Local-first text transformer & translator for Windows.
TextAid captures selected text from another Windows application, applies one configurable AI transformation, shows the result, and lets the user replace the original selection, copy the result, or cancel. It uses a local Ollama model by default; a remote provider is an explicit user choice.
- Capture selected text with
Ctrl+C, thenCto choose an action, orCtrl+C, thenTfor immediate translation. - Identify the captured language through an asynchronous AI request on both shortcuts, without blocking the interface. Reuse the response until the text changes; ambiguous input requires an explicit translation destination.
- Rewrite, correct, translate, summarize, shorten, expand, simplify, change tone, humanize, or create declarative custom actions.
- Preview raw or rendered Markdown results in a dark Windows interface.
- Keep model traffic local by default, with clear configuration for on-premises or external providers.
- Run as a self-contained Windows x64 executable; no .NET runtime is required for the published application.
TextAid preloads the enabled, configured local Ollama model in the background 30 seconds after startup. If Ollama is not available, it retries availability after another 30 seconds, with each probe limited to five seconds. Preload stops after success and is cancelled when TextAid exits or settings are saved. A settings save schedules a new delayed attempt. An already loaded model is left in place. TextAid does not override the server's keep-alive policy; set OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=-1 in the Ollama server environment to retain models indefinitely.
Every action, including Translate, defaults to Thinking Off. The Actions editor supports Off, Low, Medium, and High, plus an optional context override in tokens. An empty context inherits the model profile; use 16384 in the local profile for a shared 16K baseline. Existing action JSON files without these fields use Off and inherit context. The JSON fields are thinking (for example, "Off") and contextSizeOverride (an integer of at least 512, or null). Translate retains these inference choices while its system prompt and routing remain protected. Switching context between actions or apps can cause Ollama to reload a runner.
Safe Debug records preload events, requested and loaded context, model and GPU memory allocation, GPU memory share, and the retention expiry as Unix seconds, alongside inference timing metrics. GPU memory share describes allocation, not live GPU utilization. No diagnostic log is created with Debug off.
- Windows x64
- .NET SDK 10 for building from source
- Ollama and a compatible local model for the default configuration
In PowerShell, from the repository root:
$env:NUGET_SCRATCH = Join-Path (Get-Location) 'src\TextAid.App\obj\NuGetScratch'
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $env:NUGET_SCRATCH -Force | Out-Null
dotnet restore TextAid.sln -m:1 -p:NuGetAudit=false
dotnet build TextAid.sln -m:1 -p:NuGetAudit=false
dotnet test TextAid.sln -m:1 -p:NuGetAudit=falseTo create the canonical single-file Release executable, run:
.\publish.ps1The resulting executable is src/TextAid.App/bin/Publish/TextAid.exe.
To launch the published app from a packaged development host such as Codex, use ./start.ps1. It dispatches through the Windows desktop shell so TextAid uses the normal user configuration. You can also start the executable directly from File Explorer.
This repository is maintained with SAW 3.2 (SDD Another Way), a method created by Olivier Dahan © 2025–2026 that carries forward Pro-Spec 3. The method is Markdown- and Git-native: it does not depend on an external tool.
The product intent, enduring rules, decisions, project status, and historical specifications remain in the repository. Before changing a planned lot or its validation state, follow the entry procedure in the SAW 3.2 / Pro-Spec 3 reference. French source copies are retained beside the translated documents with the .FR.md suffix.
To conduct this project with an AI, use this prompt:
Read the
README.mdfile and execute the next step.
The active bootstrap is deliberately contained in this README. An AI must first read the product intent in PROJECT.md, enduring constraints in RULES.md, all active decisions in LEDGER.md (and any referenced obsolete decisions), and the current plan in STATUS.md. It must then read the active lot's SPEC, FINDINGS, GATES, and, where present, CONVERGENCE. Consult HISTORY.md when chronology helps recovery or audit.
STATUS.md is the sole authority for lot state. It identifies the next Planned lot and its dependencies; only one lot may be In-progress, Ready-to-close, or Blocked at a time. A human decision is required to move a lot to In-progress, to close it, to validate a HUMAN gate, to accept a deviation, or to make another significant change of meaning.
While a lot is active, implement its SPEC, record knowledge in FINDINGS, keep the result location, remaining work, blockers, and next action recoverable through STATUS.md, and append significant operations to HISTORY.md. Evaluate every gate against an identifiable result. A lot may close only when every applicable gate is validly PASS or N/A, all requirements and findings have been accounted for, and a human accepts the closure. Update STATUS.md last.
If you need an AI powerful enough to manage your project, and the project is large enough to require a method, then the AI being used is sufficient to manage all of the method's bureaucracy.
The complete historical bootstrap is preserved unchanged in docs/README.BOOTSTRAP.md. The active instructions above supersede only its former references to an external Pro-Spec tool, which SAW 3.2 no longer uses.
TextAid was built both for its own purpose and to put SAW to the test. Its development used only GPT-5.6 Terra with Medium reasoning effort and an OpenAI USD 20 subscription. The project demonstrates that Microsoft’s Spec-Driven Development (SDD) can be adapted into a practical, fully AI-centric method. SAW (SDD Another Way) is that adaptation: an alternative to the support provided by Microsoft’s Spec-Kit for applying SDD in a real project.
- Product intent
- Current project status
- Language-pack layout
- Source specification map
- SAW 3.2 / Pro-Spec 3 reference
- Original bootstrap README
TextAid is source-available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. You may copy, share, and adapt it for non-commercial purposes only. Every distribution must retain the attribution Olivier Dahan © 2026 and the contact odahan [at] e-naxos [dot] com, indicate changes, and include the license notice. Commercial use requires the author's prior written agreement.
This is intentionally a non-commercial license and therefore is not an OSI-approved Open Source license.