✨ Sable

Rewrite any selected text with Claude or Codex — right where you're typing.

Select it, hit a shortcut, paste the result.

Sable is a macOS Dock app for fast AI text edits. Select text in any app, press a shortcut, and a Superwhisper-style popup runs your chosen agent and drops the rewrite on your clipboard — no window-switching, no copy-paste dance.

• ⚡ Instant modes — fire-and-forget transforms like Fix Grammar or Make Concise that run the moment the popup opens
• 💬 Ask modes — type a one-off instruction ("translate to French", "make it punchier") and watch the Thinking… indicator
• 🎛️ Claude or Codex — pick the harness and model per mode, riff-style
• ⌨️ Your shortcuts — a recordable hotkey for every mode, plus a global quick-popup key
• 🪄 Up to 6 modes — tune each one's instruction, icon, model, and behavior in-app
• 🕘 History — every run with its selection, output, and status
• 🔒 Local — drives the claude / codex CLIs you already have; settings are plain JSON you can git track

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📦 Build

Requires macOS 13+ and the Claude Code (claude) and/or Codex (codex) CLI on your PATH.

git clone <your-fork> sable-macos
cd sable-macos
make build      # creates ./Sable.app (release)
make run        # build + launch

make build assembles and ad-hoc-signs Sable.app in the repo root. Use make CONFIG=debug build for a debug bundle.

🚀 Quick Start

make run

1. Grant Accessibility when prompted (Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility).
2. Select text in any app.
3. Press ⌃⌥⌘Space — type an instruction, then ⏎.
4. Paste the rewrite with ⌘V.

🪄 How it works

 select text  →  ⌃⌥⌘Space  →  type instruction  →  ⏎  →  agent rewrites  →  📋 clipboard

The popup shows the selection on top, an instruction field in the middle, and a live status below. Instant modes skip the typing and run on open.

Key	Action
⏎	Run the mode
esc	Cancel the run / close (restores your clipboard)
mode chip	Switch modes without closing

🎚️ Modes

Open Modes to create and edit up to 6 transformations. Each has its own instruction, icon, harness (Claude/Codex), model, optional "ask for instruction" toggle, and recordable shortcut. Ships with three:

Mode	What it does	Waits for input?
Fix Grammar	Fixes spelling/grammar, trims filler, keeps tone	—
Make Concise	Shortens while preserving meaning	—
Ask	Whatever you type (default popup mode)	✓

⚙️ Settings

Everything is editable in-app and auto-saves to plain JSON:

~/.config/sable/settings.json

Setting	Description
Quick popup shortcut	Global hotkey, seeded to ⌃⌥⌘Space
Default popup mode	Which mode the quick popup opens with
Claude / Codex path	Explicit binary path, or blank to search PATH
Working directory	Where the CLI runs (defaults to ~)
Timeout	Max seconds to wait for a run

Keyboard shortcuts are recorded inline in the Modes and Settings panes.

🔐 Permissions

Permission	Why	Required
Accessibility	Read the current text selection	✓
Screen Recording	Attach a screenshot for visual context	optional

Grant both from Settings — status refreshes live, no relaunch needed.

Heads up: Sable is ad-hoc signed, so each rebuild changes its signature and macOS resets the Accessibility grant. Re-enable Sable in Accessibility after make build if the popup stops capturing.

🛠️ Make targets

Command	Does
make build	Assemble + sign ./Sable.app
make run	Build and launch
make test	Run the test suite
make install	Copy to /Applications/Sable.app (override with INSTALL_DIR=)
make clean	Remove build artifacts

The app icon can be regenerated with swift scripts/make-icon.swift out.png.

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Personal hack built for my own workflow. Fork and adapt.