Install on macOS

For Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) on macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

The quick way

Open Terminal and paste:

Terminalcurl -fsSL https://github.com/manasdutta04/kudu/releases/latest/download/install-macos.sh | bash

The script checks your Mac, downloads the latest Kudu, puts it in Applications, clears the quarantine flag (see below) and opens it.

By hand

Download the disk image
Get Kudu-macOS.dmg (or the .zip) and open it.
Drag Kudu into Applications
Drop the Kudu icon onto the Applications folder.
Let macOS open it
Kudu isn't signed with a paid Apple Developer certificate yet, so macOS blocks it with “Kudu is damaged” or “can’t be verified”. Run this once in Terminal:
Terminalxattr -cr /Applications/Kudu.app
It removes the quarantine flag macOS puts on downloads. Or: try to open Kudu, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
Allow the microphone and Accessibility
Kudu asks for both on first launch. Accessibility lets it notice the fn key and type into other apps. If you missed the prompt: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, turn Kudu on.
Download the speech model
About 450 MB, once, from the Home page. Then hold fn and speak.

Smart formatting and Command mode

These use Apple Intelligence: macOS 26 on a Mac that supports it, with Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings. On macOS 14 and 15, Kudu still cleans up and formats with its rules.

Updating

Run the install command again, or download the new version and replace the app. Because the app isn't signed with a paid certificate, macOS may ask you to allow Accessibility again after an update: turn Kudu off and on in Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

Uninstalling

Quit Kudu from its menu-bar icon, move it to the Trash, and if you want to remove your history, dictionary and the model too:

Terminalrm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Kudu ~/Library/Application\ Support/FluidAudio

Having trouble? See Troubleshooting.

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