switch from Cotypist to Cotabby without breaking your flow

Cotabby requires macOS 14 or later. Apple Silicon is recommended for local GGUF models. The Apple Intelligence engine requires macOS 26 or later and a Mac supported by Apple Intelligence.

• Save any Cotypist custom instructions you want to reuse.
• Note which applications you disabled in Cotypist.
• Keep at least 1–5 GB free if you plan to download a GGUF model.
• Choose three real writing tasks for a fair comparison.

Install with Homebrew using brew install --cask cotabby, or download the latest disk image from the GitHub release page. Move Cotabby to Applications and launch it from there.

Cotabby is distributed outside the Mac App Store because a system-wide autocomplete utility needs macOS permissions and model access that do not fit a conventional sandboxed app.

Cotabby will request Accessibility and Input Monitoring. Accessibility lets it read the active text field and insert accepted words. Input Monitoring detects your acceptance and dismissal keys.

Screen Recording is optional but improves context by reading nearby text that is already visible on screen. Cotabby does not record video, store screenshots, or run in password fields. The security page explains each permission in detail.

Use Apple Intelligence when available if you want the smallest setup and no separate model download. Use the Open Source engine when you want model choice or are running macOS 14 or 15.

Start with Cotabby's recommended local model. A larger model is not automatically better for autocomplete: suggestions that arrive after you have already finished the sentence are not useful. Tune for responsive output first, then test quality.

Tab

Accept the next suggested word.

Backtick

Accept the complete suggestion.

Esc

Dismiss the suggestion. Continuing to type also dismisses it.

All three shortcuts can be changed in Cotabby Settings.

Test the same short email, chat reply, and longer paragraph you chose before installation. Measure whether you accept useful words, not how frequently either app displays ghost text.

If an application behaves differently, check the compatibility matrix. Browser editors can behave differently from native fields because each site implements text editing in its own way.

Once Cotabby works in your regular applications, either leave Cotypist disabled for a few days as a fallback or remove it using Cotypist's own uninstall instructions. Revoking permissions from the old app in System Settings is a separate step from deleting the application.

If Cotabby is not a fit, disable it from the menu bar and your original setup remains available. You can compare all plan and feature differences on the Cotabby vs Cotypist page.