# AI use cases for Atticus Mac (SaarthurR/atticus-mac)

Repo: [SaarthurR/atticus-mac](https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac) | Use cases: 5 | Page: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/

Atticus is a free, open source voice assistant for macOS that controls your Mac, finds files, reads your screen and can hand larger jobs to background agents.

This file holds every use case of this repo. Each one starts with a "## " heading and ends with its URL.

- Arrange windows and open apps by voice on your Mac: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/arrange-windows-and-open-apps-by-voice/
- Find files by what they contain and open them on another screen: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/find-files-by-what-they-contain/
- Get step-by-step help on anything on your screen: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/get-on-screen-help-by-pointing-and-drawing/
- Dictate text into any text field on your Mac: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/dictate-text-into-any-field-with-fn/
- Send a follow-up to an AI agent running in your terminal: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/hand-a-task-to-a-running-terminal-agent/

## How to arrange windows and open apps by voice on your Mac with Atticus Mac

Repo: [SaarthurR/atticus-mac](https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac) | Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 30 minutes | Basis: From the README

Hold a shortcut, say what you need, and Atticus moves windows and opens apps across your displays.

**Who it is for:** A Mac user working across two displays or several apps who wants to set up a workspace without clicking through each window.

**The problem:** Setting up windows across displays and opening the right apps takes repeated clicks every time you start work.

**The outcome:** Your windows and apps are arranged by one spoken request, and repeated actions run again in a fraction of a second.

### Steps

1. Install Atticus from its GitHub repository and open it on your Mac.
2. Hold ⌃ control, ⌥ option and space together, then say the layout you want, for example: "Code on my big screen, Chrome and Terminal on the laptop."
3. Release the keys and let Atticus arrange the windows across your displays.
4. Say "Open Spotify" or "Terminal on the left" to test instant commands, which run without AI.
5. Repeat a window or app action once so Atticus learns it, then check that the next run is faster.

### Prompt to paste into your agent

```text
Using the repo SaarthurR/atticus-mac, set up Atticus on a Mac so that the request "<your layout request>" arranges the named windows across the displays. Expected output: the windows are placed as described and the second run of the same request finishes faster. Verify by checking that the windows match the layout after one repeat of the request.
```

### Caveat

Atticus needs a Claude plan or a local model server, and the README says it runs on your Claude Pro or Max plan through claude -p.

Dual-use notice: only use this on software, sites and systems you own or are authorized to test.

Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/

URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/arrange-windows-and-open-apps-by-voice/

## How to find files by what they contain and open them on another screen with Atticus Mac

Repo: [SaarthurR/atticus-mac](https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac) | Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 30 minutes | Basis: From the README

Ask Atticus for a file by its topic and it searches inside your files and opens the match.

**Who it is for:** A person with a lot of notes, documents or saved research who remembers what a file says but not its name.

**The problem:** Searching by file name misses notes you wrote months ago, and digging through folders wastes time.

**The outcome:** You say what the file is about and Atticus finds it by its contents and opens it on your other screen.

### Steps

1. Open Atticus and hold ⌃ control, ⌥ option and space.
2. Say what the file is about, for example: "Find my notes about the Tokyo trip."
3. Check that the match opens on your other screen.
4. If the wrong file opens, say a correction, then say "remember" followed by the rule so Atticus saves it for next time.

### Prompt to paste into your agent

```text
Using the repo SaarthurR/atticus-mac, ask Atticus to find files about <topic> by their contents. Expected output: the best matching file opens on the other display. Verify that the opened file contains the topic named in the request.
```

### Caveat

Atticus reads your files and screen, so it works only on what your Mac already gives it access to, and it asks before deleting, sending or changing files.

Dual-use notice: only use this on software, sites and systems you own or are authorized to test.

Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/

URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/find-files-by-what-they-contain/

## How to get step-by-step help on anything on your screen with Atticus Mac

Repo: [SaarthurR/atticus-mac](https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac) | Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 15 minutes | Basis: From the README

Point at part of the screen, ask a question, and Atticus draws the steps over what you see.

**Who it is for:** A person learning a app, a setting or a problem on screen who wants guidance on the exact spot instead of a text description.

