Computer: Build and deploy applications

A Computer is a cloud environment with files, terminals, an app preview, and an agent that can help you build software. Use a Computer when you need to run code, install packages, or host an application in your workspace.

What you can do with Computer

Key features

Cloud sandbox

Each Computer asset runs in an isolated cloud environment. The sandbox includes a project workspace, common development tools, and enough runtime access to build and test applications without setting up a local machine. Computers are designed for on-demand work. Teams can spin up a runtime when an app needs to be built, reviewed, or updated, then let the environment stop when it is no longer active. This keeps compute usage focused on real work while preserving the asset as the durable place to return to later.

File explorer

Browse project files, inspect generated code, and review assets created inside the Computer. This is useful when you want to understand what the agent changed or confirm that a generated app contains the expected files.

Terminal and SSH access

Use terminal access for package installs, test commands, server logs, and debugging. For advanced workflows, authorized users can use SSH access when deeper inspection is needed: interactive shells, one-shot commands, scp / sftp / rsync file transfer, and local port forwarding (ssh -L) to services running inside the Computer, which is what editor remote extensions such as VS Code Remote SSH use. If your connection drops, reconnecting with the same credential resumes the shell you were in. You can also use Claude Code and Codex in Computer images that include them. The private-cloud image variant excludes both tools. Where Computer LLM access is enabled, a Computer can use its own model-access key. Only Athena administrators can change an individual Computer’s spend cap. You can use your own provider key when platform model access is unavailable.

Live preview

Preview running apps by opening the port used by the development server. This turns the Computer into a fast feedback loop: ask for a change, let the agent update the app, then review the result in the preview.

Deployment links

Computer apps can be opened through Athena-hosted deployment links. This makes prototypes and internal tools easier to share with teammates while keeping access controlled by Athena.

Snapshots and branches

1. Choose the history icon (Show versions) in the Computer toolbar to open Versions.
2. Choose Snapshot now to capture saved workspace files, or Back up image now for an image-backed Computer. Once the list has snapshots, use the camera icon at the top of Versions. You can also select an existing snapshot.
3. Choose Restore to return this Computer to that state. Review and confirm the restore. It restarts the Computer and saves the current state as an undo point first. You can reverse the restore from Versions for 24 hours.
4. Choose As new to branch the snapshot into another Computer instead. Check the name, then choose Duplicate. The new Computer opens, and this one is unchanged.

Workspace-file snapshots cover saved files in /workspace. Image backups cover the whole machine image. Image backups are captured while the Computer is stopped, so stop the Computer before you back up its image. Check the snapshot type before restoring. On an image-backed Computer, older workspace snapshots can only be branched with As new. Snapshots require a supported runtime and permission to manage the Computer.

Steps in this video

1. Open Versions
2. Choose Snapshot now
3. Choose Restore
4. Confirm the restore
5. Choose As new
6. Name it, then Duplicate

Custom domains

1. Open Deployment and deploy the port that serves your app.
2. Under Custom Domains, choose Add Domain.
3. Type a name to use an Athena domain, or choose Custom domain… in the dropdown and enter a domain you own. Select the deployed port.
4. For your own domain, add both DNS records shown in the setup flow: the record that points the domain at Athena, and a TXT record at _athena-verify.<your domain> that proves you own it. Athena serves the domain and issues its certificate only after both check out. Choose Verify now to check it. Athena also checks in the background for about 2.4 minutes, even if you close the dialog. If DNS takes longer, choose Retry verification on the domain row when you come back. Athena domains do not require you to configure DNS.

A custom domain does not grant public access. Athena admins can switch a port or domain between authenticated and public access. Other members can do so only when the workspace allows it.

Steps in this video

1. Deploy your app’s port
2. Choose Add Domain
3. Enter a domain you own
4. Copy the DNS record
5. Add the record at your DNS host
6. Choose Verify now
7. Check the domain

Startup configuration and secrets

Computer assets can use linked secret assets for environment variables such as API keys, service tokens, or customer-specific configuration. This avoids hardcoding credentials in generated apps.

Developer agent

The Developer Agent is the agentic coding layer inside Computer. It can read and edit files, run commands, investigate errors, and iterate on an application with you. Computer is built for both the agent and the user. The agent can make changes, run checks, and diagnose issues, while users can inspect files, use the terminal, review previews, and approve what should be shared or deployed.

Templates

Computer can start from templates such as a basic app, an AI chat app, a standalone virtual machine, or a larger engineering workspace. Templates help teams start from a known-good environment instead of rebuilding setup from scratch. The AI Chat template is a strong starting point for enterprise ChatGPT-style applications. It gives teams a customizable base app that can use Athena’s asset rendering capabilities, tools, toolkits, and workspace context while still reflecting your organization’s brand, workflows, and access model. Teams can use the Athena React SDK to embed Athena-powered chat and asset experiences into custom applications.

