FAQ

The short answers. Anything not covered here: hello@marchingants.app.

Using it

Do I need my own API key?

Only for the free version. You bring a key from a Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini account and that provider bills you directly, at cost. If you buy searches from MarchingAnts instead, we run the model and you don’t need a key at all.

Does my screen data go to you?

On the free, bring-your-own-key version, no. The region you select goes from your Mac straight to the model provider you picked and nothing routes through an MarchingAnts server. Paid searches aren’t live yet. When they are, a capture will pass through an MarchingAnts server only long enough to get your answer — held in memory, never written to disk, never logged, never used for training.

Where is my API key stored?

In an AES-256-GCM encrypted file on that device only, readable only by your macOS account. Sign-in tokens are kept the same way. It’s shown masked in Settings and you can delete it in one click. Nothing is written in plain text and nothing is sent to us.

What does it run on?

macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple silicon. Intel Macs aren’t supported yet.

Where does it show up? How do I open it?

It’s a menu-bar app. The icon sits at the top-right of your screen, next to the clock, and there is no Dock icon and no window. If it seems “closed,” reopen it from Spotlight (⌘Space, type “MarchingAnts”) or from your Applications folder.

Why does macOS warn me the first time I open it?

The beta is signed but not notarized with Apple yet. Open the app once, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and click Open Anyway. macOS remembers it after that. (On newer macOS the old right-click → Open trick no longer clears this.)

What is ghost mode?

On by default, it keeps the answer popup out of every screen capture — screen recordings, screenshots, and screen sharing on calls. Nobody watching your shared screen sees your answer. Turn it off in Settings if you actually want the popup to record, for example to make a demo.

If something’s not working

I press the shortcut and nothing happens

MarchingAnts needs two macOS permissions to work. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and check both:

• Screen Recording — lets it capture the region you draw. Without it the shortcut does nothing, or the capture comes back black.
• Accessibility — lets the global shortcuts fire while another app is in front.

Turn MarchingAnts on in each list. macOS will ask you to quit and reopen the app. That fixes it in almost every case.

It worked before, then stopped after I updated

macOS ties those permissions to the exact version of the app. A new build can register as a different app, so the old permission is dropped. Fix:

1. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording.
2. If “MarchingAnts” is listed, select it and click the − to remove it. If it’s listed twice, remove both.
3. Click + and add /Applications/MarchingAnts.app. Make sure its switch is on.
4. Do the same in the Accessibility list.
5. Quit MarchingAnts from the menu-bar icon and reopen it.

The capture box is black or empty

That’s the Screen Recording permission specifically. Follow the steps above for Screen Recording, then reopen the app.

The answer is wrong

Answers come from the AI model you picked and they can be wrong or incomplete, especially on messy handwriting, tiny text, or trick questions. Try selecting a tighter box around just the question, or switch models in Settings. Always check anything that matters.

How do I change the shortcuts?

Open Settings from the menu-bar icon, go to the shortcuts section, click a shortcut, and press the new key combination. If two shortcuts clash, Settings tells you when you save.