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Normally a download runs in your browser tab. The agent lets you start a transfer from the web app and have it run on your own machine instead — so it keeps going after you close the tab, can deliver straight into a directory on that machine or an external S3 bucket you control, and uses parallel transfers for large data. The agent acts as you (it signs in with your Dataerai account), so it can only move data you already have access to.
This feature is gated. If you don’t see Run on my client in an asset’s action menu, it isn’t enabled for your environment yet.

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1. Register your computer

Use the Dataerai desktop app when you want web-routed transfers to browse or write local folders on your computer:
  1. Open the Dataerai desktop app and sign in.
  2. Open Local access.
  3. Click Register computer.
Registration adds this computer to your account and starts the local agent. A newly registered computer has no local folder access. The web app cannot browse or deliver to any local folder until you add one.

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2. Add local folder access

In Local access, choose a folder and grant only the access you need:
  • Read lets the web app browse files and subfolders under that folder.
  • Write lets the web app deliver transfers into that folder or a subfolder.
  • Read/write lets the web app browse the folder and deliver transfers there.
You can remove a folder grant or change its Read and Write switches at any time. The web app only lists read-enabled folder grants. If a grant has Write but not Read, you can still type a destination path inside that folder, but the browser cannot show its contents.

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3. Sign in and start the CLI agent

The agent ships in the same dataerai CLI (sign in first):
dataerai agent registers this machine as a client endpoint (named after your hostname by default) and polls for transfers you route to it. Leave it running; stop it with Ctrl-C. If you use the desktop app registration flow, you do not need this command for normal desktop transfers; the desktop app starts the local agent after registration. The CLI command is useful for servers, scripts, CI, and machines where you do not run the desktop app.

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4. Route a transfer from the web app

In the web app, select an asset and choose Run on my client from its action menu. This opens the Run on my client endpoint dialog, where you pick:
  1. Which endpoint — one of your running agents (offline ones are greyed out).
  2. Where to deliver:
    • Local directory — a path inside a write-enabled folder grant on the agent’s machine.
    • External bucket — an S3-compatible endpoint + bucket (+ optional prefix) you control.
Submit, and the transfer appears in the Transfer tracker. Its status moves Pending → Claimed → In progress → Completed as your agent picks it up and runs it; the tracker shows which endpoint is handling it.

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Delivering to an external bucket

For an external bucket destination, the agent writes with your own credentials — Dataerai never receives them. Set the standard AWS variables in the agent’s environment before starting it:

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How it stays your data

  • The agent signs in as you; it can only transfer content your account can read.
  • Local folders start with no access, and each folder grant is an explicit read, write, or read/write opt-in.
  • The web app can browse only read-enabled folder grants and can deliver only inside write-enabled folder grants.
  • Source credentials are short-lived and issued per transfer.
  • If the agent stops mid-transfer, the job is automatically returned to the queue and your agent re-claims it when it comes back.

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Drive it from a script or notebook (SDK)

The Python and Node SDKs can launch the agent for you — useful in a notebook or a CI job that should pull one routed transfer and exit: