Ask about this screen

Select part of your screen and ask Starfish about it, from any app on your Mac.

Ask a question

1. Press ⌥ Space. If the Starfish icon is in your menu bar, you can also choose Ask about this screen… in its menu. Or click + in the message box and choose Ask about this screen on the Files tab.
2. Drag a rectangle around what you want to ask about. Press Space to pick a whole window instead, or Esc to cancel.
3. A bar opens at the bottom of the screen with a small picture of your selection. Type your question and press Enter. You can also click the microphone and say it.

Starfish sends the picture together with the text it reads in it and the name of the app and window. To ask without the picture, click × on it before you send.

The answer appears in the bar. Ask a follow-up in the same bar. Press Esc to close it.

Saved as a chat

Every question is saved as a chat in Starfish. The bar shows Saved in Starfish with the app and window name. Click Open in Starfish to continue the chat in the main window.

Screen Recording permission

Starfish needs macOS Screen Recording permission to see what you select. Until it has it, the bar says Starfish needs Screen Recording to see the part of the screen you select. Nothing is captured until you ask. Click Allow Screen Recording and allow Starfish in System Settings.

If the selection comes back as one flat colour, Starfish does not send it. The bar says The capture was empty — allow Screen Recording. This usually means the permission is still missing.

A very small selection is ignored.

Voice typing

The microphone in the bar uses voice typing on your Mac. It needs a one-time download of about 460 MB. The bar offers Download the first time.

Settings

Open Settings → Voice & shortcuts. The Ask bar section has:

Setting	What it does
Ask about this screen	The shortcut. Click it and press new keys to change it. Reset brings back ⌥ Space. Turn off removes the shortcut.
Ask bar size	Compact, Standard or Large: the width of the bar and how tall answers can grow before they scroll.
Ask bar position	Drag the bar by its top edge to move it. It stays on the display where it opened. Reset position moves it back.