COMPUTER USE / USE CASE

Computer use for web research

Collect answerable evidence with provenance instead of asking an agent for an unsupported summary.

01Trigger

02Agent

03Browser / desktop

04Human approval

05Outcome

Define the job

Investigate a bounded question using permitted sources and produce a claim-to-source table. Each observation should retain a URL, retrieval date, and a distinction between directly observed facts and editorial inference.

API FIRST?

Should this use computer use at all?

Use search, feeds, or structured data endpoints where they provide the needed evidence. Interactive browsing is useful for navigation or content that cannot be adequately reached through those supported paths.

API vs. computer use →

Architecture options

Structured browser research

Evaluate an agent on a fixed question and source scope. Require evidence fields in the output and allow unknown when a source does not establish the requested fact.

Deterministic evidence collection

Use known source pages and explicit extraction for a recurring research table. Flag changes for review rather than rewriting conclusions automatically from every detected page difference.

Failure modes & approval

Where the workflow can break

A source may describe a past version without making that context obvious.
Search snippets can omit qualification present in the underlying page.
Page instructions can attempt to redirect the agent outside the research scope.

Human approval point

Review factual conclusions before publication and obtain separate authorization for any external communication. Research completion requires evidence, not merely fluent prose.

Design the handoff →

Tools to evaluate

Agent & orchestration

Budget the whole workflow

Source count and depth
Conflicting claims and verification time
Interactive steps needed to reach evidence

Open cost calculator

Implementation playbooks

Research a business account across sources

Produce a dated evidence table and a draft brief without initiating outreach.

Download, validate, and store portal reports

Turn a portal export into a checkable artifact with a predictable name and provenance receipt.

RESEARCH NOTES

Sources & verification

Reviewed Sep 27, 2026. Architecture recommendations are editorial analysis; linked vendor documentation supports the underlying capability and safety facts.

How we verify evidence →