System requirements

✓macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later for the core app — recording, local Parakeet or Whisper transcription, and the Raw writing style.
✓macOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on, for the Clean, Polish, and Formal writing styles, which use Apple Intelligence (Apple’s on-device Foundation Models). Without it, transcription is just as accurate, but those styles fall back to basic cleanup: fillers are removed, with no grammar rewriting, professional tone, bullet points, or numbered lists. The app shows your Mac’s status before you buy.
✓A Mac with Apple Silicon. The default speech engine, NVIDIA Parakeet, runs on the Neural Engine; Whisper, the alternative, runs GPU-accelerated via Metal.
✓An internet connection once, on first launch, to download the Parakeet model (about 470 MB). Dictation works on Whisper while it downloads, and fully offline after that.

Getting started

VybeScript walks you through a guided setup the first time you open it:

  1. Download VybeScript and move it to your Applications folder.
  2. Open it and allow Microphone access when the guided setup asks — required to record.
  3. (Recommended) Enable Accessibility access when prompted, so VybeScript can paste transcripts directly into whatever app you’re using. If you skip this, transcripts go to your clipboard instead.
  4. Pick your dictation language and review your recording hotkeys (toggle and push-to-talk, both customizable).
  5. Add any custom vocabulary — names, jargon, product names — and choose a default writing style (Raw, Clean, Polish, or Formal). Both are optional and can be changed anytime in Settings.
  6. Activate your license — right after, VybeScript runs a one-time, few-second performance check on your Mac and shows you its speed tier (Fast/Good/Basic) before you start dictating for real. See “Why does VybeScript benchmark my Mac during setup?” in the FAQ for details.
  7. Press the toggle hotkey (default F6) to start/stop recording, or hold the push-to-talk key (default Control).

Activating your license

After purchase, Lemon Squeezy emails you a license key (format VYBE-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX). Open VybeScript’s License window (menu bar → License…) and paste it in, or click Activate. If you switch Macs later, use Deactivate this Mac on the old one first to free the slot. Activating triggers the one-time performance check described above.

Updating VybeScript

VybeScript checks for updates automatically in the background. You can also check manually anytime — either from the “Vybe” item in the menu bar (Check for Updates…) or from Settings → About in the main window. New versions install in place; you don’t need to re-download the DMG.

Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when I press the hotkey.

A few possibilities: the hotkey may conflict with another app’s shortcut — try one of the alternate presets (F7, F9, F10, F12, or Option+Shift+Space). It could also be one of the handful of combos macOS reserves for itself system-wide — Control+Space and Control+Option+Space (input source switching), Cmd+Space (Spotlight), Cmd+Tab (App Switcher), Cmd+Option+Esc (Force Quit), F3 (Mission Control), or Control+Arrow keys (Spaces/Mission Control). VybeScript detects these and shows a warning right in Settings explaining which system shortcut to change or turn off if you want to use that combo.

Transcript isn’t appearing where I’m typing.

Grant Accessibility permission (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable VybeScript). Without it, the transcript is copied to your clipboard — paste manually with Cmd+V.

The app says it’s using basic cleanup, or that Apple Intelligence is off.

Clean, Polish, and Formal use Apple Intelligence. Open System Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri and turn it on (the Open Settings button in the app goes straight there), then give its model a few minutes to download. VybeScript picks up the change as soon as you switch back to it. On macOS 15 or earlier, update to macOS 26 first. Apple Intelligence must also be available in your language and region. Raw and transcription work normally either way. If your Mac can’t run Apple Intelligence, email us within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

Transcription seems inaccurate on names or jargon.

Teach VybeScript a direct heard→corrected substitution in Settings → Vocabulary (for example, “super base” → “Supabase”). Corrections work with both speech engines. Plain custom terms also help, mainly with the Whisper engine. To add many at once, use Import… and paste or drop a list — or start from one of the starter packs below.

Still wrong? Email the word to hello@boxcreativestudio.com. Within 48 hours you’ll get a fix — a correction to import, a vocabulary pack update, or an app fix. That’s our Word-Fix Promise.

Vocabulary starter packs

Free word lists for common fields. Download one, then in VybeScript go to Settings → Vocabulary → Import… and choose the file (or paste its contents). You’ll see a preview before anything is added. Each pack is 60 entries or fewer, so there’s room left for your own words.

Why can I only add 100 words?

VybeScript improves recognition by telling the transcriber which words to listen for, and there is a hard ceiling on how much it can be told. 100 words all fit; past that, extra words simply have no effect on what you dictate.

Before version 0.2.0 there was no limit shown, but the ceiling still applied — words past roughly the first 60 were being silently ignored. If you had built up a long list, that is why some of it never seemed to help. The limit now makes that visible instead of invisible: every word inside it is a word VybeScript is genuinely listening for.

If you already have more than 100 words (from before 0.2.0), VybeScript keeps them all and uses the first 100. Settings shows a warning with the number to remove, so the words you actually rely on are among the ones being used.

License won’t activate / says invalid.

Double-check the key was copied without extra spaces. If it still fails, email us with your purchase email and we’ll sort it out.

How do I uninstall VybeScript?

Quit the app, then drag VybeScript from Applications to the Trash. To remove local data too (transcript history, vocabulary), also delete ~/Library/Application Support/VybeScript (this does not affect your Mac otherwise, and nothing is sent anywhere by doing this — it was always local).

Still need help?

Email hello@boxcreativestudio.com — include your macOS version and, if it’s a licensing issue, the email you purchased under. You can also check the full FAQ.