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What is Driftstack? The desktop app, the dashboard, the API and SDKs, and the AI agent

You might be here because: “what is Driftstack” · “what does Driftstack do” · “how do I get started” · “is Driftstack a website or an app” · “is Driftstack something I download” · “do I need the desktop app” · “can I use it from code” · “what is the dashboard for”

Short answer

Driftstack gives you real browsers built from Apple’s own WebKit, running on Macs in the cloud and set up so websites see iPhone Safari. You drive them in three ways, on the same account and the same plan: by hand in the desktop app, from your own code through the API and the SDKs for TypeScript, Python and Go, or by handing a task in plain English to the AI agent. The web dashboard at https://app.driftstack.io is where you manage the account itself: plan and billing, API keys, your team, usage and Help. You install the desktop app, and you use the dashboard in your browser.

Check first

  • What your plan includes. Every plan, the free trial included, has the desktop app, the API and the SDKs. The AI agent comes with the paid plans, not the trial. How the free trial works has the trial’s limits.
  • You don’t need the desktop app to use the API, and you don’t need an API key to use the desktop app: code can drive sessions instead of the app or alongside it, and the app signs in through your browser.
  • What a session is. Each session is a real browser built on WebKit, the open-source engine behind Safari, running on Macs and set up so websites see iPhone Safari. Its device profile decides which iPhone model, iOS version and Safari version websites see.
  • Every session needs your own proxy. Driftstack does not supply one. Your plan decides which kinds work: the trial needs a SOCKS5 proxy, and paid plans can also use a VPN file (OpenVPN or WireGuard).

Likely causes and fixes

  1. Driving it by hand: the desktop app. It supports macOS, Windows and Linux and is a free download, from https://driftstack.io/download/. Install it and choose Sign in with browser. You then launch and drive iPhone Safari sessions with your mouse and keyboard. Start with Download and install the desktop app, then Desktop app first run.
  2. Profiles and sessions. A profile is a saved iPhone Safari identity: a name, one device profile (an iPhone model, its iOS version and its Safari version) and the proxy it launches through. Launching a profile starts a session. See Create a profile and pick a device and Launch a session from a profile.
  3. Driving it from code: the API and the SDKs. Create an API key in the dashboard (API keys), then follow the Quickstart: a few lines of TypeScript, Python or Go start your first session. The API is at https://api.driftstack.dev; SDK installation covers the three SDKs.
  4. Handing it to the AI agent. On the paid plans, describe a task in plain English and watch it run step by step. Your account’s purchase_check_mode setting decides which purchases, payments and account deletions wait for your approval. always (Always ask) holds every one, smart (Smart: ask unless you asked for that exact one-off purchase with an amount) lets through only a one-off purchase or payment you asked for in your own words with the amount named, and never (Never ask) holds none. From code, start with Run AI tasks from your code.
  5. The web dashboard. Sign in at https://app.driftstack.io. Its pages are Overview, API keys, Webhooks, Usage, Billing, Audit log, Team, Privacy & security, Saved credentials, Settings and Help; Overview also has the Download desktop app button.
  6. Where it runs. Sessions run on Macs in the US or the Netherlands. Your account data is stored on our EU servers; some stored files, such as each profile’s encrypted browser data, use a storage network that can copy them outside the EU. See Where data is stored.
  7. Getting help. Ask in this chat, open Help in the app or the dashboard, or email support@driftstack.io. The Help center answers the questions customers ask most.

If it still fails

If you’re not sure which way to start, press Talk to a person in this chat (or open Help in the dashboard) and say what you want to do: by hand, from code, or with the AI agent.