QiuckPrompts

Lightweight Windows 10/11 tray app: global hotkeys grab text from your editor and send it to an AI chat with a prepared prompt.

Pure Win32 + C++17. No third-party libraries. Built to debug, trace, and extend.

Windows tray app: hotkeys grab editor text and send it to an AI chat with a prepared prompt.

Features

• System tray icon, single instance
• Ergonomic hotkeys (left hand Ctrl+Alt, right hand letter)
• Fire on key release so modifiers are up before automation runs
• Send-to-AI workflow:
  1. Select-all + copy from the focused editor
  2. Prefer Chrome MV3 companion (DOM paste into the composer)
  3. Fallback: activate Chrome (Dev/Beta/stable) / Edge → new tab → AI URL
  4. Adaptive wait (window title + UI Automation chat input)
  5. Paste prompt + editor text
  6. Restore clipboard
• Insert-only mode (paste template into the current field)
• File + debugger logging; optional titles.log for mining real window titles
• Bindings live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\qiuckprompts.ini (seed: config/qiuckprompts.ini)
• Binding / update URLs must be https://

Configuration file

User config (edit this): %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\qiuckprompts.ini
Seeded on first run from the install template (<exe>\config\qiuckprompts.ini).
Updates never overwrite the user file. Backups live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\backups\.

Logs: %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\logs\ (qiuckprompts.log, titles.log; rotated ~5 MiB × 4 files).
Default log_level=info (length only). Payload / clipboard / editor previews are debug/trace — they can contain secrets.

Tray → Open config / Open data folder. Override path: --config=D:\path\qiuckprompts.ini

Each [section] binds hotkey + service URL + full prompt text:

[grammar_meta]
label=Grammar quick (Meta)
service=meta
hotkey=Ctrl+Alt+J
url=https://www.meta.ai/
title_hint=Meta
capture_editor=1
prompt<<<
Light edit only. Fix grammar...
Message:
>>>

Multi-line prompts use prompt<<< … >>> (so you can use ; and markdown ``` inside).
Single-line prompt=... still works. External prompt=file.txt is optional if you really want a separate file.

Hotkey	Service	Purpose
Ctrl+Alt+J	Meta	Quick grammar / light sanity, keep your voice
Ctrl+Alt+O	Gemini	Grammar in-thread; optional clipboard {{CONTEXT}}
Ctrl+Alt+K	Gemini	Improve message: fact-check + grammar + recommended text
Ctrl+Alt+L	Grok	Collaborate on an idea
Ctrl+Alt+I	Gemini	Screenshot on clipboard + dialog structure / polish
Ctrl+Alt+M	ChatGPT	Clipboard → Suno-ready style + lyrics (<<<STYLE: >>> editable)

Restart the app after edits. Override path: --config=D:\path\qiuckprompts.ini

Screenshot flow: Win+Shift+S, then Ctrl+Alt+I.
Song flow: copy inspiration → Ctrl+Alt+M → optionally edit <<<STYLE: >>> in ChatGPT → send.

Default hotkeys (from config)

Hotkey	Action
Ctrl+Alt+J	Grammar quick → Meta
Ctrl+Alt+K	Improve message (facts + grammar) → Gemini
Ctrl+Alt+L	Idea collab → Grok
Ctrl+Alt+I	Screenshot review → Gemini
Ctrl+Alt+O	Grammar in context → Gemini
Ctrl+Alt+M	Song from clipboard → ChatGPT (Suno)

Edit bindings and prompts in %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\qiuckprompts.ini (seed: config/qiuckprompts.ini).

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
• CMake 3.20+
• Visual Studio 2022 with C++ desktop workload (MSVC)

Build

scripts\build.bat

Or manually:

cmake -S . -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
cmake --build build --config Debug

Output	Path
Exe	build\Debug\qiuckprompts.exe
PDB	build\Debug\qiuckprompts.pdb

Release-style local build:

cmake --build build --config RelWithDebInfo

Run / test

build\Debug\qiuckprompts.exe
build\Debug\qiuckprompts.exe --console --log-level=debug
build\Debug\qiuckprompts.exe --self-test

CLI

Flag	Meaning
--console	Live logs on a console
--log-level=LEVEL	trace | debug | info | warn | error (default info)
--log-file=PATH	Override log path
--ai-url=URL	Default AI chat URL (https:// only)
--update-url=URL	Velopack feed directory (https:// only)
--browser-hint=TEXT	Prefer matching window/path (default Chrome Dev)
--page-title-hint=TEXT	Title must contain this (auto from URL if empty)
--page-ready-timeout=MS	Max wait for page/input (default 10000)
--page-ready-min=MS	Min wait after navigate (default 500)
--no-uia	Title-only wait (disable UI Automation)
--no-extension	Skip Chrome companion; UIA-only path
--hotkey-on-press	Fire on key-down (default is on-release)
--hotkey-release-timeout=MS	Max wait for key-up (default 3000)
--insert-only	Paste template only (no browser flow)
--config=PATH	Override user ini path
--self-test	Headless checks, exit 0/1
--help	Help text

Chrome companion extension

Optional MV3 extension gives reliable DOM paste (preferred over UIA when connected).

