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Starting with v0.0.36, Cyberdriver on Windows runs in Stealth Mode by default. This means it operates as an invisible background process—no console window, no taskbar icon, no Alt+Tab entry.

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Why Stealth Mode?

Here’s the problem: AI agents are really good at closing things. When Cyberdriver ran in a visible PowerShell window, agents would occasionally:
  • Alt+F4 the console while switching windows
  • Click the X button thinking it was closing something else
  • Interact with the console and accidentally terminate it
This would disconnect the machine mid-workflow, requiring manual intervention to restart. Not ideal for unattended automation. Stealth Mode solves this by making Cyberdriver completely invisible to the agent. If the agent can’t see it, it can’t close it.

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How It Works

When you run cyberdriver join:
  1. Cyberdriver spawns an invisible background process (not in taskbar or Alt+Tab)
  2. The original PowerShell shows a confirmation with the log file path
  3. Your prompt returns immediately—Cyberdriver is running silently
cyberdriver join --secret YOUR_API_KEY
You’ll see output like: 
Cyberdriver is now running in the background.
You can close PowerShell.

Logs: C:\Users\you\AppData\Local\.cyberdriver\logs\cyberdriver-stdio.log

To stop Cyberdriver: cyberdriver stop
(Optional): view logs with cyberdriver logs

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Stopping Cyberdriver

Since there’s no visible window, use the CLI: 
cyberdriver stop
This gracefully terminates the background process. You can also end cyberdriver.exe in Task Manager.
cyberdriver stop works from any PowerShell window—it finds the running instance via a PID file and terminates it.

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Checking Logs

All output goes to a log file: 
%LOCALAPPDATA%\.cyberdriver\logs\cyberdriver-stdio.log
The easiest way to follow logs is: 
cyberdriver logs
Or you can tail it manually: 
Get-Content "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\.cyberdriver\logs\cyberdriver-stdio.log" -Wait
Or use the --tail flag to follow logs after launch: 
cyberdriver join --secret YOUR_API_KEY --tail
This starts Cyberdriver in the background but keeps tailing logs in your current terminal. Press Ctrl+C to stop watching—Cyberdriver keeps running.

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Foreground Mode

If you need the old visible-console behavior (for debugging or manual control): 
cyberdriver join --secret YOUR_API_KEY --foreground
In foreground mode:
  • Cyberdriver runs in the current PowerShell window
  • Ctrl+C stops Cyberdriver (not just log tailing)
  • Console Protection is enabled (X button disabled, QuickEdit disabled)
In foreground mode, closing the PowerShell window or pressing Ctrl+C will stop Cyberdriver. Use this only for debugging or when you need direct control.

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Quick Reference

CommandBehavior
cyberdriver join --secret KEYStart invisibly in background (default)
cyberdriver join --secret KEY --tailStart invisibly, tail logs in terminal
cyberdriver join --secret KEY --foregroundRun in visible console (old behavior)
cyberdriver stopStop the background instance

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Technical Details

Stealth Mode uses a VBScript launcher to start Cyberdriver hidden. This is the industry-standard approach for launching console applications invisibly on Windows:
  1. Parent creates a temporary VBScript file
  2. VBScript uses WshShell.Run with window style 0 (hidden)
  3. Cyberdriver starts with no visible window
  4. VBScript file is cleaned up
This approach is more reliable than subprocess creation flags (CREATE_NO_WINDOW, etc.) which have compatibility issues with PyInstaller frozen executables. The result: even if the original PowerShell is closed (by you or an agent), Cyberdriver keeps running until explicitly stopped.

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Compatibility

PlatformStealth Mode
Windows✅ Default
macOS❌ Runs in foreground
Linux❌ Runs in foreground
On non-Windows platforms, Cyberdriver runs in the terminal as usual. Stealth Mode is a Windows-specific feature designed for the unique challenges of AI-driven desktop automation on Windows.