ScribeAI

Rewrite anything on your Mac in a single keystroke.

ScribeAI is a free, open-source AI writing assistant for macOS that works offline. Select text in any app, press ⌥⌘S, and it hands back a cleaner draft. The model runs on your own Mac, so your words never leave the machine.

Download for macOS Try the demo

Free and open source. Needs macOS 12 or later on an Apple silicon Mac.

draft.txt

just wanted to check in follow up about the report. lets let’s get it done soon finish it this week

removed inserted Nothing is uploaded to do this.

What can ScribeAI do?

One shortcut, five tones, and a model that lives on your Mac. ScribeAI handles the sentence you are stuck on and puts it back where you were typing.

The ScribeAI overlay floating above a macOS desktop, showing a rewritten paragraph ready to insert.
The overlay lands above the app you are in. Insert the rewrite with a click, or copy it and keep typing.

Nothing you write leaves this computer.

Most writing tools forward every keystroke to a server. ScribeAI does the work in GPU memory on your Mac, which keeps contracts, client notes and anything else you paste exactly where you put it.

  • Local execution. The default path uses your own hardware and no central database.
  • No telemetry. The client ships without trackers, tracking cookies or analytics servers.
  • Direct API calls. If you add a provider key, the request travels from your Mac to that provider and back.
  • Auditable. The source is public. Read it, fork it, build it yourself.

Try the rewriter

Pick a draft, choose a tone, and watch the edit. This runs in your browser with a small demo vocabulary; the desktop app runs the real model.

your draft
rewritten

I write Rohit, but the AI writes Rihoy.

How to install ScribeAI on your Mac

No account and nothing to configure. From download to first rewrite takes about a minute.

  1. Download the disk image

    The .dmg is roughly 90MB and runs on Apple silicon Macs.

  2. Drag it to Applications

    Open the downloaded image and move ScribeAI into Applications, then eject.

  3. Approve the first launch

    Right-click the app, choose Open, then confirm. You only do this once.

  4. Select text and write

    Highlight anything, press ⌥⌘S and the overlay opens.

First launch on macOS

Because ScribeAI is distributed outside the App Store, macOS shows a security warning the first time you open it. That is normal for independent apps. Either method clears it once and never asks again.

Right-click method

  1. Open Applications in Finder
  2. Right-click ScribeAI and choose Open
  3. Click Open in the dialog

Terminal method

Paste this once after moving the app to Applications.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ScribeAI.app

System requirements

macOS
12.0 or later
Chip
M1 or newer
Memory
8GB minimum

Offline model

Weights
Qwen2.5 1.5B Instruct, 4-bit
Runtime
WebLLM over WebGPU
Peak VRAM
1.6GB

Model: Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct (Apache-2.0), quantized to 4-bit by MLC WebLLM. Weights download once (~390MB) and are cached on your Mac.

Licence

Price
Free
Source
MIT, public repo
Version
1.0.1

Built and maintained by Anirudh Bhardwaj

ScribeAI is an independent, open-source project — not a company. Every line of the source is public, and issues and pull requests go straight to the maintainer. Questions or bug reports: support@scribeai.shop.

Last updated · Version 1.0.1

Frequently asked questions

The things people ask before downloading.

Does ScribeAI work offline?
Yes. The default mode downloads a roughly 390MB model once, then rewrites with the network switched off: the model runs on your Mac's own GPU through WebGPU, and nothing is sent to a server. Only two things need internet — that one-time model download, and API mode, which you opt into with your own Gemini or OpenAI key.

How does the global shortcut work?
ScribeAI runs as a lightweight accessibility agent. When you highlight text and press ⌥⌘S, it reads the selection through macOS APIs, processes it locally, then replaces the selection or copies the result to your clipboard.

What does the offline model need from my Mac?
An Apple silicon Mac with at least 8GB of memory gives the best result — the default model peaks around 1.6GB of VRAM, so an 8GB machine stays comfortable. If your hardware is older, switch on API mode in settings and the same rewrite runs on a cloud model instead.

Is ScribeAI free?
The client is free and open source, and the built-in model costs nothing because it runs on your hardware. If you add a third-party key such as OpenAI, you pay that provider directly for what you use.

How is ScribeAI different from Grammarly or other cloud assistants?

Cloud assistants such as Grammarly or QuillBot send every checked passage to their servers and charge a subscription. ScribeAI runs the model on your own GPU, costs nothing, works system-wide in any Mac app from one keystroke, and keeps working offline. See the full Grammarly comparison.

How they differ ScribeAI Cloud assistants
Where the model runs Your Mac (WebGPU) Their servers
Price Free, MIT open source Paid subscription
Text leaves your device No Yes, on every check
Works in any Mac app Yes, system-wide ⌥⌘S Usually browser or editor plugins
Works offline Yes No
Account required No Usually

Comparison reflects how Grammarly, QuillBot and similar services were typically architected as of October 2026. Check each vendor's current privacy policy before you decide.

Why does the rewrite leave names alone?
The Identity Lock layer indexes proper nouns before the model runs and checks the result afterwards, so unusual spellings and cultural names come back untouched.

Why does the downloaded file sort under 1984 in Downloads?
A harmless Safari quirk. When a download travels through GitHub Releases and S3 redirects, Safari occasionally receives no Last-Modified header and falls back to 24 January 1984, the launch date of the original Macintosh. The file itself is intact.

Take the first draft off your plate.

Download the Mac app, press ⌥⌘S on something you were about to rewrite by hand, and see what comes back.

Download for macOS View the source Chrome extension Soon Windows app Soon