**The problem:** Written instructions do not show where the control is, so people click the wrong thing or lose their place.

**The outcome:** Atticus marks the exact spot on your screen with boxes, arrows and labels, and moves on one step at a time.

### Steps

1. Click the pointer button, Point at your screen, next to the mic in the ask box, then mark the spot.
2. Type or say your question, for example: "Where do I turn on Night Shift?"
3. Follow the drawn steps; Atticus moves on when you click the highlighted spot, change the value, or say "next".
4. Close the card or press Esc to clear the drawing.

### Prompt to paste into your agent

```text
Using the repo SaarthurR/atticus-mac, mark a spot on the screen with Point at your screen and ask "<your question>". Expected output: Atticus draws the steps over the screen, one at a time. Verify that the first mark sits on the control named in the question.
```

### Caveat

Drawing on screen is turned on by default and can be turned off in Settings → General → Draw on screen.

Dual-use notice: only use this on software, sites and systems you own or are authorized to test.

Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/

URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/get-on-screen-help-by-pointing-and-drawing/

## How to dictate text into any text field on your Mac with Atticus Mac

Repo: [SaarthurR/atticus-mac](https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac) | Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 15 minutes | Basis: From the README

Hold fn, speak, and release to type your words into the field you are using.

**Who it is for:** A writer, support worker or anyone who types a lot and wants to speak instead.

**The problem:** Typing long replies or notes by hand is slow, and most built-in dictation options do not clean up spoken text.

**The outcome:** Your speech lands as text in the active field, either exactly as spoken or cleaned up.

### Steps

1. In Atticus, open the Dictation tab and check that dictation is on.
2. In any text field, hold the fn (🌐) key, speak, then let go.
3. Double-tap fn to lock dictation on for hands-free talking, then press it once more to insert the text.
4. Choose Verbatim for Apple's on-device transcript with no AI, or Clean up for one quick AI pass that removes filler words.
5. Check the Dictation History if the words do not land; Atticus saves them there and says "Saved to History".

### Prompt to paste into your agent

```text
Using the repo SaarthurR/atticus-mac, dictate a short sentence into a text field with the fn key in Verbatim mode. Expected output: the spoken sentence appears in the field. Verify that the text matches what was said and that nothing was typed twice.
```

### Caveat

If macOS's Press 🌐 key to setting opens emoji or Apple dictation, the README says to set it to Do Nothing from the prompt Atticus shows.

Dual-use notice: only use this on software, sites and systems you own or are authorized to test.

Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/

URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/dictate-text-into-any-field-with-fn/

## How to send a follow-up to an AI agent running in your terminal with Atticus Mac

Repo: [SaarthurR/atticus-mac](https://github.com/SaarthurR/atticus-mac) | Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 30 minutes | Basis: From the README

Say an instruction and Atticus types it into the terminal window while you keep working.

**Who it is for:** A developer running an AI coding agent in a terminal who wants to add a request without switching windows.

**The problem:** Switching to a busy terminal window to type one more instruction breaks your focus.

**The outcome:** The instruction is typed into the right window in the background, or the text is left there and Atticus asks you to choose the window.

### Steps

1. Start your agent in a Terminal window on your Mac.
2. Hold ⌃ control, ⌥ option and space, then say, for example: "Tell the agent in my terminal to also run the tests."
3. Release the keys and keep working in your other apps.
4. If Atticus cannot confirm the send, check the text it left in the window and tell it which window to use.

### Prompt to paste into your agent

```text
Using the repo SaarthurR/atticus-mac, ask Atticus to tell the agent in the terminal window to <instruction>. Expected output: the instruction is typed into that terminal window. Verify that the window received the text and that Atticus confirmed the send or asked for the window.
```

### Caveat

The README does not say which terminal agents Atticus can reach; it says it types into that window, so test with one agent before relying on it.

Risk, credentials: Atticus types into the terminal window you name, so check that the window belongs to the agent you intend to message before you send.

Dual-use notice: only use this on software, sites and systems you own or are authorized to test.

Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/

URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/saarthurr-atticus-mac/hand-a-task-to-a-running-terminal-agent/