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Set up (once)

After install, run the interactive bootstrap:

vupai setup

It handles everything first-run: checks the Homebrew tools, captures consent for the local transcript journal, lets you pick a mic and your push-to-talk key(s), downloads the speech model up front (so the first hotkey press doesn't stall on a silent fetch), then deep-links you to each macOS permission pane that still needs your terminal app enabled. Safe to re-run any time.

macOS permissions

vupai needs three permissions, granted to your terminal app (Ghostty / iTerm / Terminal / …) under System Settings → Privacy & Security: Accessibility, Input Monitoring, and Microphone. vupai setup deep-links you to each; to audit them on their own, run vupai doctor (it probes each and prints the exact System-Settings path for anything missing).

Warning

macOS grants these to the terminal binary, not the script, so the hotkey and mic silently fail until you grant them. If voice seems dead, check this first (vupai doctor).

Next: usage.