Permissions

Sayburst needs Microphone and Accessibility. Here's how to set them, and how to fix them when they don't take effect.

Microphone

Used only while you hold the dictation key. The menu bar icon becomes a persimmon dot whenever Sayburst is recording.

1. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone.
2. Turn on Sayburst.
3. If Sayburst asks, quit and reopen it.

If the overlay says “Your microphone sent silence”, the permission is fine but the input isn't: check Settings › Audio in Sayburst, unmute the microphone, or choose another input. Some headsets and audio interfaces have a hardware mute switch.

Accessibility

Lets Sayburst detect the fn or right-side modifier key and paste text into the field you were using. Without it, dictation still works, but text is saved for you to paste instead of being typed.

1. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility.
2. Turn on Sayburst. If it isn't listed, click +, choose Sayburst in Applications, and turn it on.
3. Enter your Mac password if asked. Sayburst notices within a couple of seconds — no restart needed.

It's on, but Sayburst says it's off

macOS ties the permission to the exact app you approved. After moving Sayburst, reinstalling it, or switching from a test build, the old entry no longer matches.

1. In Accessibility settings, select Sayburst and click − to remove it.
2. Quit Sayburst, open it again from Applications, and choose Finish Setup… from the menu bar.
3. Allow Accessibility again.

Still stuck? In Terminal, tccutil reset Accessibility com.sayburst.mac clears the entry so you can approve it fresh.

The fn key opens emoji or changes the keyboard

macOS can assign an action to the 🌐/fn key. Open System Settings › Keyboard and set Press 🌐 key to to Do Nothing. Or pick right ⌥ as the dictation key in Sayburst's settings.

Managed Macs

On work Macs, an administrator may block these permissions with a configuration profile. Ask IT to allow Microphone and Accessibility for the bundle identifier com.sayburst.mac.