1. Run the tray app once (registers native messaging host under %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\nm\).
2. Chrome/Edge → Developer mode → Load unpacked → extension/ (or build\Debug\extension).
3. Keep extension enabled; id should be aodehlngahndannepofbddnacfaldmih.

Details: extension/README.md. Disable with prefer_extension=0 or --no-extension.

Releases

This project ships installable binaries via GitHub Releases using Velopack (Setup + in-app updates) and a plain zip.

CI builds on every push/PR as 0.0.0-dev. Pushing a version tag injects that version into the binary (CMake -DQP_RELEASE_VERSION=), builds RelWithDebInfo, runs vpk pack, and publishes a Release:

git checkout master
git pull
git tag v0.3.2
git push origin v0.3.2

Item	Detail
Trigger	Git tag matching v*
Version	Tag without v → PE + About + Velopack pack version + Chrome companion manifest.json (X.Y.Z only)
Local/PR	Always 0.0.0-dev (not a release); companion stamped 0.0.0 beside Debug exe
Beta tags	e.g. v1.0.0-b1 (SemVer pre-release; GitHub prerelease; companion stamped 1.0.0)
Build	RelWithDebInfo (MSVC x64)
Installer	QiuckPrompts-win-Setup.exe (Velopack one-click → %LocalAppData%\QiuckPrompts)
Portable	QiuckPrompts-win-Portable.zip (Velopack portable layout)
Feed	releases.win.json + *-full.nupkg (in-app update)
Zip	qiuckprompts-<tag>-win-x64.zip (raw exe + config + extension)
Notes	Auto-generated from commits since previous tag

Install / update

1. Download QiuckPrompts-win-Setup.exe and run (no admin).
2. Config/logs stay in %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\ (not wiped by updates).
3. Tray → Check for updates… fetches the latest feed and applies via Update.exe.
4. Tray → Start with Windows (checked) registers HKCU Run for the Velopack stub when installed.

Chrome companion after Setup:

Step	What
Install/update hook	Registers native messaging host; copies packaged extension/ → %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\extension (stable path). Companion version = app PE X.Y.Z.
You once	Chrome → Load unpacked → that stable folder (not current\extension)
After app update	Extension files are re-copied to the same path — click Reload on chrome://extensions if Chrome still shows the old companion version
Uninstall	NM registry keys removed; your config/logs/extension folder are left

Local pack (needs vpk):

dotnet tool install -g vpk
scripts\build.bat
cmake --build build --config RelWithDebInfo
scripts\pack-velopack.bat 0.3.2

Default feed URL: https://github.com/summeroff/qiuckprompts/releases/latest/download
Override: update_url= in ini or --update-url=.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for branch/PR workflow and release checklist.

Code style

See CODING_STYLE.md. Braces are Allman-style ({ on its own line); } else { stays joined. CI runs clang-format.

scripts\format.bat          :: apply
scripts\format.bat --check  :: CI-style check

Extension paste helpers:

node --test tests\paste_logic.test.cjs

Contributing

Use feature branches and squash-merge PRs into master — details in CONTRIBUTING.md.

Layout

Path	Role
config/qiuckprompts.ini	Shipped template (hotkeys + prompts). Live copy is AppData.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\	User config, logs, backups, NM host, stable extension
include/config.hpp	Built-in fallback bindings + workflow knobs
src/workflow.cpp	Send-to-AI pipeline (extension → UIA fallback)
src/ext_bridge.cpp	Named pipe + native-messaging host relay
extension/	MV3 companion (DOM composer paste)
extension/paste_logic.js	Shared paste/URL helpers (Node + content + background)
tests/paste_logic.test.cjs	Node unit tests for those helpers
src/browser.cpp	Find / activate browser window
src/page_ready.cpp	Title + UI Automation wait
src/title_sample.cpp	TITLE_SAMPLE → titles.log
src/hotkeys.cpp	Global hotkeys, fire-on-release
src/injector.cpp	Insert-only paste path
src/input_sim.cpp	Keys, clipboard, focus helpers
src/tray.cpp	Notify icon + menu
.github/workflows/ci.yml	Build, test, tagged releases

Collecting window titles

For tuning pageTitleHint / browser matching:

1. Run the app
2. Open AI tabs in Chrome
3. Tray → Sample window titles now
4. Tray → Open titles.log → %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts\logs\titles.log

Lines are tagged TITLE_SAMPLE with stable where= fields.

Design notes

• User data lives under %LOCALAPPDATA%\QiuckPrompts so installers/updates cannot clobber config or logs.
• Chrome does not expose the chat box as a Win32 HWND. Prefer the MV3 companion (DOM); readiness otherwise uses the UI Automation tree plus the tab title.
• Hotkeys arm on press and run on release so Ctrl/Alt are up before Select-all/Copy/Paste.
• Send-to-AI / insert-only run on a worker thread; the tray message loop stays responsive. COM/UIA is initialized per-thread.
• After app update, Reload the unpacked companion if the tray warns that versions differ.
• Hidden top-level HWND (not HWND_MESSAGE) so a second launch can FindWindow + take over.
• Binding url= and update_url= must be https://. The updater refuses HTTPS→HTTP redirects.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.