The Basic Workflow
Position your reading material
Place a page from your book or paper under your document camera. Klaus will automatically detect and rotate the image if needed.
Ask your question
Either speak naturally (voice-activated mode) or hold your hotkey (push-to-talk mode) and ask your question.
Klaus analyzes the page
Klaus captures the page image, reads it using Claude’s vision API, and reasons about your question in context.
Understanding the Status Bar
The bottom status bar shows Klaus’s current state:- ● Idle (gray) - Push-to-talk mode, waiting for you to hold the hotkey
- ● Ready (green) - Voice-activated mode, listening for speech
- ● Listening (blue) - Actively recording your question
- ● Thinking (yellow) - Processing your question and the page
- ● Speaking (green) - Playing back the answer
What Klaus Sees
When you ask a question, Klaus can see:- The current page under your camera (captured as a high-resolution image)
- Your conversation history from the current session
- Previous notes you’ve saved to your Obsidian vault (if configured)
- Web search results when Klaus is uncertain about a claim
Asking Effective Questions
Klaus is tuned for precision and brevity. See Asking Questions Effectively for detailed guidance on:- Getting concise vs. detailed answers
- Referencing specific parts of the page
- When Klaus searches the web automatically
- Following up on previous answers
Taking Notes
Klaus can write notes directly to your Obsidian vault as you speak. See Obsidian Integration for:- Setting up your vault path
- Telling Klaus which file to use
- Dictating notes hands-free
- Note formatting and structure
Managing Sessions
Each conversation lives in a session. Klaus automatically creates a session called “Untitled Session” when you first launch.- Switch sessions using the left sidebar - click any session to load its history
- Create a new session with the ”+” button at the top of the sidebar
- Rename sessions by right-clicking and selecting “Rename”
- Delete sessions by right-clicking and selecting “Delete”
Keyboard Shortcuts
Klaus supports both global hotkeys (work anywhere) and in-app hotkeys (work when the Klaus window is focused):Default Hotkeys
| Action | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| Push-to-talk | § (section key) | F2 |
| Toggle mode | § (section key) | F3 |
On macOS, F-keys trigger system actions by default (F3 opens Mission Control). Either:
- Press
Fn+ the F-key - Enable “Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys” in System Settings → Keyboard
- Configure a different key in
~/.klaus/config.toml
In-App Hotkeys
When the Klaus window is focused, the hotkeys work without any OS permissions. This is useful if you prefer not to grant Accessibility permission on macOS.Global Hotkeys
Global hotkeys work even when Klaus is in the background. On macOS, this requires granting Accessibility permission to your terminal application.Stopping Playback
If Klaus is speaking and you want to interrupt:- Click the Stop button that appears in the status bar
- In voice-activated mode, just start speaking - Klaus will stop and listen
- In push-to-talk mode, hold your hotkey to interrupt
Replaying Previous Answers
Every exchange in your session history has a replay button (▶). Click it to hear Klaus speak that answer again without re-processing the question.Next Steps
Voice Modes
Choose between voice-activated and push-to-talk
Asking Questions
Learn how to get the best answers from Klaus
Obsidian Integration
Save notes hands-free while you read
Sessions
Organize your research conversations