| --- |
| license: apache-2.0 |
| pretty_name: Gnumeric computer-use environment from a one-line request (REA) |
| tags: |
| - computer-use |
| - cua |
| - gui-agent |
| - rl-environment |
| - agentenv |
| - desktop |
| - linux |
| - rea |
| - spreadsheet |
| - office |
| - from-request |
| --- |
| |
| # Gnumeric: a computer-use environment built from a one-line request |
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|  |
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| **The real Gnumeric 1.12 spreadsheet running on an Ubuntu 24.04 desktop, as an [agentenv](https://pypi.org/project/agentenv-framework/) computer environment. An agent completes the task only through screenshots, mouse and keyboard, and a verifier grades the saved files with no model.** |
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| Claude Code built this environment from a one-line request in about 20 minutes, with only REA's build skill and MCP tools; [How it was made](#how-it-was-made) has the request and the steps. Gnumeric opens a small household budget, `Documents/household-budget.xml`, at launch: rent, groceries, utilities and transport by month from January to April, with a Total row. The agent has to change March's Groceries figure from 405.10 to 437.80 and save, leaving every other figure alone. It sees only the screen and acts only with the mouse and keyboard. |
|
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| ## Watch |
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| - Agent runs (Claude Code with Claude Sonnet 5.5): [run 1](media/solve-1.mp4), [run 2](media/solve-2.mp4), [run 3](media/solve-3.mp4) |
| - Witness, which proves the task can be done through the computer: [witness.mp4](media/witness.mp4) |
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| Each video is the computer's own screen recording at 10 frames per second. |
|
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| ## The task |
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| > In my household budget spreadsheet, Documents/household-budget.xml, change the Groceries figure for March to 437.80 and save it. |
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| `bundle/artifacts/update-march-groceries-check/verify.py` reads the app's files through the computer's `data/get` view and passes only if every check holds: |
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| | Check | Kind | File | |
| | --- | --- | --- | |
| | `march-groceries` | `value_equals` | `Documents/household-budget.xml` | |
| | `february-groceries-untouched` | `value_equals` | `Documents/household-budget.xml` | |
| | `april-groceries-untouched` | `value_equals` | `Documents/household-budget.xml` | |
| | `march-utilities-untouched` | `value_equals` | `Documents/household-budget.xml` | |
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| The seed is saved as Gnumeric XML uncompressed (`.xml`) rather than Gnumeric's default gzip-compressed `.gnumeric`, so REA reads it as XML. Each check finds a cell by its `Row` and `Col` attributes, never by position, and compares its value within 0.001, because Gnumeric writes numbers with 17 significant digits (437.80000000000001). March Groceries must be 437.8, and February and April Groceries and March Utilities must keep their values, so an edit to a neighbouring cell fails. REA's draft suggested checks on where the cursor was left rather than on the edited cell; Claude Code wrote these instead. |
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| ## Results |
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| 3 of 3 runs passed, about $0.52 per run. |
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| | Run | Outcome | Turns | Cost | Video | |
| | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| | 1 | passed | 10 | $0.43 | [video](media/solve-1.mp4) | |
| | 2 | passed | 10 | $0.69 | [video](media/solve-2.mp4) | |
| | 3 | passed | 10 | $0.45 | [video](media/solve-3.mp4) | |
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| ## Run it |
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| You need Docker. `agentenv-framework` builds the computer: Ubuntu 24.04 with the app installed from Ubuntu's archive (`gnumeric` 1.12.56). |
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| ```bash |
| pip install agentenv-framework==0.9.1431 |
| hf download earakely-scale/GnumericFromRequestComputerEnv-REA --repo-type dataset --local-dir gnumeric-request |
| agent-env run gnumeric-request/bundle --task update-march-groceries --agent claude-code --model <model> |
| ``` |
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| The agent needs a model provider configured for agentenv. `--task smoke` only boots the computer, with no agent. `bundle/README.md` describes the bundle in detail. |
|
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| ## How it was made |
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| Claude Code built this environment from a one-line request, given only [REA](https://github.com/morluto/rea)'s build skill and REA's MCP tools: |
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| > Build me a Gnumeric environment where the agent updates one month's figure in a small household budget spreadsheet and saves it. |
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| It asked only the skill's upfront questions, wrote no app-specific scripts, and finished in about 20 minutes. The steps were REA's usual ones: |
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| 1. **Capture.** REA launched Gnumeric on a Linux desktop and recorded its package, windows and opened files while the edit was made. It also recorded the app's state folders before and after. |
| 2. **Export.** REA turned the capture into an agentenv `computer_app`. It installs the app, seeds the starting files, starts the app, and waits for its main window. It also serves typed views of the app's files for verifiers. |
| 3. **Task.** The task's checks were validated against the capture: they fail on the starting state and pass on the captured end state. |
| 4. **Witness.** In a fresh computer, the edit was made through computer actions alone, and the checks were read at four stages. They held on the first try: |
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| | Stage | Checks | |
| | --- | --- | |
| | `seed` | fail, as expected: March Groceries is 405.10 | |
| | `after_edit` | pass | |
| | `near_miss` | fail, as expected: March Groceries was typed as 473.80 | |
| | `after_reset` | fail, as expected: `data/reset` restored the seed | |
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| The agent runs came after the build: Claude Code with Claude Sonnet 5.5 (`--model anthropic/claude-sonnet-5-5 --no-emulate`, on an amd64 host) solved the task 3 times, each run recorded. |
|
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| ## What's inside |
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| ``` |
| bundle/ the agentenv bundle: envs/ (app module, seed files), tasks/, artifacts/ (verifier), evals/ |
| media/ witness and agent-run recordings (MP4) with short GIF previews |
| results.json the runs above, with each check's result |
| ``` |
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| ## Limits |
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| - The checks read `Documents/household-budget.xml` as Gnumeric XML uncompressed. A correct edit saved under another name or format, such as Gnumeric's default `.gnumeric`, fails. |
| - The Total row is not checked: Gnumeric stores its `=SUM` formulas, not their results. |
| - The computer installs whatever `gnumeric` Ubuntu 24.04's archive holds at build time (1.12.56 for these runs); it is not pinned. |
| - Three runs is a small sample: the solve rate shows the task is solvable, not how hard it is. |
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| ## Licences |
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| The bundle code, the task and the synthetic seed files are Apache-2.0. Gnumeric itself is not included: the computer installs it from Ubuntu's archive (`gnumeric` 1.12.56) at build time, under its own licence (GPL-2.0-only or GPL-3.0-only). |
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