Desktop, phone, and browser apps
SpecStream runs as an app on your computer and your phone, as a browser extension, and inside VS Code. Each one uses your SpecStream account, balance, and saved work, so a request started in one is waiting in the others. The apps page has the downloads.
Windows
The Windows app is the workspace in a window of its own, with features that need to run on your computer.
- 1
- 2
2. Sign in
Use the account you already have, or create one. Your requests, lists, and balance are the same as on the web.
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3. Ask from anywhere
Press Ctrl+Alt+Space in any app and an ask box opens on top of it. Say what you need, press Enter, and go back to what you were doing.
What the desktop app adds
- Notifications. A notification tells you when a find finishes or a monitor has something to look at, even when the window is behind other apps. Click it to open the list. The icon shows the count that's waiting.
- Files. SpecStream opens CSV and Excel files. Double-click one, or drop it on the window, to map its columns and review the records. More on imports
- Exports to a folder. CSV and JSON exports go into the folder you choose, not the downloads bar.
- The taskbar menu. The icon's right-click menu starts a new request or an import, and lists what you opened last.
- Startup and theme. SpecStream can open when you sign in to your computer. It follows your computer's light or dark setting until you choose one.
MacComing soon
The Mac app comes in two builds, for Apple silicon and for Intel. It has the same ask box, notifications, file handling, and Dock menu as the Windows app, and the shortcut for the ask box is ⌥⌘Space. Until it is out, the workspace runs in any browser.
iPhone and Android
The phone apps hold the same collections and maps as the workspace. Ask by typing or by voice. Directions on a place opens your maps app. Share a record from the share sheet, export a list as a file, or send it to Google Sheets, your CRM, or another connected tool.
- iPhone: App Store Coming soon
- Android: Google Play Coming soon
A plan bought in a phone app goes through the App Store or Google Play and fills the same balance you use everywhere else. How store billing works
Browser extension
The extension opens SpecStream in a side panel beside the page you're on. It reads only the page's title and the text you select, and only when you ask it to. It uses your SpecStream account and spends from the same balance.
| Browser | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Chrome | Add to Chrome |
| Firefox | Add to Firefox |
| Edge | Coming soon |
| Opera | Coming soon |
Three ways to ask
- The shortcut. Select text on any page and press Alt+Shift+S. The side panel opens with your selection as the request, or with the page's title when nothing is selected.
- The right-click menu. Choose Request from selection or Request from this page.
- The address bar. Type
ss, a space, and what you need. Matching lists from your workspace show up as suggestions, and choosing one opens it.
The panel shows the price before anything runs, and nothing runs until you approve it. Matches fill in as they are found, each with the page it was read from. When a find you started here finishes, one notification says how many matches are ready, and clicking it opens the list in the workspace.
VS Code
The SpecStream extension adds it to VS Code two ways: a @specstream chat participant for you, and the SpecStream MCP server for your agent. It needs VS Code 1.101 or newer. Install it from the Visual Studio Marketplace, or from Open VSX for editors that read it.
Ask in chat
- SpecStream shows the price. Nothing runs yet.
- Choose Run for up to $X, or send
@specstream /approve. You pay for the matches, and a search that finds nothing costs nothing. - The matches arrive in chat as a table, each with a link to its source.
- Choose Open in workspace to send them to your sheet, CRM, or agent, or to save the request so new matches arrive on their own.
The setting specstream.maxMatches caps how many matches /find asks for. The default is 25, and the price you approve covers at most that many. The walkthrough Get your first list with SpecStream is under Welcome: Open Walkthrough in the Command Palette.
Give your agent the server
In agent mode, your agent asks for finished lists instead of reading pages, and it shows you the price before it spends anything. Start SpecStream from MCP: List Servers and approve in the browser. To use a key instead, run SpecStream: Use an API Key Instead of Signing In; VS Code keeps the key in its secret storage. To add only the server, with no extension, follow the VS Code guide.