DM Read Aloud — Support
Support for DM Read Aloud, the Mac app that reads Claude Code’s replies aloud and highlights each word as it’s spoken. If you don’t find your answer here, email josh@dependentmedia.com and a human will reply.
What you need
- A Mac running macOS 14.4 or later.
- For reading Claude Code replies, Claude Code installed and a
~/.claudefolder. Everything else — reading the clipboard or a text file — works without it.
Quick start — hear your Claude Code sessions
- Open the app, then Settings → Claude Code and press Set Up Claude Code…
- Choose your
~/.claudefolder. You do this once. The app is sandboxed, so it cannot reach the folder until you point it there. - The app installs its hook script and adds three hooks to your Claude Code settings, keeping any hooks you already have. A copy of your previous settings file is saved beside it.
- Claude Code picks the change up without a restart. The next reply a session finishes is read to you: the session’s name first, then the reply.
Prefer to edit your settings yourself? Copy Settings Block, in the same place, puts the hooks on the clipboard to paste in.
Reading anything else
File → Read Clipboard (⌘⇧V) reads whatever is on the clipboard. File → Open Text File… (⌘O) reads a text or Markdown file, and so does dropping one on the app’s icon.
Controls
The controls at the bottom of the window always act on the reply being read, even when a different reply is on screen. Show, next to its name, brings it on screen.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Stop (also clears the queue) | Esc or ⌘. — or the Stop button at the bottom, the toolbar’s stop button, the menu bar player, or right-click the Dock icon |
| Mute | The Auto-Read toolbar button, the menu bar player, the Dock menu, or ⌘⇧A. Muting also stops what’s playing; new replies are still listed. |
| Play / pause | Space, or the play button at the bottom |
| Back / forward one sentence | ← / → |
| Next reply | ⌘→ |
| Read the selected reply from the start | ⌘R |
| Slower / faster / normal speed | ⌘[ / ⌘] / ⌘0 (0.75× to 3.5×) |
| Read from any word | Click it, or right-click → Read from Here |
A stopped reply remembers where it was: select it and press Play to carry on. Right-click a reply to mute that session, mark it read, copy the text or delete it.
Settings
- Reading: the voice (Premium and Enhanced voices are listed first), speed, whether to read the whole reply or only its first paragraph, whether to say the session name first, and whether to read code blocks.
- Claude Code: whether to receive replies at all, read them automatically, stop a session’s reply once you’ve answered it, read scripted
claude -pruns (off by default), open the app when a reply arrives, open at login — and the hook’s current status.
Frequently asked
Nothing is being read
Check Settings → Claude Code. It shows whether the hook is installed and running; if not, press Set Up Claude Code… and choose your ~/.claude folder. Make sure receive replies and read them automatically are both on, and that the session isn’t muted. Replies that were more than ten minutes old when they arrived — for example ones that piled up while the app was closed — are listed but not read; select one and press Play to hear it.
How do I stop it right now?
Press Esc or ⌘. — from any window, the menu bar player, or the Dock icon. That stops the reply being read and clears anything queued behind it.
It reads the whole reply and I only want the gist
Settings → Reading can read only the first paragraph of each reply, and can skip code blocks.
Can I use a better voice?
Any voice installed on your Mac is available, with Premium and Enhanced voices listed first. More can be downloaded in macOS’s System Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → System Voice.
Does it send my replies anywhere?
No. There is no account and no network. Everything is read by macOS’s built-in speech, on your Mac, and replies are kept only in the app’s own history, which you can clear. See the privacy policy.
Contact
Email josh@dependentmedia.com. Claude Code is a product of Anthropic; DM Read Aloud is not affiliated with Anthropic.