heyMate

HeyMate lives in the Mac notch, or a top-centre pill on Macs without one. Hold Control+Option to ask a question, or type in chat, without leaving the app you are using.

Ask how to edit an image, understand a chart, or find a setting. HeyMate uses screen context during the active interaction, explains aloud, and draws arrows, rings, labels, or diagrams to show what it means.

Bring your existing Claude, ChatGPT through Codex, or OpenCode access. HeyMate adds no subscription fee; provider usage limits and optional paid connectors still apply. Apple Intelligence is an optional text-only fallback on supported Macs.

1. Open an app or website and ask: Walk me through this, one step at a time.
2. HeyMate uses a vision-capable provider to read the screen, show a plan, and point to the first action.
3. Try the action yourself, then click the target or say next. HeyMate checks the screen again before explaining the next step.
4. Stop or correct the guidance whenever needed. Results depend on the selected model and what it can see.

Spoken guidance and native on-screen drawing work together. A ring can pick out a control, an arrow can connect two ideas, and a handwritten label can name the part being discussed. Longer explanations can unfold across several spoken steps.

The renderer runs in SwiftUI, with native Metal support for 3D explanations. This keeps the explanation alongside your work instead of making you translate a separate chat answer back onto the screen.

For coding tasks, HeyMate can hand work to Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode. The agent drafts a read-only plan before execution; approved jobs run in a background helper with workspace snapshots and Terminal takeover.

Snapshots help undo local workspace changes. They cannot reverse a sent message or an external service change, and external actions follow their tool's approval policy.

Give a persistent helper a name, a job, a personality, saved notes, and a workspace folder. Use a mate as a design tutor, a project assistant, or a focused helper for a recurring task.

Routines run daily at a chosen time or every few hours, with results in that mate's chat. Connect Apple apps, local command-line tools, MCP servers, and optional Composio toolkits using your own accounts.

Requires macOS 14.2 or later on Apple silicon or Intel. Install with Homebrew, the Terminal installer, or the disk image below. Download links always resolve to the latest GitHub release.

Current builds use a self-signed certificate and are not notarized by Apple. Review the app before installing. If macOS blocks the disk-image install, use System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Open Anyway if you choose to proceed.

Grant Microphone for voice input, Screen Recording for screen context, and Accessibility for supported desktop interactions. In-app updates use a signed update feed.

Download for Mac ↓

Latest release 1.0.76, October 28, 2026. What's new ↗

Chats, memory, mates, and routines are stored locally in ~/Library/Application Support/heymate/. Credentials use the macOS Keychain. Your selected AI provider receives the context needed to answer; its terms and retention policies apply.

Screen context is requested during active interactions that need it, including checks between walkthrough steps. Screen guidance requires a vision-capable provider; the Apple Intelligence fallback handles text questions only.

Built with SwiftUI and native Metal rendering. Source, release notes, and installation instructions are public on GitHub. The repository includes its MIT license and separate third-party notices; bundled components retain their own terms.