---
title: Legacy Software Automation | Lightcone
description: Northstar operates enterprise software through the GUI — no API required.
---

Salesforce Classic, SAP, Oracle Forms, internal admin panels, government portals — critical business software that runs entirely through a GUI with no usable API. Northstar operates these systems the same way your team does: by looking at the screen and clicking through the interface.

## Operate a legacy web application

legacy\_crm.py

```
from tzafon import Lightcone


client = Lightcone()


for event in client.agent.tasks.start_stream(
    instruction=(
        "Open Firefox and go to https://crm.example.com. "
        "Log in with 'ops@example.com' / 'ops123'. "
        "Navigate to Contacts > New Contact. "
        "Fill in: First Name 'Jane', Last Name 'Smith', "
        "Email 'jane.smith@acme.com', Company 'Acme Corp'. "
        "Click Save. "
        "Verify the contact was created successfully."
    ),
    kind="desktop",
    max_steps=30,
):
    print(event)
```

legacy\_crm.ts

```
import Lightcone from "@tzafon/lightcone";


const client = new Lightcone();


const stream = await client.agent.tasks.startStream({
  instruction:
    "Open Firefox and go to https://crm.example.com. " +
    "Log in with 'ops@example.com' / 'ops123'. " +
    "Navigate to Contacts > New Contact. " +
    "Fill in: First Name 'Jane', Last Name 'Smith', " +
    "Email 'jane.smith@acme.com', Company 'Acme Corp'. " +
    "Click Save. Verify the contact was created successfully.",
  kind: "desktop",
  max_steps: 30,
});


for await (const event of stream) {
  console.log(event);
}
```

Northstar finds the fields, handles dropdowns, navigates multi-step forms, and adapts when the layout changes. No selectors to maintain.

## Operate a desktop application

Northstar isn’t limited to web apps. On a full desktop, it can operate any native application:

```
with client.computer.create(kind="desktop", persistent=True) as computer:
    # Install the software if needed
    client.computers.exec.sync(computer.id, command="apt-get install -y libreoffice")


for event in client.agent.tasks.start_stream(
    instruction=(
        "Open LibreOffice Calc. "
        "Create a new spreadsheet with columns: Date, Description, Amount, Category. "
        "Enter 5 sample expense entries. "
        "Add a SUM formula at the bottom of the Amount column. "
        "Save the file as /tmp/expenses.xlsx."
    ),
    kind="desktop",
    environment_id=computer.id,  # reuse the environment with LibreOffice installed
    max_steps=40,
):
    print(event)
```

```
// Set up the environment
const computer = await client.computers.create({
  kind: "desktop",
  persistent: true,
});
await client.computers.exec.sync(computer.id!, {
  command: "apt-get install -y libreoffice",
});
await client.computers.delete(computer.id!);


// Run the task
const stream = await client.agent.tasks.startStream({
  instruction:
    "Open LibreOffice Calc. " +
    "Create a new spreadsheet with columns: Date, Description, Amount, Category. " +
    "Enter 5 sample expense entries. " +
    "Add a SUM formula at the bottom of the Amount column. " +
    "Save the file as /tmp/expenses.xlsx.",
  kind: "desktop",
  environment_id: computer.id!,
  max_steps: 40,
});


for await (const event of stream) {
  console.log(event);
}
```

## Process a queue of records

Automate repetitive data entry across a legacy system:

```
records = [
    {"name": "Jane Smith", "email": "jane@acme.com", "role": "Manager"},
    {"name": "Bob Chen", "email": "bob@acme.com", "role": "Engineer"},
    {"name": "Sara Lee", "email": "sara@acme.com", "role": "Director"},
]


for record in records:
    print(f"Creating user: {record['name']}")


    for event in client.agent.tasks.start_stream(
        instruction=(
            f"Go to https://admin.example.com/users/new. "
            f"Fill in Name: '{record['name']}', Email: '{record['email']}', Role: '{record['role']}'. "
            f"Click Create User. Verify the success message appears."
        ),
        kind="desktop",
        max_steps=15,
    ):
        print(f"  {event}")
```

```
const records = [
  { name: "Jane Smith", email: "jane@acme.com", role: "Manager" },
  { name: "Bob Chen", email: "bob@acme.com", role: "Engineer" },
  { name: "Sara Lee", email: "sara@acme.com", role: "Director" },
];


for (const record of records) {
  console.log(`Creating user: ${record.name}`);


  const stream = await client.agent.tasks.startStream({
    instruction:
      `Go to https://admin.example.com/users/new. ` +
      `Fill in Name: '${record.name}', Email: '${record.email}', Role: '${record.role}'. ` +
      `Click Create User. Verify the success message appears.`,
    kind: "desktop",
    max_steps: 15,
  });


  for await (const event of stream) {
    console.log(`  ${JSON.stringify(event)}`);
  }
}
```

## Why Northstar for legacy software

|                  | RPA (UiPath, Automation Anywhere)       | Northstar                              |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| **Setup**        | Weeks of scripting with visual builders | One natural language instruction       |
| **Maintenance**  | Breaks on every UI change               | Adapts — reads the screen like a human |
| **Desktop apps** | Requires recording + selectors          | Works on any GUI out of the box        |
| **Cost**         | $500K+ enterprise licenses              | Pay per task                           |

Northstar is especially effective for forms with dynamic fields, conditional logic, dropdowns, and date pickers — the exact patterns that make traditional RPA scripts fragile.

## See also

- [**Cross-application workflows**](/use-cases/cross-app-workflows/index.md) — move data between multiple legacy systems
- [**Software testing**](/use-cases/software-testing/index.md) — test legacy applications without selectors
- [**Tasks**](/guides/tasks/index.md) — configuration, streaming, and writing effective instructions
- [**Lightcone OS**](/guides/lightcone-os/index.md) — install enterprise software in the environment