Citenook help.

Getting started

1. Get a free key: choose Start free for 30 days and enter your email. No card is needed. The key is shown on screen and emailed to you.
2. Download Citenook from the page that shows your key, open the download and drag Citenook to Applications.
3. Open Citenook and paste your key. Your free month starts then, with every feature on.
4. Choose which files Citenook should read, and how answers should be written: on your Mac, or with an online AI.
5. Ask your first question. Click the small numbers in the answer to see the exact sentence it came from.

Adding files

Files live in brains: one for each client, project or subject, so answers never mix them up. Make one with New Brain, then choose Add Source.

• Folders and files: PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, text and Markdown, and recordings. Folders are kept up to date as files change.
• Obsidian: pick your vault and its notes are read like a folder.
• Apple Notes: the first time, macOS asks to let Citenook use Notes. If you said no, turn it on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation.
• Web pages, YouTube and Notion: paste a link, or connect your Notion workspace.

Put related brains in a group to ask across all of them from the group's page. Apple Notes, web pages, YouTube, Notion and recordings need the Pro or Pro+ plan after the free month; see pricing.

Choosing a model

Open Settings → Answers. The default model is used for every chat unless you pick another at the top of the chat.

• On your Mac: Apple Intelligence, or download a free model. Nothing leaves your Mac and it works offline. Models run best with 16 GB of memory or more.
• Online AI: add your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or OpenRouter key. You pay them directly for what you use.
• Ollama or LM Studio: open it on your Mac, then choose Check in Settings. Citenook finds its models on its own.

Privacy settings

In Settings → Answers:

• Hide personal details (on by default) replaces names, emails, phone and ID numbers on your Mac before anything is sent to an online AI, and puts them back in the answer.
• Preview before sending shows exactly what will go to an online AI before it goes.

More about what goes where on the privacy and security page.

Quick Ask

Press ⌥ Space in any app to ask your files without switching apps. To ask about selected text and insert answers where you're typing, allow Citenook in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. You can turn the shortcut off in Settings → General.

Your key and plan

• Enter a key: Settings → Your Plan, paste the key from your email and choose Activate.
• Buy, change or cancel a plan: Settings → Your Plan → Manage Your Plan. You sign in with the email you bought with. After cancelling, you keep your plan until the end of the month you paid for.
• Lost your key? Manage Your Plan shows it again, or search your email for the receipt.
• More than one Mac: each plan is for one person on their own Macs. Enter the same key on each.
• After the free month: your files and chats stay readable. Choose a plan to ask new questions.

Updates

Citenook installs new versions on its own. To check now, choose Citenook → Check for Updates… in the menu bar. You can turn automatic updates off in Settings → General. See the changelog for what changed.

Fixing problems

• “Apple Intelligence isn't available on this Mac.” Turn on Apple Intelligence in System Settings, or pick another model in Settings → Answers.
• “Ollama or LM Studio isn't running on this Mac.” Open it (or install it), then choose Check in Settings → Answers.
• Answers are slow on your Mac. Pick a smaller model, use Apple Intelligence, or use an online AI for hard questions.
• Citenook can't read Notes. Turn on Notes for Citenook in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation.
• A file is missing from answers. Open the brain's Files view to check it was read. Scanned pages are read with your Mac's text recognition, which can miss faint or handwritten text.
• Quick Ask copies instead of inserting. Allow Citenook in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

Removing Citenook

Quit Citenook and move it to the Trash. To delete everything it kept, also delete the Citenook folder in your Library → Application Support, and the Citenook items in Keychain Access. Cancel any plan first from Manage Your Plan.

Still stuck?

Write to support@citenook.com, or choose Help → Contact Support in the app. We usually reply within 5 working days.