We have rationally designed and developed a fully automated desktop furnace system that enables programmable chemical vapour deposition growth of carbon nanotubes with controlled height, density, and pattern architecture. Comprising several essential components involving a heating furnace, mass flowmeters, and computer controller, the developed system realizes controlled and practical carbon nanotube growth without resort to expensive and ponderous instruments. By programming, modifying, and loading the reusable recipes in the developed system, systematic and reproducible growths of carbon nanotubes with desired morphology and dimension can be performed. Growth results with controlled height, density, and pattern are demonstrated through the actual operations, confirming the validity and usefulness of the developed system towards various practical applications.