Fix your writing without leaving your flow.
Kallilex is a tiny, local-first spell checker and AI rewriting utility for the macOS menu bar. Select text anywhere, press ⌥⌘K, spell-check offline or rewrite with your own AI — and put it right back.
Free & open source · Apache-2.0 · No accounts, no telemetry
macOS · Apple Silicon & Intel (universal)
Select anywhere. Summon with ⌥⌘K.
Selected text from any app lands in a compact popover at your menu bar.
Offline. Native. Instant.
macOS-native spell checking marks mistakes inline; click a word, pick a suggestion. Nothing ever leaves your Mac.
Rewrite with your model, not ours.
Rewrite, shorten, or improve clarity — or type a custom instruction. Works with any OpenAI-compatible endpoint: Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or the cloud if you choose.
You always know where your text goes.
A badge shows Local, LAN, or Cloud before any request runs. Replace never happens without your click. No accounts, no telemetry.
How it works
Select text in any app
Press ⌥⌘K
Fix or rewrite
Replace
Everything it needs, nothing it doesn't
Menu-bar native
A borderless popover, a global shortcut, and an app that stays out of your Dock.
Offline spell check
Powered by macOS's native NSSpellChecker, using your installed system languages.
Bring your own AI
Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Named provider profiles with presets for Ollama and LM Studio.
Privacy badge
Local, LAN, or Cloud — shown before every request, derived from the provider's base URL.
Explicit replace-back
Your clipboard is restored afterwards. Nothing is ever written back automatically.
Keys in the Keychain
API keys are stored in the macOS Keychain and never touch a config file on disk.
FAQ
Why does Kallilex need the Accessibility permission?
Kallilex uses macOS's Accessibility API to read the text you have selected in the frontmost app when you press the hotkey. That's the only thing it's used for — a system prompt asks for the permission on first run, and you can revoke it any time in System Settings.
Which AI providers and models work with Kallilex?
Any provider that exposes an OpenAI-compatible chat-completions endpoint — local or cloud. Presets are included for Ollama, LM Studio, and OpenAI, and you can point Kallilex at any custom base URL and model.
Does spell check work offline?
Yes. Spell check runs fully on-device through macOS's built-in NSSpellChecker, using your system's preferred languages. No network connection and no AI provider are needed for it.
Where does my text go?
Your text stays on your Mac by default. Spell check is local, and an AI request is only sent when you explicitly trigger a rewrite — a badge shows whether your provider is Local, LAN, or Cloud before anything is sent. Kallilex has no telemetry and never logs your text.
Is Kallilex free?
Yes. Kallilex is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license. There are no accounts, no subscriptions, and no cloud backend.
Install
Homebrew
brew tap lstoneyy/tap && brew install --cask kallilex
Coming soon — the Homebrew tap ships with the next release. Until then, grab the download on the right.