Read Assist 0.5.0 is open for early source testing

[ai-nuke]

Read Assist is now public as an early source release for Apple-silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later.

The app is a native SwiftUI/AppKit reading companion: select a word or passage, review it in Read Assist, and explicitly request an explanation. It stores the user-provided OpenAI API key in Keychain and has no analytics, reading history, or continuous clipboard monitor.

Start here:

• Source install and first run
• v0.5.0 release
• Privacy model
• ReadAssistCore integration guide

The first evidence we need is deliberately specific: macOS version, Mac architecture, reader or document app and version, whether direct selection worked, and whether the local fallback worked. Please do not share selected reading text, API keys, document titles, or private screenshots.

The project does not yet ship a Developer ID-signed or notarized binary, so building from source is the supported path. Reader compatibility and live AI quality are manual acceptance areas, not claims made by the automated test suite.

If you want to contribute code, the four starter issues cover a privacy-safe compatibility matrix, a compiling ReadAssistCore example, Keychain test seams, and a VoiceOver/keyboard audit.