The open-source teleprompter that lives in your MacBook's notch.
Speak naturally. Maintain eye contact. Stay focused.

A free, privacy-first alternative to Moody — built with SwiftUI & AppKit.

Most teleprompter apps put your script far from your camera. You end up reading from the bottom of your screen while your eyes drift away from the lens. Your audience notices.

TopCue places your script right next to the camera — inside the MacBook notch — so your gaze stays natural during calls, recordings, and presentations.

• Notch Integration — Script text visually merges with the MacBook notch, creating a seamless prompter right below the camera
• Smooth 60fps Scrolling — Butter-smooth text scrolling powered by Combine timers
• Built-in Script Editor — Notion-inspired editor with a clean, minimal interface
• Script Management — Create, edit, search, and favorite your presentation scripts
• Play / Pause Controls — Start and stop scrolling with keyboard shortcuts
• Speed Control — Adjust scrolling speed on the fly (Cmd+↑ / Cmd+↓)
• Text Size Adjustment — Zoom in/out to match your comfort (Cmd++ / Cmd+-)
• Hover to Pause — Mouse over the prompter to instantly pause, move away to resume
• Always on Top — Stays visible over all apps, including fullscreen windows
• Multi-Space Support — Visible across all macOS Spaces/desktops
• 100% Local & Private — Zero network calls, zero analytics, zero cloud. Your scripts never leave your machine
• Persistent Storage — Scripts auto-save locally via SwiftData

• Voice Activation — Text scrolls when you speak, pauses when you stop
• Screen Sharing Invisibility — Hidden from Zoom, Meet, and other screen sharing tools (best-effort)
• Floating Window Mode — Detach from the notch, place anywhere, resize freely
• Voice Visual Feedback — Animated beam that responds to your speaking volume
• Countdown Timer — 3-2-1-Go preparation countdown before presentations
• Text Color Customization — Presets (white, matrix green, cyan...) + custom color picker
• Settings Panel — Centralized preferences for all options
• Menu Bar Widget — Quick access from the menu bar
• Mirror Mode — Reversed text for physical teleprompter displays
• iPhone Remote Control — Control TopCue from your phone via Multipeer Connectivity

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/sanztheo/TopCue.git
cd TopCue

# Open in Xcode
open TopCue/TopCue.xcodeproj

# Build and run (⌘R)

Note: TopCue uses only Apple-native frameworks — no external dependencies, no package managers, no setup headaches.

TopCue uses a transparent NSPanel positioned at the top of your screen, visually fusing with the MacBook notch through a custom NotchShape clip. The result: text appears to scroll out of the notch itself.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           ┌───────────┐                 │  ← Physical notch (camera)
│           │  ■■■■■■■  │                 │
│           └─────┬─────┘                 │
│           ┌─────┴─────┐                 │
│           │  TopCue    │                 │  ← Transparent panel with text
│           │  scrolling │                 │
│           │   text...  │                 │
│           └───────────┘                 │
│                                         │
│         Your app / Zoom / Slides        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

TopCue/
├── App/
│   ├── TopCueApp.swift           # Entry point, scenes & keyboard shortcuts
│   └── AppDelegate.swift         # NSApplicationDelegate lifecycle
├── Models/
│   ├── Script.swift              # SwiftData model for scripts
│   └── PrompterState.swift       # Observable playback state
├── Services/
│   └── ScrollController.swift    # 60fps scrolling engine (Combine)
├── Views/
│   ├── Editor/
│   │   ├── EditorView.swift      # Script editor (Notion-style)
│   │   └── ScriptListView.swift  # Sidebar with search & favorites
│   └── Prompter/
│       ├── PrompterView.swift    # Main teleprompter display
│       └── NotchShape.swift      # Custom shape matching notch curves
├── Windows/
│   ├── FloatingPanel.swift       # Transparent NSPanel subclass
│   └── WindowManager.swift       # Window lifecycle & positioning
└── Utils/
    └── Constants.swift           # Centralized constants & theme

Key design decisions:

• MVVM architecture with @Observable (Swift 5.9+, not legacy ObservableObject)
• Hybrid SwiftUI + AppKit — SwiftUI for views, AppKit for window management (NSPanel is required for always-on-top, non-activating behavior)
• SwiftData for local persistence — no Core Data boilerplate
• Zero dependencies — pure Apple SDK, small binary, fast launch

Overall: ~23/57 tasks completed + 6 partial (~45%)

See the full roadmap for detailed task tracking.

_{*NotchPrompter source available but not notarized — requires Apple Developer License to run.}

Contributions are welcome! TopCue is in active development and there's plenty to do.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/voice-activation)
3. Commit your changes following Swift conventions
4. Open a Pull Request

Please follow the Swift API Design Guidelines and the project's code quality rules in CLAUDE.md.

• Voice activation (AVAudioEngine + RMS-based VAD)
• Screen sharing invisibility research
• Multi-monitor support
• Accessibility (VoiceOver)
• Localization (EN, FR, ES, DE)

TopCue is built with privacy as a core principle:

• No network requests — the app never connects to the internet
• No analytics or telemetry — zero tracking of any kind
• No cloud storage — all scripts stored locally via SwiftData
• No account required — just open and use
• Microphone access — requested only for voice activation (optional), audio is never recorded or transmitted

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Free to use, modify, and distribute. Commercial use allowed.

Built with SwiftUI & AppKit for macOS
_{If TopCue helps you present better, consider giving it a ⭐}