Datasets:

earakely-scale
/

XournalppFromRequestComputerEnv-REA

---
license: apache-2.0
pretty_name: Xournal++ computer-use environment from a one-line request (REA)
tags:
- computer-use
- cua
- gui-agent
- rl-environment
- agentenv
- desktop
- linux
- rea
- notes
- handwriting
- pdf-annotation
- from-request
---
# Xournal++: a computer-use environment built from a one-line request

![An agent solving the task in Xournal++](media/hero.gif)

**The real Xournal++ 1.2 handwriting notebook 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.**

Claude Code built this environment from a one-line request in about 18 minutes, with only REA's build skill and MCP tools; [How it was made](#how-it-was-made) has the request and the steps. Xournal++ opens a one-page notebook, `Documents/biology-notes.xopp`, at launch: a lined page with three typed notes, Cell Biology - Week 3, Mitochondria make ATP and Ribosomes build proteins. The agent has to add a text note that says "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculator" and save. It sees only the screen and acts only with the mouse and keyboard.

## Watch

- 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)

Each video is the computer's own screen recording at 10 frames per second.

## The task

> In Xournal++, add a text note that says "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculator" to the Cell Biology notebook page in Documents/biology-notes.xopp, and save it.

`bundle/artifacts/add-quiz-note-check/verify.py` reads the app's files through the computer's `data/get` view and passes only if every check holds:

| Check | Kind | File |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `note-text` | `text_contains` | `Documents/biology-notes.xopp` |
| `one-new-note` | `member_count` | `Documents/biology-notes.xopp` |
| `notes-kept` | `text_contains` | `Documents/biology-notes.xopp` |

An `.xopp` file is gzip-compressed XML, and REA reads the XML inside. Each typed note is a `text` element in the page's layer. The checks read the layer: its text must contain "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculator" and, with the notes' text run together, still contain the three original notes in order, and the layer must hold exactly four text notes (`member_count`), so the new text has to be a note of its own rather than added to an existing one. REA's draft suggested a check on the page's preview image, which Xournal++ redraws on every save, and one on the layer's whole text; Claude Code discarded the first, split the second into the new-note and kept-notes checks, and added the count.

## Results

3 of 3 runs passed, about $0.56 per run.

| Run | Outcome | Turns | Cost | Video |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | passed | 10 | $0.72 | [video](media/solve-1.mp4) |
| 2 | passed | 10 | $0.49 | [video](media/solve-2.mp4) |
| 3 | passed | 9 | $0.46 | [video](media/solve-3.mp4) |

## Run it

You need Docker. `agentenv-framework` builds the computer: Ubuntu 24.04 with the app installed from Ubuntu's archive (`xournalpp` 1.2.2, with `librsvg2-common`).

```bash
pip install agentenv-framework==0.9.1431
hf download earakely-scale/XournalppFromRequestComputerEnv-REA --repo-type dataset --local-dir xournalpp-request
agent-env run xournalpp-request/bundle --task add-quiz-note --agent claude-code --model <model>
```

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.

## How it was made

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:

> Build me a Xournal++ environment where the agent adds a text note to a small notebook page and saves it.

It asked only the skill's upfront questions, wrote no app-specific scripts, and finished in about 18 minutes. The steps were REA's usual ones:

1. **Capture.** REA launched Xournal++ 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 note was added through computer actions alone, and the checks were read at four stages. They held on the first try:

| Stage | Checks |
| --- | --- |
| `seed` | fail, as expected: the layer holds three notes, none of them the quiz note |
| `after_edit` | pass |
| `near_miss` | fail, as expected: the note was changed to "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculater" |
| `after_reset` | fail, as expected: `data/reset` restored the seed |

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.

## What's inside

```
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
```

## Limits

- The checks expect the notebook to keep one page with one layer: a note added on a new page or in a new layer makes their pointers match two and fail.
- The note must contain the sentence exactly as written, though words around it still pass; where it sits on the page is not checked.
- The bundle installs `librsvg2-common`, the SVG image loader Xournal++'s icons need, beside the app as an extra package. The build asked for it up front.
- The computer installs whatever `xournalpp` Ubuntu 24.04's archive holds at build time (1.2.2 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.

## Licences

The bundle code, the task and the synthetic seed files are Apache-2.0. Xournal++ itself is not included: the computer installs it from Ubuntu's archive (`xournalpp` 1.2.2, with `librsvg2-common`) at build time, under its own licence (GPL-2.0-or-later).

