Headless software does the work without showing you a screen. A server is often headless. A script running in the background is headless. A browser can be headless too: it loads pages, clicks buttons, and fills forms without opening a window you can watch.
A restaurant kitchen with no dining room shows it. Food still gets cooked, tickets still come in, orders still get plated. You’re just not sitting at a table watching a waiter carry it out. The work is all there; the front room is missing.
How it shows up
With Claude Code, headless work shows up in testing and automation: the agent spins up a headless browser to confirm a page loads or a form submits. Computer use is the visible version, where the AI drives a browser you can watch. Headless wins when the job is repeatable, fast, and measurable.
Why you care
Headless work is one reason agents move faster than a person clicking around. A headless test can tell you a button exists. It can’t tell you the page feels confusing or cramped. Good workflows pair headless checks with human review when the user experience matters.