Desktop App

The River Desktop App runs the same workspace you use in the browser — but with capabilities only a native app can provide. Local file access. Native notifications. A system tray. A global shortcut. And, most importantly, your own browser inside River: Browser windows are signed in to your sites, and the AI can work in them while you watch.

What the desktop app adds#

Your files#

In the desktop app, Drive shows your whole computer, starting at your home folder. There is nothing to unlock folder by folder: River can open, edit, move, and delete any file your computer allows, and so can the AI when you ask it to work with your files.

River remembers the files and folders it opens so it can find them again quickly. It doesn't look through your whole computer in advance. It remembers what you open in Drive, the files you or the AI open or save, and folders the AI searches. Anything River hasn't opened for 30 days is forgotten. This stays on your computer and is never uploaded.

On a Mac, turn on File system access for River in Settings → Permissions (System Settings calls it Full Disk Access) so your Mac doesn't ask separately for Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and iCloud Drive.

The AI on River's screen#

River is a workspace you and the AI share: the River desktop — its windows, River's apps, the Browser and apps from the web — and your files in River. The AI uses it the way you do. It looks at River's screen, then clicks, types and scrolls in River's windows, the Browser and apps from the web, and you watch each step happen.

In the desktop app, Browser windows are your own browser, signed in to your sites, so the AI can read pages, click, type and fill in forms on sites you already use — without you sharing a password with River. River's online Browser is there too, for browsing that doesn't need your accounts. See Browser.

The AI works only inside River. It doesn't control the rest of your computer's screen, mouse or keyboard, and River doesn't ask for Screen Recording or Accessibility permission for it.

How it works#

1. You ask River in chat to do something on a website or in an app from the web.
2. The AI opens a Browser window, or uses one you already have open, and looks at River's screen.
3. It clicks, types and scrolls as you would, looking again after each step. You see every action as it happens.
4. When something needs you — signing in, a password, a one-time code, a card number or a CAPTCHA — it asks you to do that part, then carries on.
5. It reports back with what it did and what it found.

What River asks first#

River asks before anything that buys, pays, sends, posts, deletes or agrees to terms. It never types passwords, one-time codes or card numbers; you enter those yourself.

What it's good at#

• Tasks where there's no integration, only a website
• Sites you're already signed in to, like vendor portals and your CRM
• Apps from the web, such as Figma or Notion, which open in their own window signed in as you
• Filling forms with structured information from your Dataspace
• "Take this list of companies and find their LinkedIn pages" — even when the company list lives in your CRM and LinkedIn doesn't expose what you need

What it's not good at#

• Anything that has a clean integration (use that instead — it's faster and exact)
• Other programs on your computer — the AI clicks and types only in River
• Work while River is closed — keep River open while the AI works on its screen. Automations that run on a schedule use River's online Browser instead.

Your computer's programs#

In the desktop app, the AI can also use your computer's programs to work with your files — for example, converting a folder of images or checking which apps are installed. It has the same access as your user account on that computer, never administrator access.

When you don't need the desktop app#

The browser version of River is feature-complete for most workflows. Skip the desktop app if:

• You work mostly inside the browser anyway
• You don't need the AI to work in sites you're signed in to or in apps from the web
• You don't drag files in/out frequently

You can always add it later — your workspace is the same one across browser and desktop.

Tips#

• Set the global shortcut to something you'll actually press. Cmd Shift J (Mac) or Ctrl Shift J (Win/Linux) is a sane default.
• When the AI works in a site for you, give it specific success criteria ("until every company in the Sheet has a LinkedIn link") rather than open-ended instructions ("find me some leads").