prosefmt

Rewrite text in any app — press a hotkey, get polished prose back.

Highlight text in any application — browser, email, Slack, VS Code, anything — press your hotkey, and prosefmt silently rewrites it and pastes the result back. Grammar fixed, tone shifted, fully rephrased: all without leaving the app you are in.

It also works as a standard CLI tool that composes with pipes and scripts.

$ prosefmt fix "i can haz good grammer?"
I can have good grammar?

$ echo "this sentense has a typo" | prosefmt fix
This sentence has a typo.

$ prosefmt professional --clipboard    # reads clipboard → rewrites → writes back

→ Jump to hotkey setup ↓

Table of Contents

• Why prosefmt?
• Installation
• Setup Guide
  • Step 1 — Install clipboard tools
  • Step 2 — Choose an AI provider
  • Step 3 — Create your config
  • Step 4 — Verify everything works
  • Step 5 — Try it out
• System-Wide Hotkeys
• Built-in Modes
• Custom Modes
• Configuration Reference
• Commands
• Development

Why prosefmt?

Every existing tool in this space is a GUI desktop app — Electron, Tauri, or PyQt5. They are 100–200 MB, framework-dependent, and impossible to script.

prosefmt is a plain CLI tool: two Python dependencies, composes with pipes, works from hotkeys or scripts, and runs on every OS.

Installation

# Recommended — installs as an isolated tool
uv tool install prosefmt

# Or with pip
pip install prosefmt

New to uv? Install it with: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Setup Guide

Follow these steps once after installing. This takes about 5 minutes.

Step 1 — Install clipboard tools

prosefmt uses your system clipboard to read and paste text. The tools needed depend on your OS. macOS and Windows users can skip this step — everything is built in.

Linux (X11 — most desktops: GNOME, KDE, i3, XFCE, …)

# Debian / Ubuntu / Mint / Pop!_OS
sudo apt install xclip xdotool

# Fedora / RHEL / CentOS / Rocky
sudo dnf install xclip xdotool

# Arch / Manjaro / EndeavourOS
sudo pacman -S xclip xdotool

# openSUSE
sudo zypper install xclip xdotool

Linux (Wayland — GNOME on Wayland, KDE Wayland, Sway, Hyprland, …)

# Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
sudo apt install wl-clipboard wtype

# Fedora / RHEL / CentOS
sudo dnf install wl-clipboard wtype

# Arch / Manjaro
sudo pacman -S wl-clipboard wtype

# openSUSE
sudo zypper install wl-clipboard wtype

Not sure if you are on X11 or Wayland? Run echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE — it prints x11 or wayland.

macOS — nothing to install. pbcopy, pbpaste, and osascript are built in.

Windows — nothing to install. clip.exe and PowerShell are built in.

Step 2 — Choose an AI provider

Pick one. You can always add more later.

Option A — Ollama (local, free, fully private — recommended for first-time setup)

No API key needed. Runs entirely on your machine.

# 1. Install Ollama  →  https://ollama.com/download
#    (macOS / Windows: download the installer; Linux: one-liner below)
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# 2. Pull a model  (qwen2.5:1.5b is fast and small — great for CPU-only)
ollama pull qwen2.5:1.5b

# 3. Start the server (keep this running in the background)
ollama serve

Other good models to try: llama3.2:3b, mistral:7b, phi3:mini

Option B — OpenAI

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish) so it is always available:

echo 'export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."' >> ~/.bashrc

Option C — Anthropic (Claude)

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

Option D — Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint

Works with Groq, Together AI, LM Studio, vLLM, and any server that speaks the /v1/chat/completions format. Configure the URL and model in your config file (see Step 3).

Step 3 — Create your config

Run this once to create a ready-to-edit config file:

prosefmt config init

It also checks whether your clipboard tools from Step 1 are installed and tells you exactly what to run if anything is missing.

Open the file to set your default provider and model:

# Linux / macOS
nano ~/.config/prosefmt/config.toml    # or: code, vim, whatever you prefer

# Windows
notepad %APPDATA%\prosefmt\config.toml

The minimum config for Ollama — the defaults already cover this, so you may not need to change anything:

default_provider = "ollama"

[providers.ollama]
url   = "http://localhost:11434"
model = "qwen2.5:1.5b"

For OpenAI:

default_provider = "openai"

[providers.openai]
model = "gpt-4o-mini"    # API key comes from OPENAI_API_KEY env var

Step 4 — Verify everything works

prosefmt check

Expected output:

✓ Clipboard tools installed
✓ Provider 'ollama' is reachable  (model: qwen2.5:1.5b)

If anything is wrong, prosefmt check prints the exact command to fix it.

