Cue

Cue Input Helper

A small helper for the Mac App Store version of Cue: with it installed, Return in Cue's panel types the code straight into the field of the Mac app you are in.

Cue Input Helper

macOS 15 or later · needs Cue for Mac from the Mac App Store

A disk image, notarized by Apple; drag the app to Applications.

Download .dmg

Why it exists

The store version of Cue runs in the App Sandbox. The system does not let a sandboxed app read other apps' windows or press keys for you, so the store version cannot type on its own. Web pages don't need it: Cue's browser extension fills codes there. To type with one key into Mac apps (Terminal, Slack, VPN clients, login windows), this small program runs outside the sandbox.

It has no window and no Dock icon; it waits in the background for Cue.

Install

  1. Download and open the .dmg, then drag "Cue Input Helper" to your Applications folder. It has to live there: Cue accepts the helper from Applications only.
  2. Open it once. There is no window; it connects to Cue in the background.
  3. In Cue's Settings > Panel, click Allow… on the helper's row. Cue opens System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility with a small card beside it: drag "Cue Input Helper" from the card into the list and turn on its switch. The row then says connected.

From then on it starts at login and waits in the background. Cue's Settings > Panel can turn off "start at login" or quit it.

If the switch is on but Cue says "Accessibility is on but not working", macOS kept the permission of an earlier version. Click Fix… next to it: Cue clears the old permission, then drag the helper in once more.

Use

Put the cursor in the field, press ⌃⌥C (or your shortcut) for the panel, pick the entry, press Return. The panel's footer says which app the code goes to; ⌥Return copies instead. Over a browser, the panel also puts the current site's entries first.

What it sees

Two things only: the digits Cue sends it, and, at the moment the panel opens, the front app's name, its window title, the address of the page in a browser, and whether a text field has focus. It never sees your vault or secrets, has no network access, keeps no records, and accepts connections from Cue only (each side checks the other's signature). See the privacy policy.

Uninstall

In Cue's Settings > Panel, turn off "start at login", click "quit the helper", then drag it from Applications to the Trash. Its entry under System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions goes with it.