Getting Started with Vox: A Complete Beginner Guide
You just installed Vox. The app is open, the sidebar is showing, and you're ready to go. This guide walks you through your first five minutes — from activation to your first real task.
Step 1: Say the wake word
Vox listens for “Computer” using a custom ONNX model that runs entirely on your machine. No audio leaves your device until you speak the wake word.
“Computer, hello.”
Hey! I'm Vox, your desktop AI assistant. I can manage your files, send emails, create documents, search the web, and run code — all from voice commands. What would you like to do first?
You can also activate Vox with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + V (Cmd + Option + V on macOS) if you prefer typing.
Step 2: Try a simple command
Start with something quick to see how Vox works:
“Computer, what time is it in Tokyo right now?”
Vox searches the web and reads the answer aloud via text-to-speech. You'll hear the response through your speakers — no need to look at the screen.
Step 3: Manage a file
“Computer, create a text file on my Desktop called ideas.txt with the text 'Things to build this week'.”
Check your Desktop — the file is there. Vox can read, write, move, rename, and delete files anywhere on your system.
Step 4: Send an email
“Computer, send a test email to myself saying Vox is set up and working.”
Vox uses your native email client (Mail.app, Outlook, etc.) to send the message. No browser, no logging in — it works with whatever email app you already have configured.
Step 5: Set up your knowledge base
Go to the Knowledge tab in the sidebar and add a folder of documents. Vox indexes them locally using SQLite FTS5, making everything searchable by voice.
“Computer, search my knowledge base for project proposals from this year.”
The interface
Chat
Knowledge
Activity
Settings
Billing
Your conversation lives here.
One continuous thread — no chat windows to manage, no context to repeat. Just talk to Vox and everything is remembered.
What to try next
- “Computer, capture my screen and explain what I'm looking at.”
- “Computer, create a Word document summarizing my project notes.”
- “Computer, research the latest news about AI regulation.”
- “Computer, batch rename the photos in my vacation folder.”
That's your first five minutes. Vox gets better the more you use it — it learns your style, remembers your preferences, and builds context over time.
Put Vox to work on your computer.
Download Vox for Mac and start with the local setup flow.
macOS · Apple Silicon & Intel