	---
	license: apache-2.0
	pretty_name: Xournal++ computer-use environment from a one-line request (REA)
	tags:
	- computer-use
	- cua
	- gui-agent
	- rl-environment
	- agentenv
	- desktop
	- linux
	- rea
	- notes
	- handwriting
	- pdf-annotation
	- from-request
	---

	# Xournal++: a computer-use environment built from a one-line request

	![An agent solving the task in Xournal++](media/hero.gif)

	The real Xournal++ 1.2 handwriting notebook 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.

	Claude Code built this environment from a one-line request in about 18 minutes, with only REA's build skill and MCP tools; [How it was made](#how-it-was-made) has the request and the steps. Xournal++ opens a one-page notebook, `Documents/biology-notes.xopp`, at launch: a lined page with three typed notes, Cell Biology - Week 3, Mitochondria make ATP and Ribosomes build proteins. The agent has to add a text note that says "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculator" and save. It sees only the screen and acts only with the mouse and keyboard.

	## Watch

	- 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)

	Each video is the computer's own screen recording at 10 frames per second.

	## The task

	> In Xournal++, add a text note that says "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculator" to the Cell Biology notebook page in Documents/biology-notes.xopp, and save it.

	`bundle/artifacts/add-quiz-note-check/verify.py` reads the app's files through the computer's `data/get` view and passes only if every check holds:

	\| Check \| Kind \| File \|
	\| --- \| --- \| --- \|
	\| `note-text` \| `text_contains` \| `Documents/biology-notes.xopp` \|
	\| `one-new-note` \| `member_count` \| `Documents/biology-notes.xopp` \|
	\| `notes-kept` \| `text_contains` \| `Documents/biology-notes.xopp` \|

	An `.xopp` file is gzip-compressed XML, and REA reads the XML inside. Each typed note is a `text` element in the page's layer. The checks read the layer: its text must contain "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculator" and, with the notes' text run together, still contain the three original notes in order, and the layer must hold exactly four text notes (`member_count`), so the new text has to be a note of its own rather than added to an existing one. REA's draft suggested a check on the page's preview image, which Xournal++ redraws on every save, and one on the layer's whole text; Claude Code discarded the first, split the second into the new-note and kept-notes checks, and added the count.

	## Results

	3 of 3 runs passed, about $0.56 per run.

	\| Run \| Outcome \| Turns \| Cost \| Video \|
	\| --- \| --- \| --- \| --- \| --- \|
	\| 1 \| passed \| 10 \| $0.72 \| [video](media/solve-1.mp4) \|
	\| 2 \| passed \| 10 \| $0.49 \| [video](media/solve-2.mp4) \|
	\| 3 \| passed \| 9 \| $0.46 \| [video](media/solve-3.mp4) \|

	## Run it

	You need Docker. `agentenv-framework` builds the computer: Ubuntu 24.04 with the app installed from Ubuntu's archive (`xournalpp` 1.2.2, with `librsvg2-common`).

	```bash
	pip install agentenv-framework==0.9.1431
	hf download earakely-scale/XournalppFromRequestComputerEnv-REA --repo-type dataset --local-dir xournalpp-request
	agent-env run xournalpp-request/bundle --task add-quiz-note --agent claude-code --model <model>
	```

	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.

	## How it was made

	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:

	> Build me a Xournal++ environment where the agent adds a text note to a small notebook page and saves it.

	It asked only the skill's upfront questions, wrote no app-specific scripts, and finished in about 18 minutes. The steps were REA's usual ones:

	1. Capture. REA launched Xournal++ 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 note was added through computer actions alone, and the checks were read at four stages. They held on the first try:

	\| Stage \| Checks \|
	\| --- \| --- \|
	\| `seed` \| fail, as expected: the layer holds three notes, none of them the quiz note \|
	\| `after_edit` \| pass \|
	\| `near_miss` \| fail, as expected: the note was changed to "Quiz on Friday: bring a calculater" \|
	\| `after_reset` \| fail, as expected: `data/reset` restored the seed \|

	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.

	## What's inside

	```
	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
	```

	## Limits

	- The checks expect the notebook to keep one page with one layer: a note added on a new page or in a new layer makes their pointers match two and fail.
	- The note must contain the sentence exactly as written, though words around it still pass; where it sits on the page is not checked.
	- The bundle installs `librsvg2-common`, the SVG image loader Xournal++'s icons need, beside the app as an extra package. The build asked for it up front.
	- The computer installs whatever `xournalpp` Ubuntu 24.04's archive holds at build time (1.2.2 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.

	## Licences

	The bundle code, the task and the synthetic seed files are Apache-2.0. Xournal++ itself is not included: the computer installs it from Ubuntu's archive (`xournalpp` 1.2.2, with `librsvg2-common`) at build time, under its own licence (GPL-2.0-or-later).