A small desktop overlay that sits on your screen, takes a screenshot when you click answer plz (or press your global hotkey), and returns a brief answer from the question visible on screen — using your own AI API key.
Built with Tauri 2 (Rust) and React (TypeScript).
Installers are on GitHub Releases.
| Your system | File to download |
|---|---|
| Windows 64-bit | answerplz_*_x64-setup.exe |
| Mac (Apple Silicon) | answerplz_*_aarch64.dmg |
| Linux | answerplz_*_amd64.AppImage (or .deb) |
No API key is bundled — configure your provider on first launch.
Releases are not code-signed yet. Your OS or antivirus may warn because the installer comes from an unknown publisher. This is expected for a small open-source app — source is in this repo if you want to inspect or build it yourself.
Windows
- Run the installer (
answerplz_*_x64-setup.exe). - If SmartScreen shows Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway.
- If your antivirus blocks it, allow the file or add an exception. You can verify the download came from GitHub Releases for this repository.
macOS
Browser downloads get a quarantine flag. Unsigned apps often show a misleading "answerplz is damaged and can't be opened" dialog with only Move to Trash and Done.
That dialog cannot be bypassed with right-click → Open or Open Anyway in System Settings. You need Terminal once:
- Open the
.dmgand copy answerplz.app to Applications. - Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities → Terminal).
- Remove the quarantine flag:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/answerplz.app- Open answerplz from Applications.
If the app is somewhere else, change the path (for example ~/Downloads/answerplz.app).
After quarantine is cleared, macOS may show a second, softer warning — "cannot be verified" or "Not Opened". That one can use the GUI:
- macOS 14 and earlier: right-click the app → Open → Open (once).
- macOS 15 (Sequoia) and later: try to open the app once, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway, and enter your password. Right-click → Open often no longer works on Sequoia.
If it still won't launch after removing quarantine, run both commands:
codesign --force --deep --sign - --timestamp=none /Applications/answerplz.app
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/answerplz.appLinux packages (.AppImage, .deb) are not affected by Windows SmartScreen or macOS Gatekeeper.
- Bring your own key — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, or OpenRouter (one dropdown + API key)
- Floating overlay — always-on-top, draggable, resizable chip with answer plz, settings, and hide
- Global hotkey — configurable shortcut (default
Ctrl+Shift+A) triggers screenshot + answer from anywhere - Screenshot → vision model — captures your chosen display (primary, a specific monitor, or all combined) and asks for the shortest possible answer
- Type a question — click ?, ask anything, get a brief reply (no screenshot)
- Clipboard answer — click ⎘ to answer from whatever text you copied
- Copy answer — one click on the answer bubble
- System tray — show/hide overlay, open settings, or quit (the overlay × hides; quit is from the tray)
- Recent answers — last answers saved locally in settings
- Check for updates — compares your version to the latest GitHub release
- Quick validation — checks your key before saving to
~/.answerplz/config.json
- On first launch, pick a provider, paste your API key, and click Validate & save.
- The overlay appears: drag via the ⋮⋮ grip, click answer plz (or use your hotkey) when you want an answer.
- A small bubble shows the short answer; copy with ⎘ or dismiss with ×.
- ⚙ reopens settings (provider, monitor, hotkey, etc.). × on the bar hides the overlay — use the system tray to show it again or quit.
Config path: ~/.answerplz/config.json (mode 600 on Unix). Answer history: ~/.answerplz/history.json.
Screenshots require Screen Recording in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording (enable answerplz, then restart the app). Without it, captures can succeed but show blank content and the model will reply with useless answers like “No answer”.
Accessibility (for global hotkeys) may also be required in the same settings pane.
Pick one in setup and paste that provider’s API key. Default vision models:
| Provider | Default model |
|---|---|
| OpenAI | gpt-5.4-mini |
| Anthropic | claude-haiku-4-5 |
| Google Gemini | gemini-3.5-flash |
| OpenRouter | openai/gpt-5.4-mini |
Use Advanced → Model override only if you want a different model ID.
Your API key is stored locally in plaintext in your home directory, like most BYOK CLI/desktop tools. Do not share that file.
MIT — see LICENSE.
Install Tauri prerequisites for your OS.
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu / WSL):
Tauri links against system GTK/WebKit libraries. If npm run tauri dev fails during cargo build with pkg-config or dbus-1 errors, install:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
pkg-config \
libdbus-1-dev \
libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
build-essential \
curl wget file \
libxdo-dev \
libssl-dev \
libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
librsvg2-dev \
patchelf \
libxcb1-dev \
libxcb-randr0-devWSL: You also need a GUI (WSLg on Windows 11, or an X server). Check echo $DISPLAY — it should not be empty when you run the app.
Rust:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | shnpm install
npm run tauri devAfter updating logo.png, regenerate bundle and web icons:
npm run iconsnpm run tauri buildInstallers/binaries are under src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.
CI locally (Linux, matches GitHub Actions): enable Docker in WSL, then:
./scripts/docker-linux-build.sh- Build (
.github/workflows/build.yml) runs on every push tomain— use this for fast iteration. - Release (
.github/workflows/release.yml) uploads installers when you push a version tag (v0.1.0, etc.) or run Actions → Release → Run workflow.
To publish a new version (bumps all three version files, commits, tags, pushes, and waits for CI):
# GH_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN required, or `gh auth login`
./scripts/release.sh 0.2.6Use --dry-run to preview, or -y to skip the confirmation prompt.
Repo setting for uploads: Settings → Actions → General → Workflow permissions → Read and write permissions.
The app uses genai for provider APIs (similar idea to the Vercel AI SDK).