Grant permissions

What you'll do

• Grant Accessibility so Voxstr can listen for the global hotkey and inject text into the focused app.
• Grant Microphone so Voxstr can capture audio when you press the hotkey.
• Grant Input Monitoring if macOS prompts for it (some Mac configurations require it for hotkey detection).
• Confirm Voxstr's menu bar icon shows ready-to-record once all three are in place.

Privacy: these permissions don't leak data

Voxstr is local-only by design. Granting these permissions does not enable any data egress. Audio captured from your microphone is transcribed on your Mac, by models that live on your disk, and the result is injected into the focused app. None of it crosses the network. There is no telemetry on what you say, what you transcribe, or where it ends up. See the privacy policy for the full statement.

macOS's permission prompts are blunt instruments — they tell you Voxstr can see your microphone or simulate keystrokes, but not what it actually does with that access. The short version: Voxstr uses each permission for one specific job, listed below.

Accessibility

Why Voxstr needs it. Two reasons. First, Voxstr listens for your configured global hotkey through a system-wide event tap, which requires Accessibility on most Mac configurations. Second, Voxstr injects transcribed text into whatever app you're focused on — Mail, Slack, Obsidian, your terminal — by either reading and writing text through the Accessibility API or by simulating keystrokes. Both paths route through Accessibility.

How to grant it.

1. Open System Settings.
2. Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
3. Find Voxstr in the list and toggle the switch on. If Voxstr isn't in the list yet, click the + button and add /Applications/Voxstr.app.

If you deny it. The hotkey won't fire and text injection won't work. Voxstr's menu bar icon will show a permissions warning. Re-grant by following the steps above.

Microphone

Why Voxstr needs it. To capture audio while you hold the hotkey. Voxstr only opens the microphone during a dictation session — when you release the hotkey, the audio stream stops immediately. The captured samples are passed straight to the on-device transcription model and discarded after the result is injected.

How to grant it. The first time you press the hotkey, macOS will pop up the standard microphone-access prompt. Click Allow.

If you missed the prompt or clicked Don't Allow:

1. Open System Settings.
2. Go to Privacy & Security → Microphone.
3. Toggle Voxstr on.

If you deny it. Voxstr will show an empty transcription every time you press the hotkey. Re-grant via System Settings as above and try again.

Input Monitoring

Why Voxstr needs it (sometimes). On most Macs, Accessibility is enough to register a global hotkey. On some configurations — particularly when the hotkey uses a function key or a key combination that overlaps a system shortcut — macOS additionally requires Input Monitoring to deliver key events to a third-party app. If Voxstr asks for Input Monitoring, that's why.

Voxstr's CGEvent tap callback only inspects keycodes and modifier flags to identify your configured hotkey. It never reads or logs other keystrokes. The callback returns immediately for non-hotkey events, so your typing is not recorded or relayed anywhere.

How to grant it.

1. Open System Settings.
2. Go to Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring.
3. Toggle Voxstr on. If Voxstr isn't listed, click + and add /Applications/Voxstr.app.

If you deny it. Pressing the hotkey will do nothing. Re-grant via System Settings, then quit and relaunch Voxstr.

If something goes wrong

I clicked Deny by mistake

macOS remembers your answer until you change it. Walk through the relevant section above (System Settings → Privacy & Security → the right pane) and toggle Voxstr on. If the toggle is greyed out, click the lock at the bottom-left of the System Settings window and authenticate.

Voxstr isn't appearing in the Privacy & Security list

macOS's permission registry sometimes lags after a fresh install. Try this sequence:

1. Quit Voxstr (menu bar icon → Quit, or Cmd+Q from the dashboard).
2. Launch Voxstr once and press the hotkey to trigger a permission request.
3. If still missing, open the relevant Privacy & Security pane, click +, and add /Applications/Voxstr.app manually.
4. Quit and relaunch Voxstr after granting.

I granted everything but Voxstr still says permissions missing

Quit Voxstr completely (Cmd+Q, then verify it's not running in Activity Monitor) and relaunch. Some macOS releases require an app restart to pick up newly-granted permissions, especially Accessibility. If the warning persists, toggle the relevant permission off and back on, then quit and relaunch.

I want to revoke Voxstr's permissions later

Same path: System Settings → Privacy & Security → the relevant pane, then toggle Voxstr off. The app will continue to run but won't capture audio, register the hotkey, or inject text until you toggle it back on.