Step 5 — Try it out

# Pass text directly
prosefmt fix "me and him went to the store yesterday"

# Pipe from stdin
echo "this sentense has a typo" | prosefmt fix

# Read from clipboard and print the result
prosefmt fix --clipboard

# Read from clipboard, rewrite, and write the result back to clipboard
prosefmt professional --clipboard

# System-wide: read selected text from any app, rewrite, paste back in-place
prosefmt fix --system

System-Wide Hotkeys

The --system flag is what makes prosefmt useful beyond the terminal. Highlight any text, press your hotkey, and the rewritten version is pasted back automatically — without touching the mouse or switching windows.

Two bindings are recommended:

Linux — i3wm / Sway

Install rofi if you do not have it already:

sudo dnf install rofi   # Fedora
sudo apt install rofi   # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo pacman -S rofi     # Arch

Create the mode picker script at ~/.config/prosefmt/prosefmt-menu.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
PROMPT=$'\uf044'" prosefmt"
choice=$(prosefmt list --names | rofi -dmenu -i -p "$PROMPT" -theme-str 'window {width: 28%;}')
[[ -z "$choice" ]] && exit 0
exec prosefmt "$choice" --system --notify

chmod +x ~/.config/prosefmt/prosefmt-menu.sh

Add to ~/.config/i3/config (or ~/.config/sway/config):

bindsym $mod+g       exec --no-startup-id prosefmt fix --system --notify
bindsym $mod+Shift+g exec --no-startup-id ~/.config/prosefmt/prosefmt-menu.sh

Reload i3 with Mod+Shift+C.

Linux — Hyprland

Install wofi (Wayland-native picker) or rofi (also supports Wayland on modern builds):

sudo dnf install wofi   # Fedora
sudo apt install wofi   # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo pacman -S wofi     # Arch

Create the mode picker script at ~/.config/prosefmt/prosefmt-menu.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
# Use wofi if available, otherwise fall back to rofi
if command -v wofi &>/dev/null; then
    choice=$(prosefmt list --names | wofi --dmenu --prompt "prosefmt")
else
    choice=$(prosefmt list --names | rofi -dmenu -i -p "prosefmt")
fi
[[ -z "$choice" ]] && exit 0
exec prosefmt "$choice" --system --notify

chmod +x ~/.config/prosefmt/prosefmt-menu.sh

Add to ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:

bind = $mainMod,       G, exec, prosefmt fix --system --notify
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, G, exec, ~/.config/prosefmt/prosefmt-menu.sh

Linux — GNOME / KDE (any desktop)

rofi works on GNOME and KDE too — install it and use the same script from the i3wm section above. Then add the shortcuts in Settings → Keyboard → Custom Shortcuts:

macOS — Hammerspoon

Hammerspoon provides both the hotkey binding and a built-in chooser for the mode picker. Add to ~/.hammerspoon/init.lua:

-- Grammar fix
hs.hotkey.bind({"cmd"}, "g", function()
  hs.task.new("/usr/local/bin/prosefmt", nil, {"fix", "--system", "--notify"}):start()
end)

-- Mode picker — opens Hammerspoon's native chooser
hs.hotkey.bind({"cmd", "shift"}, "g", function()
  hs.task.new("/usr/local/bin/prosefmt", function(_, stdout)
    local choices = {}
    for line in stdout:gmatch("[^\n]+") do
      table.insert(choices, { text = line })
    end
    local chooser = hs.chooser.new(function(choice)
      if choice then
        hs.task.new("/usr/local/bin/prosefmt", nil,
          {choice.text, "--system", "--notify"}):start()
      end
    end)
    chooser:choices(choices)
    chooser:show()
  end, {"list", "--names"}):start()
end)

Reload the Hammerspoon config from the menu bar icon.

macOS — Automator / Shortcuts app

For a fix-only binding without Hammerspoon, create a Quick Action in Automator that runs:

/usr/local/bin/prosefmt fix --system --notify

Assign it a keyboard shortcut in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Services.

