amount of complicated business reports, just drag the data table into the work catalog. Give instructions to LobsterAI: “Analyze this Excel for this week's sales chain data, point out the three business lines with the most obvious growth and decline, and match the conclusions with visual charts to automatically generate a PPT file.” The intelligent body will autonomously invoke local tools to process the data, layout and generate the PPT, compressing hours of heavy-duty tabulation work into minutes to deliver the finished product.
2. Seamless remote working on mobile
   When commuting from work or going out to run a business, you temporarily receive an urgent need to deal with work computer data. Users can directly through the cell phone on the nail, Flying Book and other software to bind the LobsterAI to send a message: “the computer D disk in the original project into PDF format, and extract the core terms of the offer sent to me”. Stay in the office standby LobsterAI will be automatically executed immediately, the results will be sent to the phone, realizing the real “man-machine separation” remote office.
3. Daily information monitoring and daily newsletter generation
   Researchers or investors need to keep track of the latest developments in a specific industry. A timed task can be sent to LobsterAI via natural language: “Every weekday morning at 8:00am, automatically search for and grab the latest cutting-edge AI open source projects from last night, translate the core abstracts and layout them into a presentation to send to me”. It will act as a tireless information searcher, delivering collated, high-value information on time every day.
4. Multimodal automated content creation
   New media operation or self-media creators need to output visual content in high frequency. With LobsterAI's built-in Remotion video engine and Canvas drawing skills, input the command “Automatically create a 30-second short promotional video for me based on this new product's selling point document.” The Agent will automatically parse the copy, search for clips, synthesize the voice-over, align the subtitle timeline, and finally render an mp4 video file. Agent will automatically parse the copy, find clips, synthesize voiceovers, align subtitle timelines, and render the final mp4 video file, making it easy for users with no video editing experience to create.

QA

1. What's the difference between LobsterAI and traditional AI conversation macromodels like ChatGPT?
   Ordinary AI big language model core ability is “conversation” and “generate text”, they are trapped in the chat box, can not directly affect the files on your computer. On the other hand, LobsterAI is positioned as a “desktop-level intelligence (Agent)”, which has the ability to execute with both hands. It not only understands your intentions, but also automatically calls the software on your computer, processes local files, operates the browser, and ultimately outputs complete deliverables (e.g., videos, PPTs, charts, etc.).
2. LobsterAI can read and modify my local files, will my private data be leaked to the cloud?
   LobsterAI's security design is centered on “local first”. All of its execution actions, file operations and long-time memory data are stored in 100% in your local computer's SQLite database, and will not be uploaded to any cloud server. In addition, it adopts a strict permission blocking mechanism, any operation involving file system reading, modification and network request will be forced to pop up an authorization window, and must be manually clicked by you to agree before execution, so you have absolute control.
3. I don't have any code or programming foundation, can I use LobsterAI smoothly?
   Totally. In designing LobsterAI, NetEase has completely erased the complex technical threshold of open source AI tools. It provides an extremely simple and foolproof “one-click installation package” and a very intuitive visualization interface (GUI). You don't need to know any command line knowledge, just give commands in plain language as you usually do with your coworkers, and it will be able to understand and complete complex computer operations for you.
4. How do I have to configure it so that I can remotely control LobsterAI on my computer from my phone?
   It's very simple. Open the Settings panel of the LobsterAI client and find the “IM Integration” feature. Select your favorite instant messaging program (e.g. Nail, Flybook, Telegram, etc.) and follow the interface to configure the application Token into it. Once the integration is complete, you can send messages to LobsterAI on your cell phone to command it to work anytime, anywhere, as long as your computer is powered on and LobsterAI is running.