Getting started with Cue

On first launch, macOS asks for three permissions in sequence. Grant each one — Cue cannot function without them, but each one only does the job it says.

Microphone

Lets Cue transcribe your voice in real time. Cue uses your microphone only for voice input. System audio (the other party's voice) is captured separately and does not use the microphone.

Screen Recording

Lets Cue capture system audio (the audio coming through your speakers or headphones) and lets you screenshot your screen for the AI to read alongside the live transcript. The overlay itself is excluded from screen recording at the OS level, so the permission is for what Cue reads, not for what others can see.

Accessibility

Lets Cue register global keyboard shortcuts, so you can press the hotkey from any app without needing to bring Cue to the foreground.

If you missed any of the prompts, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and grant the three permissions to Cue manually. Quit and relaunch Cue once you have.

Open Cue. The floating overlay appears above every window on your Mac. Start a session and:

1. Open the meeting app you usually use — Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or any of the others on the supported platforms page.
2. Speak normally. Cue's live transcript builds in real time, speaker-labeled, capturing both your microphone and the other party's audio.
3. Press the hotkey when you want a response. The default shortcut is shown in the overlay. Cue reads the full conversation context and the most recent question, then streams an answer in under a second.
4. Attach a screenshot for visual context. Press the screenshot shortcut to capture any region of your screen; the image attaches to your next AI query.

The overlay never appears in screen recordings, video calls, or shared displays — verify with a quick test against a colleague before any high-stakes use.

Before a real session, take 30 seconds to set things up so the AI is shaped to your scenario.

Pick or write a system prompt

Open the dashboard and either pick one of the built-in profiles (Interview Coach, Sales Assistant, Negotiation Coach) or write your own. The prompt sets tone, format, and what to leave out. You can switch profiles between sessions.

Save quick actions

Quick actions are one-click prompts you fire mid-call — things like "handle this objection," "draft a STAR answer," or "suggest a counter." Set up two or three for your scenario so you don't have to type during a call.

Customize the shortcut

Open the dashboard → Shortcuts and rebind the hotkey to anything that doesn't conflict with your meeting app.

The free trial covers two hours of transcription and fifty AI messages per month. That is enough to run several live sessions before you decide. Pro is $39/month for twenty hours of transcription and five hundred AI messages, and Enterprise is custom for teams that want SSO/SAML, audit logs, and unlimited usage.

If you want to see how others use Cue in real scenarios, the use cases page covers the four most common — technical interviews, behavioral interviews, sales discovery calls, and salary negotiations.