What is Sikuli?

Out of all the automation tools we have used, Sikuli probably has the most benefits. The word “sikuli” comes from a Mexican Indian tribe called the Huichol and it translates to the “God’s Eyes”. At first, I never understood why it had anything to do with eyes, but after using it, it became clear. Sikuli is a program that allows you to automate anything on your computer screen. Sikuli is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux OS. Its GUI is built with java while its language interpreter is using python. Any python written in the GUI can be read and executed line by line. A good way to put it is “what you see is what you script”. Everything that you can see on your screen has a possibility of being automated whether it is opening a program, browsing separate web pages, sending a message, or reading files. The possibilities of what Sikuli can do are endless.

Sikuli’s image technology is powered through a python module called OpenCV. If you’ve never heard of OpenCV, it is one of the top best image recognition software that is able to detect images based on patterns.

Working in a Fortune 25 company as an accountant, I have experienced countless process changes. In corporate accounting, work revolves around account reconciliations, journal entries, and variance analysis. With tight month end deadlines, we have to do whatever we can to find process efficiencies to save us time. Think about work you do daily. How much of that work is repetitive? My guess would be almost all of it has some pattern of steps that need to be taken. This is where Sikuli can come in and follow the steps that you give it.