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Dume Cowork is the desktop app version of Dume, for macOS and Windows. It’s the same assistant you get on the web, plus things that only make sense running natively on your machine: reading and writing your local files, automating your actual browser, a local Skill Library, routines that run on your own scheduler, and control over WhatsApp when you’re away from your desk.

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What running locally actually gets you

Local file access

Point Dume at a folder on your machine and it can read, organize, and write files there directly, not just talk about them.

Browser automation

The agent-browser skill drives an actual browser session (navigate, click, fill forms, scrape) and can optionally reuse your existing Chrome profile, so you don’t lose your logins.

Skill Library

Manage bundled skills and build your own locally; not available on web. See Skills.

Local routines

Routines that run on your machine’s own scheduler, independent of Dume’s servers. See Local vs. cloud routines.

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Setup

1

Install and open Cowork

First launch walks you through a short onboarding: an intro, then linking WhatsApp, then a settings step before you land on the dashboard.
2

Grant system permissions

macOS and Windows both ask for explicit permission before Dume can use your microphone (for voice mode and dictation) or, if you use browser automation, access accessibility features. You can review or change these later in Desktop app settings.
3

Connect your tools

Same as the web app: see Connect your first tool.
4

Explore the Skill Library

Browse the bundled skills or add your own; see Building a custom skill.
See Web app vs. Cowork desktop for the full comparison, including what the web app has that Cowork doesn’t (file attachments in chat).

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Example local tasks

The last one is a browser-automation example: Dume opens a real browser tab, navigates, and reads what’s on the page, the same as if you’d done it yourself.

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Controlling Cowork from WhatsApp

Once WhatsApp is linked, you can send a task from your phone and Dume works on it using your desktop environment. Review the result once you’re back at your computer, or ask for the summary right there in WhatsApp.
Use WhatsApp for describing what you want; if a task needs a specific file path or output format, say so explicitly rather than leaving it to guesswork.

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FAQ

Local routines need Cowork running (they use your machine’s own scheduler and catch up after sleep). Cloud routines run on Dume’s servers regardless, whether Cowork is open or not. See Local vs. cloud routines.
No. Cowork keeps running in your system tray so background sessions and local routines keep going. Quit from the tray icon to actually exit.
Cowork can act on your actual filesystem and browser, not just generate text about them, on top of the Skill Library and local routines the web app doesn’t have.
No. Dume works within the folders and browser sessions you point it at for a given task; it doesn’t have standing access to your entire filesystem.