Solve the problem your tools miss
Build around the unusual step, recurring delay, or disconnected information that off-the-shelf software leaves unresolved.
Build a Desktop Workspace around the way you actually work.
You do not need to know how to code to build a useful Desktop Workspace around your own process. This guide explains the four parts that make it work: a Local Folder, Skills and Workflows, a Local Site, and an AI Agent. When you are ready, the Workspace Wizard turns your answers into an install-ready generated package for your AI Agent.
Build Your Own teaches you how to create a basic workspace. If you want the complete structure, workflows, private dashboard, review systems, and guided starting experience already built, choose one of our ready-made workspaces.
What is a Desktop Workspace?
A Desktop Workspace is a different way to work with your AI.
A Desktop Workspace is a Local Folder containing your Workspace Information and Agent Instructions, plus an AI Agent that reads the folder and does the work with you. Its files live on your computer, there is no separate Desktop Workspace account to create, and no coding is required. You describe what you need in plain language, and the AI Agent builds and maintains the files.
One running example
An independent bookkeeper spends every month chasing missing client documents. She builds a small Desktop Workspace that tracks what has arrived, what is missing, and who needs a follow-up.
How is it different from hosted software?Compare who builds it, where the information lives, and who owns it.
Many software products require a hosted account or subscription and keep information on the provider’s servers. A desktop workspace follows a different model.
| Hosted software | A Desktop Workspace |
|---|---|
| Built for a broad market | Built around your process |
| You adapt to how it works | It adapts to how you work |
| Information commonly lives on provider servers | Your Workspace Information lives in your Local Folder |
| Changes require a feature request | Changes are a conversation |
| You rent access | You own the Local Folder |
| Access depends on the provider | Continues while you keep the Local Folder |
What makes a Desktop Workspace powerful
The power comes from combining files you own with an AI Agent that can maintain the Workspace Information and build the experience around it. Ask it to create a new page or Workflow, change how something works, or add a feature for the way your business operates. Instead of waiting for a software company to decide what to build, you can keep shaping the Desktop Workspace until it works exactly the way you want.
Where does it live?The Local Folder and Local Site live on your computer.
You choose where the Local Folder is stored and when it is copied or moved.
Can other people use it?Yes, when the Local Folder is saved somewhere they can access.
Save the Local Folder on a shared drive and people with access can view the Local Site and update the Desktop Workspace from their own computers. Let one person or AI Agent finish a change before another starts editing the same files, and use a shared drive with version history so conflicting changes can be recovered.
What if my computer dies?A current backup lets you restore the Desktop Workspace.
Copy the whole Local Folder regularly to another drive or a backup service.
Why build your own
Your most useful Desktop Workspace may be the one no software company would think to make.
Generic products are designed for an average customer. You already know the exceptions, handoffs, repeated explanations, and missing information that make your own work harder. A small custom Desktop Workspace can focus on that exact problem.
Remove friction from repeated work
Turn a task you explain or rebuild every time into a clear process your Desktop Workspace can help you follow consistently.
Keep your knowledge in the system
Capture the rules, judgment, preferences, and context in Agent Instructions, Skills, and Workflows.
Own what you create
Keep the Workspace Information and Agent Instructions together so you can inspect them, move them, and continue improving them.
Start with one meaningful bottleneck
You do not need to recreate every tool you use. Choose one job that costs time, creates mistakes, or depends too much on memory. Build the smallest Desktop Workspace that makes that job easier, then grow it only when the next need becomes clear.
The four parts
Each part has one clear job.
Read these parts in order because each explains a layer the next part uses. When you are ready to build, use the Workspace Wizard. It asks about your idea, information, workflows, pages, design, and scope, then creates a customized Markdown prompt that guides your AI Agent through building all four parts together.
Local Folder
It keeps the Workspace Information, Agent Instructions, Local Site, and backups together. For the bookkeeper, that includes client document lists and their current status.
Learn about the Local FolderSkills & Workflows
A Skill tells the AI Agent how to complete one task. A Workflow connects Skills into a complete sequence. For the bookkeeper, they record a received document and guide each follow-up.
Learn about Skills & WorkflowsLocal Site
It gives you an easy-to-read view of the Workspace Information. The bookkeeper can see which month-end documents are missing and who needs a follow-up.
Learn about the Local SiteAI Agent
It is the software you talk to, and it reads the Agent Instructions before updating files. The bookkeeper asks it to record documents, update their status, and prepare follow-ups.
Learn about the AI AgentWhat you need before you start
All you need is an AI Agent that can work with files on your computer.
That is enough to begin. Use the Workspace Wizard to turn your idea and requirements into a customized build prompt for your AI Agent.
Learn more
Open only the details you want.
The essentials are above. These explanations are here when you want to understand how the parts stay connected, how ownership works, or what a guide term means.
How do the four parts work together?Your request starts a loop of instructions, updates, review, and adjustment.
The Desktop Workspace is a loop, not a pile of files.
You make a request
AI Agent follows Agent Instructions
Local Folder and Local Site are updated
You review the Local Site
You request an adjustment
The loop repeats
The Local Site shows what guides the AI Agent.
The data folder keeps the Workspace Information. The Local Site presents it in a friendly way, letting you review the facts, preferences, references, and Agent Instructions the AI Agent relies on. You stay in control because you can correct the Workspace Information, change a Skill or Workflow, and keep improving the Desktop Workspace around your needs.
Guide glossaryLook up the eight terms used consistently throughout the guide.
Desktop Workspace
The complete tool you build around your own process: a Local Folder containing Workspace Information, Agent Instructions, Skills, Workflows, and a Local Site, maintained with an AI Agent.
Local Folder
The main folder containing the whole Desktop Workspace. It can live on your computer, a shared network drive, or a file storage service the AI Agent can access.
Agent Instructions
The plain-language project rules the AI Agent reads automatically, stored in AGENTS.md for OpenAI Codex or CLAUDE.md for Claude Code.
Workspace Information
The dependable facts and records kept in the data folder. The Local Site presents this information but is not its only home.
Local Site
The readable pages inside the site folder, beginning with site/index.html, that open in a standard web browser.
AI Agent
The desktop software you talk to that can read the Local Folder, follow the Agent Instructions, and update files with your workspaceroval.
Skill
A plain-language document that explains one focused task, including its inputs, steps, approval stops, checks, and report.
Workflow
A plain-language document that connects Skills into one complete sequence with decisions, approval stops, and a clear finish.