What you need
Computer
Section titled “Computer”ASIST runs on a Mac and on Windows.
You need a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. ASIST does not run on an Intel Mac.
Speech recognition and the other local models run on your Mac. Speech recognition, and Irodori-TTS and Qwen3-TTS for reading aloud, run on the Mac’s GPU, in programs bundled with the app. With all of them in use, they take about 4.2 GB of memory in total. On a Mac with less than 16 GB of memory, ASIST recommends a smaller model for speech recognition, and they take about 2.8 GB. Choosing Irodori-TTS for reading aloud takes about 2.0 GB more, and Qwen3-TTS about 1.6 GB more. Both are recommended on a Mac with 16 GB of memory or more. The breakdown is in Memory requirements.
You need a PC with an x64 processor and Windows 11. Windows on an Arm processor is not supported.
To run speech recognition, and Irodori-TTS and Qwen3-TTS for reading aloud, on your computer, you need a discrete GPU. Any discrete GPU that its Vulkan driver shows can be used, whether from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel Arc. A GPU built into the processor is not used. With more than one discrete GPU, ASIST uses the one with the most memory.
With 6 GB of GPU memory or more, Qwen3-ASR 1.7B is recommended for speech recognition. Below that, Qwen3-ASR 0.6B is recommended. Irodori-TTS and Qwen3-TTS for reading aloud are recommended with 8 GB of GPU memory or more. The first preparation downloads a model of about 0.8 to 2.2 GB for speech recognition, about 1.9 GB for Irodori-TTS and about 1.2 GB for Qwen3-TTS.
You can use ASIST without a usable GPU. Use Whisper running in the browser for speech recognition, choose Gemini Live as the voice engine, or type to it.
An API key for the conversation model
Section titled “An API key for the conversation model”You need an API key from one of these providers. You enter it during the first-time setup. Usage is billed to your account with that provider.
| Provider | Where to create a key |
|---|---|
| Anthropic | console.anthropic.com |
| OpenAI | platform.openai.com |
| aistudio.google.com | |
| Cerebras | cloud.cerebras.ai |
With a ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan, you can sign in with ChatGPT instead of using an API key. Conversations then count towards your plan’s usage. See Using your ChatGPT plan.
Optional software
Section titled “Optional software”| Software | What it is for |
|---|---|
The codex or claude CLI |
Agent jobs and memory curation. Install the one you want to use and sign in to it first. See Setting up the Agent. |
| VOICEVOX or AivisSpeech | Reading Japanese aloud. If it is in your Applications folder on a Mac, or installed without changing the install folder on Windows, ASIST starts it in the background and connects to it. One that ASIST started stops when ASIST quits or when you choose another speech engine. |
The uv bundled with the app creates the Python environments that searching the memory by meaning, choosing the kind of backchannel and MaAI use. uv also downloads Python at that point, so you do not need to install anything beforehand.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”ASIST’s answers can be wrong, the APIs are billed to your own accounts, and an Agent job you approve can change your files. Before you start, read Using ASIST safely.