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OpenAI Adds Hosted Browser Computer Use to the Agents API

September 29, 2026 at 13:33 EDT

AI Agents
Software Dev & Coding

OpenAI has added computer use to the Agents API, giving managed agents an OpenAI-hosted browser they can use to navigate websites, test flows, collect information and operate web applications through their UI. Developers enable the feature by adding { "type": "computer_use" } to agent.tools and setting the hosted environment's desktop mode to true in a session, according to the Agents API computer-use documentation.

September 2026 · OpenAI

Browser control moves into managed agents

The Agents API can now run a hosted browser for computer-use tasks, bringing website navigation, approvals and session recovery into the managed agent loop.

reported latency reduction with subagents

60%

reported cost-per-case reduction

86%

reported failed-response reduction

core Agents API concepts

CUA benchmark context

Earlier computer-use results used the same percentage scale.

38.1%

OSWorld

58.1%

WebArena

87%

WebVoyager

Browser task loop

Create session→Follow events→Handle approvals→Verify and clean up

Why builders care

Website QA and real-browser validation
Information collection when APIs are missing
Less custom orchestration around long tasks

What still needs control

Origin approvals and sign-in handling
Network and credential isolation
Verification before consequential actions

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