AI tokens

AI tokens run text through a model at expansion time and paste the result. The shape is {{ai:action}} or {{ai:action:modifier}}, where the modifier is free-form text appended to the instruction.

Three free ways to get AI

Paid options are Claude (Anthropic) and OpenAI, both bring-your-own-key with prepaid credits, and Custom for any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

The two ways to fire an AI snippet

The AI needs input. You give it input in one of exactly two ways.

If you fire an AI snippet with nothing selected and nothing copied, TypeFire pastes a short reminder telling you so, rather than failing silently.

Available actions

Token	What it does
{{ai:rewrite}}	Tightens and clarifies, keeps your meaning
{{ai:rewrite:professional}}	Same, formal tone
{{ai:rewrite:casual}}	Same, relaxed tone
{{ai:summarize}}	Roughly a third of the length
{{ai:summarize:bullets}}	As bullet points
{{ai:summarize:tldr}}	One sentence
{{ai:translate:fr}}	Any language code or name
{{ai:fix}}	Grammar and spelling only, wording preserved
{{ai:expand}}	Brief note becomes a full paragraph
{{ai:respond}}	Writes a reply to the input
{{ai:custom:your instruction}}	Anything you want

The modifier is free text. {{ai:rewrite:like a 19th-century butler}} works exactly as written.

Cookbook

Polish a Slack message before sending Body {{ai:rewrite:professional}}. Highlight your draft, hit the shortcut.

Translate in place Body {{ai:translate:de}}. Select English, hit shortcut, German replaces it.

Reply to a customer email Body {{ai:respond:empathetic and actionable}}. Copy their email, type your abbreviation in the compose window.

Commit message from a diff Body {{ai:custom:write a single-line imperative commit message for this diff, no scope prefix}}. Copy git diff --staged, fire the abbreviation in your commit editor.

PR description from rough notes Body {{ai:custom:reformat as a GitHub PR description with Summary and Test plan sections}}.

Setting up a provider

Open Settings → AI. The panel opens with a "Currently using…" status card, then a provider grid.

• 🟢 Green dot: ready to use.
• 🔴 Red dot: selected but not usable yet (needs a key, or Apple Intelligence is switched off in System Settings).
• ⚪ Gray dot: your Mac cannot run this provider. The helper text says why.

For a bring-your-own-key provider, paste the key, choose a model, click Test. Each provider has a "How do I get this API key?" expander written for non-developers.

Ollama in six steps

1. Install Ollama from ollama.com and launch it.
2. In Terminal: ollama pull llama3.2 (small and fast) or ollama pull qwen2.5:7b (stronger).
3. Open Settings → AI → Custom.
4. Endpoint: http://localhost:11434/v1. TypeFire adds /chat/completions itself.
5. API key: leave blank. Model: exactly what you pulled.
6. Click Test, then select Custom in the provider grid.

LM Studio works the same way on http://localhost:1234/v1.

Good to know

• Apple Intelligence is usually sub-second. Cloud providers take 1 to 3 seconds.
• Apple Intelligence has a small context window (about 12,000 characters). TypeFire caps input and tells you immediately rather than making you wait for a model error. Use a cloud provider for long documents.
• When you fire an AI snippet by abbreviation you may briefly see a ✨ placeholder marking the spot. It is replaced by the real text when the model returns. In browsers and terminals TypeFire skips the placeholder entirely.
• If the AI fails you get [AI error: reason] rather than silence.
• Your API key stays on this Mac. Calls go straight from your machine to the provider. TypeFire operates no server in that path.