Onboarding

Overview

First launch sets up local capture and the apps you allow. Experimental Mac builds with meeting support also offer a meeting audio choice. The default build omits that choice and does not request microphone access. Capture remains paused while setup is incomplete.

After account sign-in, the Mac app asks for Screen Recording and Accessibility. Where meeting support is built in, audio is optional: turn it off to continue without microphone access, or keep it on and grant Microphone for local transcription. Setup preserves an existing meeting audio choice. Each grant has a direct action, its current status, and an explanation of what it enables. If macOS needs extra attention, Overshow shows recovery guidance for the next incomplete permission.

Once those grants are ready, setup asks which installed apps Overshow may capture. A starter set is already selected. Search filters both the Not captured and Captured columns. Click an app or drag it between columns to change the selection.

The final optional step lists detected MCP clients that can use read-only Overshow memory search. Connect a client there, or choose Set up later and manage clients from Settings.

Permissions

Microphone

Microphone access is required only when an experimental build includes meeting support and meeting audio is enabled. It captures your side of a meeting for on-device transcription. Turning meeting audio off saves that choice and removes the microphone requirement without changing screen capture or Accessibility.

Screen Recording

macOS groups system audio and screen access under Screen Recording (shown as Screen & System Audio Recording on some versions). Overshow uses it to read on-screen text from your active windows. Experimental builds with meeting support also use it for the other people you hear in a meeting. No screenshots or video are stored.

macOS may require a full Overshow restart after this permission is granted. Setup returns to the same point after restart.

Accessibility

Accessibility lets Overshow read application text. Experimental builds with meeting support also use it to recognise meeting windows and call state so recording can start and stop with the meeting. Overshow does not use it to record keystrokes.

Completing setup

The permissions Continue action stays disabled until Screen Recording and Accessibility are available, Microphone is available if meeting audio is enabled, and any Screen Recording restart has completed. The screen states how many grants remain. Where meeting support is built in, it also waits for a meeting audio choice to finish saving.

Review the preselected apps, move any that should stay outside capture into Not captured, then choose Continue. On the AI tools step, connect any detected client you want to use or choose Set up later. Finish and start capturing saves the allow-list, enables capture, and opens the app's home view. Where meeting support is built in, optional audio capture stays idle outside an active or manually started meeting.

Calendar connection is optional and does not interrupt first run. Connect Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 later from Settings → Connections for calendar context. Calendar sync remains available when the build omits meetings.

Changing access later

You can revoke any macOS grant in System Settings → Privacy & Security. Overshow surfaces missing access in Settings and can reopen the relevant macOS pane.

Use Settings → App → Run onboarding again when you want to review the setup flow and captured-app choices without changing permissions. Your account, local captures, existing macOS grants, per-pipeline capture pause state, and ordinary settings are kept.

Use Settings → App → Reset macOS permissions when you need a genuinely fresh permission setup. After confirmation, Overshow resets the macOS privacy decisions associated with the current app bundle, restarts safely, and opens onboarding from the beginning. This includes Microphone, Screen & System Audio, Accessibility, Automation, and Full Disk Access. It does not delete the encrypted local database, sign you out, clear your captured-app list, or change your per-pipeline capture pause preferences. Notification preferences remain separately managed in macOS System Settings.

Allowed apps can be changed later in Settings → Capture. Website and category exclusions, connected sources and other optional controls remain in Settings rather than first-run onboarding. Watched-folder document indexing is unavailable in this release.

Related

• Installation
• Permissions
• Meetings