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Pipit asks macOS for two permissions during setup, and a third only if you use a feature that reads your screen.

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Grant a permission

All three live in System Settings > Privacy & Security.
  • Microphone: click Grant during setup and choose Allow when macOS asks. If you said no, turn Pipit on under Privacy & Security > Microphone.
  • Accessibility: click Grant during setup. macOS opens Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Turn Pipit on. Pipit may show “Activating hotkey…” and reopen itself so the shortcut starts working.
  • Screen Recording: Pipit asks when you turn on Draft or Use on-device OCR. A small helper appears next to System Settings. Drag Pipit into the top list, Screen & System Audio Recording, then turn it on. Not the audio-only list below it. If macOS asks, choose Quit & Reopen.
You can also check from Pipit’s window: the three status icons at the top are for the microphone, Accessibility, and AI cleanup. Hover over one to see its status, and click one that needs attention to fix it.

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What happens without each

Microphone. Pipit can’t record. The Home tab shows “Microphone access needed” with a Review Permissions button. If you turn the microphone off while Pipit runs, you’ll see “Microphone is off, so Pipit can’t hear you.” Click Fix. Accessibility. Your shortcut does nothing, and Pipit can’t paste. The bird in the menu bar turns orange, and the menu shows “Accessibility needed” with Open Settings. If Accessibility is switched off while Pipit runs, you’ll see “Accessibility is off, so Pipit can’t hear your shortcut.” Click Fix. If a dictation can’t be pasted for this reason, the card says “Pipit needs Accessibility to paste”, and Copy still works. Screen Recording. Everything else works. Draft stays off, and if you’ve set a Draft key, the Home tab shows “Draft is waiting for screen access” with a button to turn it on.

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Fix a permission that’s stuck

Sometimes System Settings shows Pipit turned on, but the shortcut still does nothing or the menu bar bird stays orange. This can happen after an update.
1

Open the Accessibility list

Click the bird in the menu bar, then Open Settings. Or open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.
2

Reset Pipit's entry

Turn Pipit off and on again. If that doesn’t help, select Pipit, click − to remove it, then click + and add Pipit back from your Applications folder. Make sure it’s turned on.
3

Quit and reopen Pipit

Quit Pipit and open it again. Pipit’s own message for this case is “Please quit and reopen Pipit to activate the hotkey.”
The same steps work for Screen & System Audio Recording. If the microphone is stuck, turn Pipit off and on under Microphone, then quit and reopen Pipit. Still stuck? See Troubleshooting.