Before you start
Five steps, once. After that it is pick a source and click Listen.
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Read and accept the notice
On first launch you see "Before you start": what the app does, what leaves the Mac and what does not. Click I agree. Without it the app neither listens nor tests the key. If you clicked "Not now", just click Listen again.
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Create your Anthropic key
At platform.claude.com/settings/keys, use Create Key and choose a workspace (Default is fine). Copy the whole key: it starts with
sk-. The account needs credit or a payment method; that is sorted out in the Anthropic console, not in the app. -
Paste the key in Settings
Click the gear, paste the key under Claude API key and click Save and test. The right answer is "Key accepted and saved in the Keychain". The key stays on this Mac only, in the Keychain, with no iCloud; we never see it.
There too, write who you are in this conversation (role, company, topic; up to 500 characters). It is what makes the answer sound like you.
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Allow the audio
The first time you click Listen, macOS asks for System Audio Recording; the first time you use the microphone, it asks for Microphone. Allow both. If you denied one by mistake: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording and Microphone, and turn EscutAdor on.
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Choose the conversation language
In Settings › Conversation language, pick the language people speak: English (US) or Português (Brasil). It sets the speech recognizer, the question detector and the language of the answer. The default comes from your Mac's language. The first time in each language, macOS may download Apple's speech model.
Done. At the top, choose what to listen to (Mac audio: whoever speaks on the call; Microphone: you and the room; Both) and click Listen. To stop: Stop, ⌘ ↩ or the "Listening" item in the menu bar.
Common problems
The text on screen makes no sense, sometimes even with a "?" at the end?
Almost always it is the Conversation language (Settings) not matching the language being spoken: the app transcribes in en-US or pt-BR, as chosen, and an English meeting run through the Portuguese model comes out as scattered words. Switch the language; you can do it while the app is listening. Very low audio also confuses the transcription.
Nothing shows up when someone speaks?
Two causes, in this order. Wrong source: if the speech comes from a call or a video, the source is Mac audio; if it comes from someone in the room or from you, it is Microphone. The level meters at the top of the window show which source is coming in. Permission: without the System Audio Recording (or Microphone) permission, macOS gives no error, it delivers silence; the app warns "No sound yet" after 10 seconds. Allow it in System Settings › Privacy & Security and try again.
Switched headphones or speakers mid-way? The app restarts on its own. If it does not, click Stop and then Listen.
The question shows up, but with no answer?
The key is missing or was refused; the notice sits at the top of the app. Check it in Settings › Save and test. Without a key the app only notes the questions, it does not answer. In Privacy Mode the app is also stricter: a sentence that merely "sounds" like a question does not become a request to the AI.
The key was refused?
The message in the app says why. "The key starts with sk-": a piece was lost when copying; copy it again, whole. "This key spans several workspaces": the API wants a key from a single workspace; in the Anthropic console, delete it and create another one choosing a workspace (Default is fine). "The API key was not accepted": the key was revoked, expired or is wrong; create a new one. If the message mentions credit balance, the Anthropic account is out of credit or has hit its spend limit; that is fixed in the billing area of the Anthropic console. "API usage limit reached": wait a moment and try again.
How much does it cost?
Cents of a dollar, paid to Anthropic through your account, not to us. The app shows the session cost on the line below the source picker (for example, "4 requests to Claude · US$ 0.0031"), using the usage the API itself reports. Measured: about US$ 0.0008 per question; a 15-minute meeting lands around US$ 0.02 to US$ 0.03. Transcription runs on the Mac and costs nothing. For a ceiling, set a spend limit on the workspace, in the Anthropic console.
The app opened in Portuguese?
The interface follows the macOS language. To change EscutAdor alone: System Settings › General › Language & Region, add EscutAdor to the list of apps and choose English. If you prefer Terminal: defaults write dev.hasman.escuta AppleLanguages '(en)' (undo with defaults delete dev.hasman.escuta AppleLanguages). This does not touch the Conversation language, which stays the one set in the app's Settings.
How do I delete the log?
The question-and-answer log ships off; it only exists if you turned it on in Settings ("Keep a log of questions and answers on this Mac"). To delete it: Settings › Delete log. Deletes questions, answers and costs at once. "Show in Finder" opens the folder, inside the app container, readable only by your user. Audio is never recorded.
How do I remove the key?
Settings › Remove key. It leaves this Mac's Keychain and the app goes back to only noting the questions. If you also want it to stop working anywhere, revoke it in the Anthropic console. Uninstalling the app does not remove the key from the Keychain: remove it first.
The app says "Read and accept the notice before testing the key"?
You clicked "Not now" on the first screen. Click Listen (or quit and reopen the app) and then I agree.
What exactly left my Mac?
Settings › What was sent shows the exact text of the last request, the mode in use and how many characters came from the conversation, plus the line that never changes: model, answer cap, app identification and the only address called, api.anthropic.com.
Purchases
The app is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription. Inside it there are two extra modes, each a one-time purchase, in Settings › Listening modes. They change only how much of the conversation before the question goes along in the request to the AI; the audio never leaves in any mode.
| Mode | What goes with the question | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Up to about 35 seconds of conversation, as text | Included with the app |
| Privacy Mode | Only the question. No excerpt of the conversation. Hears less, knows less. | One-time purchase |
| Super Listener Mode | Up to 1:00 or 1:20 of conversation (your choice; one purchase unlocks both windows) | One-time purchase |
- Price: shown on the button itself, coming from the App Store, in your account's currency.
- On another Mac: sign in with the same Apple Account and click Settings › Restore purchases. The purchase is valid on all your Macs.
- Ask to Buy: if the account belongs to a child in Family Sharing, the purchase waits for approval and unlocks on its own afterwards.
- A purchase that stopped being valid (refund, different account): the app goes back to Standard without erasing your choice; Restore purchases fixes it if it was bought on another Mac.
- Refunds: Apple processes the payment, and Apple decides refunds. Ask at reportaproblem.apple.com, with the Apple Account used for the purchase. We never see your card and cannot refund you outside the store.
- "The store did not return the products right now": the app could not reach the App Store. Check your connection and that you are signed in to the App Store app with your Apple Account; then try again.
Privacy
Audio is transcribed on the Mac and never leaves it. Only the text of the question, an excerpt according to the mode and your "who you are" go to Anthropic, with your key.
Nothing comes to us at Hasman Corp: no server, no analytics, no tracking. The whole detail, table by table, is in the Privacy Policy.
Contact
Didn't find your answer here? Write to [email protected]. It helps a lot if the message includes your macOS version, what shows at the top of the app (the notice, if any), the source you chose (Mac audio, Microphone or Both) and the Conversation language. Never send your API key; nobody in support needs it.