Windows — AutoHotkey v2

Create prosefmt-menu.ps1 anywhere on your system (for example %USERPROFILE%\prosefmt-menu.ps1):

# prosefmt-menu.ps1
$modes = (& prosefmt list --names) -split "`n" | Where-Object { $_ }
$mode  = $modes | Out-GridView -Title "prosefmt — choose a mode" -PassThru
if ($mode) { & prosefmt $mode --system --notify }

Add to your AutoHotkey v2 script:

; prosefmt.ahk
#g::  Run "prosefmt fix --system --notify",, "Hide"
#+g:: Run 'powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -File "%USERPROFILE%\prosefmt-menu.ps1"',, "Hide"

Built-in Modes

Run prosefmt list to see all modes including any custom ones you have added.

Custom Modes

Add any number of custom modes to your config file:

# ~/.config/prosefmt/config.toml

[modes.translate-spanish]
prompt = "Translate to Spanish. Keep technical terms in English."
label  = "Translated to Spanish"

[modes.code-comments]
prompt             = "Add clear, concise comments to this code. Do not change the code itself."
label              = "Comments added"
preserve_structure = false

[modes.slack]
prompt = "Rewrite for Slack: brief, friendly, one or two sentences max. No formal sign-off."
label  = "Slack-ready"

[modes.eli5]
prompt = "Explain this like I'm five — simple words, short sentences, no jargon."
label  = "Simplified"

Use them exactly like built-in modes:

prosefmt translate-spanish "Good morning, how are you?"
prosefmt slack "Please review the pull request I opened for the authentication refactor."

Custom modes appear automatically in the mode picker — no changes to your hotkey scripts needed.

Configuration Reference

Config file location:

Run prosefmt config init to create it, prosefmt config show to see active values.

Full example

# ~/.config/prosefmt/config.toml

# Which provider to use by default
default_provider = "ollama"

# System prompt applied to every rewrite mode.
# Uncomment and edit to change the AI's base behaviour.
# system_prompt = "You are a text editor. Output ONLY the rewritten text — no preamble."

# ── Providers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

[providers.ollama]
url   = "http://localhost:11434"
model = "qwen2.5:1.5b"          # any model you have pulled

[providers.openai]
# API key: set OPENAI_API_KEY or PROSEFMT_OPENAI_API_KEY in your environment
model = "gpt-4o-mini"

[providers.anthropic]
# API key: set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or PROSEFMT_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY in your environment
model = "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001"

# Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint: Groq, Together AI, LM Studio, vLLM, etc.
# [providers.openai-compat]
# url   = "https://api.groq.com/openai/v1"
# model = "llama-3.3-70b-versatile"
# API key: set PROSEFMT_COMPAT_API_KEY in your environment

API keys — environment variables

Never put API keys in the config file. Set them as environment variables instead:

Add them to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, ~/.config/fish/config.fish) so they load automatically in every session.

Commands

prosefmt <mode> [TEXT]         Rewrite TEXT (or stdin if omitted)
prosefmt <mode> --clipboard    Read from clipboard, print result (also writes back)
prosefmt <mode> --system       Read selected text, rewrite, paste back in-place
prosefmt <mode> --provider P   Override the AI provider for this run
prosefmt <mode> --model M      Override the model for this run
prosefmt <mode> --notify       Show a desktop notification when done

prosefmt list                  List all available modes (human-readable)
prosefmt list --names          Mode names only — used by hotkey picker scripts
prosefmt undo                  Restore the original text from the last rewrite
prosefmt check                 Check clipboard tools and provider connectivity
prosefmt config init           Create ~/.config/prosefmt/config.toml
prosefmt config show           Show the active configuration

prosefmt --version             Show version
prosefmt --help                Show help

Development

git clone https://github.com/digitronik/prosefmt.git
cd prosefmt
uv sync --extra dev

# Git hooks (ruff + file hygiene) — uses .pre-commit-config.yaml
uv run pre-commit install
uv run pre-commit run --all-files   # once, to verify hooks

# Run tests
uv run pytest -v

Contributions welcome — open an issue or pull request on GitHub.

License

MIT