PeekPeek vs the macOS screenshot tool
What macOS gives you
macOS has screenshots built in. Shift, Command and 3 captures the whole screen; Shift, Command and 4 lets you drag over a portion, and pressing Space after it captures a window.[1] Shift, Command and 5 opens the Screenshot app, with a timer and a choice of where screenshots are saved.[1]
By default the screenshot is saved to your desktop, or to the Clipboard if you add Control to the shortcut.[1] In macOS 27 with Siri AI (Beta) turned on, you can also ask Siri about what's on your screen.[1]
What Peek adds when the screenshot is for an AI
Press ⌃⌘P and drag, the same way you'd take a screenshot. Then Peek:
- Reads the text on your Mac, so the AI you use gets error messages word for word, not just pixels.
- Removes secrets before anything leaves your Mac: API keys, tokens, passwords, card numbers and emails are masked in the text and blurred in the image.
- Writes a description shaped for where you paste: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, an AI editor like Cursor, or a terminal agent like Claude Code or Codex.
- Works with the AI you already use, through your Claude Code login or your own Claude or Gemini key.
Use both
The macOS tool is the right choice for saving or sharing an image. Peek is for handing a capture to an AI. They don't conflict: Peek uses its own shortcut.
Sources
- Take a screenshot on Mac, Apple Support, checked 2026-10-17