LabWren Desktop · Developer preview
LabWren on the lab computer.
Instrument software is clunky, pipelines need the command line, and the one person who knew how to run them graduated. LabWren Desktop is an assistant that works on the computer itself: you describe the task in plain words, it looks around, explains what it wants to do, and asks before it runs anything. When it gets something working, it leaves behind a tool your lab can keep using.
Already installed? Open LabWren Desktop. The link works only on a computer where the app is installed. The app checks this site for updates.
macOS, first launch: the app isn’t signed with an Apple Developer ID yet, so macOS will say it can’t check it. Open the DMG, drag LabWren to Applications, try to open it once, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click “Open Anyway”. One download works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Run a pipeline you can’t script
“Run FragPipe on the raw files in this folder with my reviewed workflow, then tell me how many proteins each sample has.” LabWren checks the install, builds the manifest, asks you to confirm the search settings, runs it, and reads the results.
Give an old computer a checkup
“Why is this PC so slow, and what’s installed?” A read-only report: disk space, duplicate or outdated software, missing runtimes, and folders of old raw data you could archive. It recommends; you decide.
Make sense of an error
“The export keeps failing.” LabWren finds the log, reads the end of it, and explains the first real error in plain words, with one fix at a time.
Leave a tool behind
When something works, LabWren saves it as a one-click workflow with a simple form, so the next student runs it without AI, and builds analysis tools with the same generator as this website.
What it will and won’t do
- Sees only the folders you share. Data folders are read-only; it writes only into a work folder you choose.
- Asks before it writes a file or runs a program, showing the exact program, arguments, and file contents. You can allow a program, or saves into one folder, for the rest of the task, and it stops asking for those.
- Never runs as administrator, deletes files, installs software, downloads from the internet, or touches instrument control software.
- Runs programs directly, without a shell, so a stray character in a file name can’t become a command.
- Sends your messages and what it reads (file excerpts, command output) to your LabWren server. Raw data files are never uploaded whole.
Approved programs run with your account’s permissions, so read each approval. Use it on analysis computers; keep it off instrument PCs during acquisition.
One LabWren, two places
Same server
The desktop app talks to this LabWren server, with the same access code and usage limits. It never needs its own API key.
Same tools
Analysis tools it builds come from the same generator and checks as the workspace, as the same single-file HTML.
Same share links
A tool shared from the app opens on this site, and a tool shared from the web imports into the app or into your library.