# CueTray

> CueTray is a Windows tray app for developers who work with Claude Code. Snip a screenshot, write what should change, and the two are saved together as a numbered cue that waits inside your project until Claude Code picks it up with the /next-cue command.

CueTray runs on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit). The current version is 1.0. It is made by Mary Hill of Made4Uo (https://made4uo.com).

Key facts:

- A cue is a screenshot (or several) plus a written instruction, saved under the project it belongs to.
- Every cue gets a permanent number per project (#001, #002, ...). Numbers stay with a cue through edits and after it is done, and are never reused.
- Cues are ordinary files in a `.cuetray` folder inside the project: each cue is a folder with the message and its screenshots. Held and finished cues are kept in their own folders. The `.cuetray` folder is kept out of git.
- Claude Code picks cues up with the `/next-cue` command (CueTray can also install it for Codex, as `$next-cue`, and Gemini CLI, as `/next-cue`): `/next-cue` takes the first cue in line that is not on hold. The line starts in number order; the user can drag cues into another order in the app without changing their numbers. `/next-cue 4` takes cue #004, `/next-cue list` lists waiting and held cues without starting any.
- Cues can be deleted one at a time or several at once (Select, or Clear all for the Done list). Deleted cues go to the Windows Recycle Bin.
- The agent takes one cue per run. It first says which cue it took and quotes the whole message, then opens the screenshots, moves the cue to done and carries it out. It never starts the next cue on its own.
- The project list suggests folders open in VS Code, VS Code Insiders, Cursor, Windsurf or VSCodium (including every folder of an open workspace) and folders used with Claude Code or Codex in the last 30 days or that already have cues. Other folders are added by hand, and any project can be hidden from the list without touching its cues.
- The snip shortcut is Ctrl+Alt+S by default. Ctrl+Alt+C brings CueTray to the front with the cursor in the cue box, to type a cue without a screenshot, and hides the window when pressed again while it's in front (clicking the tray icon does the same). Ctrl+Alt+P, the paste cue shortcut, pastes the last copied cue into the chat or terminal in front, and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P always pastes it as text with the screenshots' file paths (see below). All four shortcuts can be changed in settings. The screen dims at once and the user drags a box on any monitor; CueTray's own window stays visible in the screenshot. Enter saves a cue and Shift+Enter adds a line (Ctrl+Enter can be chosen instead). Screenshots can be marked up with a box, arrow, pen or highlighter, in four preset colors (each can be swapped for another color, which CueTray remembers) or any color from the Windows color picker; an eraser removes whole marks (never the screenshot itself), with undo and redo.
- Price: free for 14 days with every feature (no card, no account), then $14.99 USD, paid once, no subscription; one license covers one computer; refunds within 14 days of buying (a refunded key stops working). After the trial, saved cues keep working (open, copy, edit, hand off, delete); snipping and saving new cues need a license key.
- There is no account and no cloud sync. Cues stay in the user's project folders. Anonymous daily usage counts are sent only if the user opts in. While a license key is entered, the app asks the server about once a day whether that purchase was refunded, sending only an ID from the key; offline, the key keeps working. Cue text, screenshots, file names and project names are never sent. To suggest projects, CueTray looks only at which folders are open in code editors and which folders were used with Claude Code or Codex; it uses only the folder locations, and keeps or sends nothing else (no code, no conversations).
- Works with any AI tool (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor or Copilot) through the Copy button and the paste cue shortcut: the user clicks Copy on a cue, clicks in the chat and presses Ctrl+Alt+P, and CueTray pastes the message, then the screenshot (several screenshots arrive as one picture, stacked top to bottom). A plain Ctrl+V after Copy usually leaves only one of the two in a chat app. When the window in front is a terminal, where an AI tool such as Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI can open files, the same shortcut pastes the message with the screenshots' file paths as text instead; Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P always pastes that form, for terminals CueTray can't tell apart from the app around them (such as the one inside VS Code). The screenshots can also be attached by hand from the cue's folder. The command itself is for Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI.
- CueTray updates itself: it checks GitHub for a new version shortly after starting and every 4 hours, downloads it in the background, and installs it on the next restart ("Restart now" in the window or "Restart to update" in the tray menu). Cues and settings are kept.
- Windows only for now. The installer is signed by Made4Uo LLC; because CueTray is new, Windows may still show "Windows protected your PC" for a while. More info shows the publisher (Made4Uo LLC), then Run anyway continues.

## Docs

- [Guide](https://cuetray.com/guide): install, snipping, drawing, cue numbers and order, hold, projects (and hiding them), search, the cue command for Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, where cues are kept, settings, trial and license, and troubleshooting
- [Full guide as plain text](https://cuetray.com/llms-full.txt): the same guide in one Markdown file

## Blog

- [Why one Claude Code session per project saves tokens](https://cuetray.com/blog/claude-code-tokens): Switching tasks doesn't make Claude Code re-read files. It resends the whole conversation each step. What that costs, when /clear helps, and screenshot math.

## Optional

- [Home](https://cuetray.com): what CueTray is for and how it works
- [Pricing](https://cuetray.com/#pricing): the trial and the one-time price
- [Compare](https://cuetray.com/compare): CueTray next to Snipping Tool, Snagit, ShareX, Microsoft To Do, Todoist, the message queues in Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, and Pinpoint, with sources
- [Privacy](https://cuetray.com/privacy): what CueTray stores, reads and sends, and how to delete it
- [Download](https://cuetray.com/download): Windows installer