QuickEdit

Rewrite, fix, or transform selected text in any macOS app — in place.

Select text anywhere, hit a shortcut (or click the hint), describe the change, and QuickEdit applies it right where the text lives. No copy‑paste, no switching windows.

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What it does

Highlight text in any application and QuickEdit can:

• Improve it in one click — fix grammar, tighten wording, polish tone.
• Edit it with a custom instruction — "make this more formal", "translate to French", "turn this into bullet points", whatever you type.
• Apply the result in place, replacing your selection directly. The text never leaves the app you're working in.

A small hint appears next to your selection with Improve and Edit actions, or you can trigger it entirely from the keyboard.

Install

Download the latest signed & notarized build and drag it to Applications:

➡️ QuickEdit.dmg (always the latest release)

Or browse all releases on the Releases page. The app updates itself automatically via Sparkle.

Requirements: macOS (Apple Silicon).

Usage

Action	Default shortcut	What it does
Improve	⌘ ⇧ I	One‑click improvement of the selected text
Edit	⌘ ⇧ K	Opens a prompt to describe the change you want

You can also just select text and click the hint that pops up. Shortcuts are customizable in Settings → Shortcuts.

QuickEdit works with remote AI models (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Google) and you can bring your own API key in Settings.

Permissions

QuickEdit asks for macOS permissions only for what it needs (see PERMISSIONS.md):

Permission	Why	Required?
Accessibility	Read the selected text, insert the edit, position the hint	Required
Screen Recording	Screenshot‑based selection detection for apps that don't expose text via Accessibility (e.g. Terminal)	Optional — only for the experimental non‑accessibility trigger

Grant them under System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Building from source

QuickEdit is a native macOS app (Swift / SwiftUI).

git clone https://github.com/synth-inc/quickedit.git
cd quickedit

1. Add secrets. API keys live in macos/OnitQuickEdit/Secrets.xcconfig (not tracked in git). Copy it in from your source, or start from Secrets.xcconfig.sample if present.
2. Open macos/OnitQuickEdit.xcodeproj in Xcode.
3. Select the OnitQuickEdit scheme and run (⌘R).

For a signed local build from the command line:

cd macos
./dev_build.sh            # build + re-sign with Developer ID
./dev_build.sh --install  # …and install to /Applications

Project structure

macos/
├── OnitQuickEdit.xcodeproj        # Xcode project (scheme: OnitQuickEdit)
├── OnitQuickEdit/                 # App sources (Swift/SwiftUI)
│   ├── QuickEdit/                 # Core feature: triggers, flow, hint UI
│   ├── Onboarding/                # First-run onboarding
│   ├── Settings/                  # Settings UI
│   ├── KeyboardShortcuts/         # Global shortcuts
│   ├── Accessibility/ · ScreenRecording/   # Permission managers
│   └── Assets.xcassets/           # App icon, glyphs, colors
├── OnitTests/                     # Unit tests
├── dev_build.sh                   # Local build + Developer ID re-sign
├── build_and_notarize.sh          # Release build, sign, notarize, DMG
└── release.sh                     # Cut a Sparkle release (DMG + appcast)

Releasing

Maintainers: see RELEASE.md. In short — bump the version, then:

cd macos && ./release.sh <version>

This builds, notarizes, publishes a GitHub Release (with a stable QuickEdit.dmg permalink asset), and generates the EdDSA‑signed appcast.xml that powers auto‑updates.

License

Creative Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY‑NC 4.0).

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Made by Synthetic Exploration, Inc.