Application patterns

Computer is useful when a team wants to own the experience around Athena instead of only using the default Olympus workspace. Common patterns include:

• Branded AI chat applications that behave like an enterprise ChatGPT experience while still using Athena assets, tools, toolkits, and connected resources.
• Audit and compliance workbenches that let reviewers inspect evidence, track procedures, and connect conclusions back to source files.
• Client or project dashboards that combine data, charts, filters, and workflow-specific actions in one custom interface.
• Internal operations apps for onboarding, intake, triage, approvals, reporting, and other repeatable business processes.
• Codebase-connected workflows where Athena works against an existing repository, follows team conventions, runs checks, and prepares changes for review.

For enterprises, the main advantage is not just faster prototyping. Computer lets teams build custom software in the same environment where Athena already understands workspace assets, permissions, data sources, and review workflows.

When to use Computer

Use Computer for work like:

• Creating a custom dashboard for a specific client, project, or dataset
• Building an internal workflow app around Athena assets
• Prototyping a customer-facing app before investing in a full engineering project
• Creating an audit or compliance workbench that ties results back to source evidence
• Testing a generated app with real package installs, servers, and logs
• Letting an Athena agent make code changes and verify them in a live environment
• Running tools that need a filesystem, terminal, or long-running process

Computer and user interfaces

Athena also supports User Interfaces, which are lightweight, browser-based app surfaces for dashboards, forms, and interactive front ends. Computer is the next step when the work needs a full runtime environment.

Example workflows

Create a client-specific dashboard

Start from a dataset, spreadsheet, or connected resource and ask Athena to create a dashboard. The Computer can host the app while the agent iterates on filters, charts, navigation, and data-loading behavior.

Prototype an internal tool

Describe an operational process, such as intake, triage, approval, or reporting. Athena can build a working tool, preview it, and refine it before your team decides whether to productize it.

Extend Athena with a branded app

Use Computer to create custom Athena-powered applications that reflect your organization’s workflows and brand. This is useful for teams that want a focused app experience instead of a general chat interface.

Build an audit workbench

Ask Athena to create an app for reviewing evidence, tracking control tests, and linking conclusions back to source files. The Computer gives the agent a place to build the app, run it, and refine the workflow with reviewer feedback.

Recommended workflow

Good to know

You need permission to manage the Computer to capture snapshots, restore it, or configure domains. View access alone does not grant those actions. Your deployment can restrict Computer creation and management by role. Where public-sharing policy requires a security scan, you need an Athena administrator to run it or accept its findings before making a port or domain public. The scan covers files in /workspace, not running services or files elsewhere. Its approval lasts for 24 hours or until the files change. A passing scan does not guarantee that your application is secure.

Permissions and security

Computer is designed for enterprise workflows where control matters:

• Each Computer is an Athena asset with workspace access controls.
• Sandboxes are isolated so experiments do not run on a shared workstation.
• Runtime environments can be started for active work and stopped when idle.
• Secrets can be linked through Athena secret assets instead of pasted into code.
• LLM access for Computers is a workspace-level setting, off by default, with a revocable per-Computer key instead of shared provider credentials. Each Computer’s key spends from a fixed lifetime budget that does not reset on a schedule; once it is spent, requests fail with a budget-exceeded error until an Athena administrator raises that Computer’s cap.
• Deployment links can remain behind Athena authentication.
• Apps can be shared through Athena-hosted links, with access governed by the workspace and deployment settings.
• The asset model keeps generated software discoverable, permissioned, and auditable.

Computer is also designed for enterprise deployment models where infrastructure, networking, and data residency matter. Athena can support Computer-backed workflows in customer-controlled environments, with the exact deployment pattern configured to match the organization’s cloud, security, and governance requirements.

Advanced workflows

• Start from the AI Chat template when you want an enterprise chat app that can render Athena assets, invoke tools, and expose a focused experience for a team or client.
• Use the Athena React SDK when you want to build a custom front end around Athena chat, assets, tools, and toolkits.
• Connect GitHub so generated applications can become reviewable software projects with source control, pull requests, and deployment workflows.
• Use browser-based testing workflows to verify generated apps end-to-end as they become more complex.
• Link secret assets and workspace resources for environment-specific configuration instead of hardcoding credentials into the app.
• Use Computer as a bridge from lightweight prototypes to maintained internal software by combining templates, developer-agent iteration, source control, and deployment links.

Good practices

• Start with a narrow workflow and expand after the first preview works.
• Describe the target user, input data, expected actions, and success criteria.
• Ask the Developer Agent to run checks or tests after meaningful changes.
• Review generated code before sharing an app broadly.
• Use linked secrets for credentials and configuration.
• Keep business-critical automations reviewed by a human owner.
• Archive Computers that are no longer needed to reduce clutter.

Related links