{
  "id": 13901840,
  "title": "Show HN: Atticus – Hold-to-talk voice assistant for macOS that runs on Claude -p",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/show-hn-atticus-hold-to-talk-voice-assistant-for-macos-that-runs-on",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-12T00:15:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hacker News",
    "slug": "hacker-news",
    "url": "https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Atticus is a voice assistant for macOS that allows users to control their computer with voice commands. Users can activate Atticus by pressing the shortcut ⌃⌥Space, and then simply speak what they need. Atticus will then perform the requested action, such as moving windows, finding files, or reading the screen.\n\nAtticus is free and open source, and requires no API key to function. It runs on the Claude Pro or Max plan of Claude. The application stores its data in the ~/.atticus directory on the user's Mac. After the first launch, Atticus checks the user's Claude plan and asks for any necessary macOS permissions.\n\nAtticus can be customized through the Settings menu, where users can adjust the shortcut, sounds, model, speed, screen, memory usage, and view usage statistics. If the user signs out of Claude later, a setup window will appear, prompting the user to re-enter their information.\n\nAfter building Atticus, users can test its functionality by running the command python3 atticus.py --selftest on their Mac. This checks the native transcript matching without opening the app. Additional regression tests can be found in the tests directory of the Atticus repository.\n\nOverall, Atticus is a convenient and customizable voice assistant for macOS that leverages the Claude Pro or Max plan for its functionality, all without the need for an API key.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}