Getting started

Cleat is a command palette for macOS. It lives in the menu bar, stays out of the way, and opens with one keystroke.

Install

1. Download the zip from getcleat.app/download and unzip it.
2. Drag Cleat to Applications and open it. macOS asks once whether to open an app downloaded from the internet.
3. Open Cleat from the menu bar, then go to Settings › Hotkeys and choose Use ⌘Space.
4. Follow the prompt to turn off Show Spotlight search in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Spotlight. Return to Cleat to finish the switch, then press ⌘ Space.

The first run shows a three-step welcome: the hotkey, the one permission most features share, and five things to try. Skip it and it stays out of the way; type welcome tour to see it again. After each update a What’s New window lists what changed, with a Try button on each item.

Then spend your first ten minutes on the guided tour: ten things to try, each a minute or less.

The three keys

Key	What it does
⌘ Space	Open or close the palette
⏎	Run the selected row: open, paste, copy, convert
Esc	Back to the root, then close

That is enough to use most of Cleat. Type a few letters and the thing you meant is usually the first row.

What the field understands

The field has no modes to switch into. Type an app name and you get the app. Type a sum and you get the answer. Type 12 km to mi, #4C59FA, time in tokyo, define serendipity or uuid and the first row is the result, ready to copy with Return.

A handful of keywords jump into a specific tool when followed by a space: tr for translation, ask for Apple Intelligence, emoji, sc for Shortcuts, menu for menu bar search, cal, rem, ct, notes, layout, tab for browser tabs, recent for recent files, task, timer, top and sys. message, call and email followed by a name reach a person. A line starting with > runs in your shell, and a path like ~/Downloads/ lists the folder. Each one has its own page in this wiki, and ? in the palette lists them all with an example.

The empty field ends with one tip about something the field understands, a different one each time. ⌘K on it moves to the next or turns them off.

Permissions

Cleat asks for Accessibility the first time you snap a window or paste from clipboard history. Nothing else needs a permission until you use it: Calendar, Reminders and Contacts each prompt on first use, Notes asks for Automation, dictation asks for the microphone, and screen text capture asks for screen recording. See Requirements and permissions.

The download

One download, one app: getcleat.app/download is the current build with everything in it, the built-in language model included. Apple Intelligence, a local model server and API models are there as well; pick one in Settings › Assistant & Translation.

Languages

Cleat speaks English, German, Spanish, French and Macedonian. It follows your system language; Settings › General › Language picks one and relaunches. Answers, file names and app names stay as they are.