Docs
Enable Accessibility
When a listen finishes, Listen Orb puts the cleaned sentence where you were already typing. Native fields get a verified Accessibility insert. Longer text may paste once; the previous clipboard comes back after the destination has read it.
The app handles the destination application name and bundle identifier locally for insertion. If Accessibility allows it, the app may also read selected text and up to 500 characters before and after the cursor. This destination context stays on your Mac with Local. With cloud, it is sent to the active provider only when you select Contextual polish; it remains on the Mac with Off and Standard polish. Password and other secure fields are never read.
Orb Commands are a separate, explicit path. When text is selected at the start of a listen, Listen Orb records only its range metadata. It reads the selected words for Local processing or sends them to your cloud provider only after recognizing a spoken instruction beginning with “Orb.” It revalidates the same field, range, and text again before replacing anything. Editors that reject direct Accessibility writes use one paste into that selection, and the previous clipboard comes back after the replacement is read.
Orb Commands are on by default. Disable them at any time under Settings → Orb Commands; while they are off, the app does not capture selection metadata for this feature. See the Orb Commands guide.
The short version
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, enable Listen Orb (or Terminal, if you started it from there), then quit and reopen that app.
Step by step
Open the Accessibility pane
Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Unlock the pane if macOS asks.
Enable the app you launched
Turn on Listen Orb for the installed app. If you started it from Terminal or iTerm, enable that Terminal app instead. The insert is granted to the process that is running, not to a nested script.
Clear a stale row after a replace
An unsigned or ad-hoc signed rebuild is a new identity. An old Listen Orb row can stay on and still refuse the new binary. Remove every Listen Orb line, then add
/Applications/Listen Orb.appwith the + control. Quit and reopen.
If the sentence does not land
- The overlay says to press Cmd+V. The text is already on the clipboard. Click the field and paste. Some Electron and browser fields ignore a direct Accessibility insert and need that paste.
- Nothing was copied either. Accessibility is off for this binary. Remove the leftover row, add the Applications copy, quit, and reopen.
- Fn is also dead. Input Monitoring is the keyboard tap; Accessibility is insert. You usually want both. How to enable Fn.
Destination context and the exact data sent in each mode are described on the privacy page. Insertion can still need Accessibility even when Polish is Off.