> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.starfort.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How the Desktop Agent works

> How the Windows Desktop Agent protects everyday AI usage.

<Note>
  **Windows only.** Annotated screenshots of the in-product experience are being finalized.
</Note>

Once registered and assigned to a project, the Desktop Agent works **transparently**. You keep using AI tools (such as web chat assistants, desktop apps, and CLI tools) as normal; the Agent inspects what you send and applies your company's [Guard Policies](/en/v1.2/concepts/guard-policy). There is no SDK to integrate and nothing to turn on.

## Which requests are inspected

The Agent only intercepts traffic to the AI services your company governs — the capture targets defined by your project's [Control Profiles](/en/v1.2/admin/control-profiles). Every other request on your PC passes straight through and is never inspected or sent to Starfort.

## What happens to an inspected request

Each inspected request gets one of the three [actions](/en/v1.2/concepts/actions-pass-mask-block):

* **PASS** — your input is sent unchanged, with no notification.
* **MASK** — sensitive spans (for example phone numbers or emails) are replaced with placeholder tokens such as `[PHONE_NUMBER_1]` **before the request leaves your machine**. The AI service only ever sees the masked version.
* **BLOCK** — the request is stopped and **nothing is sent** to the AI service. A notification explains why. See [Block & mask notifications](/en/v1.2/desktop/block-mask-notifications).

<Note>
  Topic checks (a policy type that can flag a subject for review) are **logged but not enforced** on the Desktop Agent — they are treated as PASS, so they never change or stop your request. Only PASS, MASK, and BLOCK affect what you send.
</Note>

## If the Agent can't reach Starfort

Behavior during a network outage follows your company's **Network Fail-Safe** setting — either *fail-open* (allow all intercepted requests, the default) or *fail-closed* (block all intercepted requests) — and recovers automatically when the connection returns. See [Desktop Agent settings](/en/v1.2/admin/desktop-agent-settings).

This applies only when the Agent genuinely can't reach Starfort. If the connection is fine but the analysis itself can't complete, the request is always blocked — even when your company has chosen fail-open.