Cue

Ask out loud how to do something on your Mac — Cue shows you where to click and talks you through it, step by step.

Cue is a voice-guided tutorial overlay. You press a hotkey, say what you're trying to do (“How do I turn on Low Power Mode?”), and Cue highlights the exact button to tap and narrates each step — re-checking the screen after every action so it can keep you on track or correct a wrong turn. You stay in control; Cue never clicks anything for you.

It lives in your menu bar and stays out of the way until you call it.

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Requirements

• A Mac running macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Developed and tested on Apple Silicon; Intel is untested.
• Xcode 15+ (or the Swift 5.9+ toolchain) — there’s no prebuilt download; you build Cue yourself with one command.
• Claude Code (or the Codex CLI) installed and signed in. Cue uses it as the “brain” that looks at your screen and decides the next step.
  • Install Claude Code: https://claude.com/claude-code, then run claude once in Terminal and log in.
  • You can switch between Claude Code and Codex in Cue’s settings.

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Getting started

1. Build & install.

   git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/cue.git
   cd cue
   ./build.sh

   build.sh compiles Cue, signs it ad-hoc (no Apple Developer account needed), copies it to your Applications folder, and launches it. A small ring icon appears in your menu bar.
2. Grant permissions. Click the menu bar icon and use the Permissions section to grant the three Cue needs (details below). Each has a Grant button that takes you straight to the right setting.
3. Press the hotkey and speak. The default is ⌃⌥C (Control-Option-C). Hold it, say what you want to do, and let go.
4. Follow the cue. Cue highlights the next step and reads it aloud. Do the action — Cue notices, clears the highlight, and moves to the next step. When you’re done, it gives a gentle chime.

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Permissions

Cue asks for three system permissions. You can grant (or re-grant) any of them anytime from the Permissions section in the menu bar — handy if you skipped one at first or revoked it later.

Permission	Why Cue needs it
Accessibility	To read each app’s window layout so guidance lines up with the real controls.
Screen Recording	To see what’s on screen and figure out the next step.
Microphone	To hear your spoken request.

A green check ✓ means it’s granted. If a Grant button doesn’t finish the job (macOS sometimes won’t re-prompt after a previous “Don’t Allow”), it opens System Settings → Privacy & Security at the right pane — flip the switch for Cue there.

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Sounds

Cue uses three short cues so you can follow along without watching the menu bar:

• Purr — it’s listening; start talking.
• Submarine — it caught your action and is thinking about the next step.
• Glass — all done.

Turn these off anytime with the Sounds toggle in settings.

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Settings

Click the menu bar icon to:

• Choose the assistant (Claude Code or Codex).
• Toggle voice narration and pick a voice.
• Toggle the on-screen overlay and the sounds.
• Change the hotkey.
• Launch at login.

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Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when I press the hotkey.

• Check the Permissions section — Microphone and Accessibility must be granted.
• Make sure Claude Code is installed and you’ve signed in: run claude in Terminal once.

The highlight appears but then nothing.

• Screen Recording must be granted so Cue can see the screen.
• Confirm your assistant CLI is signed in (open Terminal, run claude, and complete login if prompted).

It’s guiding the wrong app.

• Cue helps with the app you used most recently before switching to your assistant. Click into the app you want help with, then trigger Cue.

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Privacy

To work out the next step, Cue sends a screenshot of the target window and your spoken request to the AI assistant you’ve chosen (Claude Code or Codex). That happens through their tools, not a Cue server. Cue itself doesn’t save your screenshots, recordings, or transcripts to disk.

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Notes

• Cue builds for whatever Mac you build it on. It’s developed and tested on Apple Silicon; Intel is untested.
• Because a local build is signed ad-hoc, macOS may ask you to re-grant permissions after you rebuild (for example, after pulling updates). The Permissions section makes that a couple of clicks. (If you rebuild often and want grants to stick, point CODESIGN_IDENTITY at a self-signed certificate before running build.sh.)
• Cue guides; it doesn’t automate. Every click is yours.