What is Rephlo?
Rephlo is the AI workspace that lives inside every app you already use. It's a cross-platform desktop app that brings Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities directly into your daily workflow — but it's more than a text rewriter. From a single hotkey you get a connected workspace: in-app commands on selected text, multi-turn chat, document-grounded Knowledge Spaces, and screen-aware Visual Intelligence. Unlike web-based chat interfaces, Rephlo lives in your system tray (Windows/Linux) or macOS menu bar and works seamlessly with the text and applications you already use.
Rephlo is primarily a desktop app, with an optional web companion for syncing your commands and managing your account. Your work — history, chats, and Spaces — stays on your device; only commands sync to the web, and only the ones you publish or share. See How Desktop & Web Work Together for the full picture.
How Rephlo compares
Rephlo isn't another chat window — it's an AI workspace that works inside the apps you already use, with your choice of AI and a strong privacy posture. Here's an honest look at where it fits among popular tools:
| Tool | What it's great at | How Rephlo differs |
|---|---|---|
| Grammarly | Real-time grammar & clarity as you type, in most apps | Rephlo runs any AI command (not just grammar) on demand, with the model you choose — and your text isn't tied to one company's cloud |
| ChatGPT / Claude desktop apps | Versatile, high-quality chat and agentic workflows | Rephlo has its own full chat too — frontier models, your Spaces as grounded context, streaming Markdown, web search, and MCP connectors — so it holds its own for everyday chat. On top of that, Rephlo also acts on selected text in place in any app (no copy-paste round trip), lets you switch providers, and runs fully offline |
| Apple / Microsoft writing tools | Built into the OS, zero setup | Rephlo is cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux), customizable, and provider-agnostic |
| Other bring-your-own-key tools | Cost control via your own API key | Rephlo adds a polished any-app overlay, Spaces (your docs as context), a command gallery, and on-device models |
What makes Rephlo distinct:
- Works in any app — select text, press a hotkey; no window switching.
- Your AI, your choice — bring your own key for 8 provider types, use a managed Dedicated API, or run on-device models fully offline.
- Privacy-first — your history, chats, and Spaces stay on your device; nothing is uploaded unless you explicitly publish or share a command.
- Customizable — build your own commands, or install ready-made ones from the gallery.
An honest note: Rephlo is command-driven, not a live, as-you-type checker like Grammarly, and using cloud models means bringing your own key or subscribing. If you mainly want grammar auto-highlighted while you type, a dedicated grammar tool may fit better. If you want one customizable AI layer across every app, with control over your data and your provider, that's Rephlo.
Core Philosophy
Rephlo is built on three main pillars:
- Context-Aware: It understands the text you are working on and can use your personal files (Spaces) to provide grounded, relevant answers—not generic AI responses.
- Provider-Agnostic: You are not locked into a single AI vendor. Use 8 BYOK provider types—cloud (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, xAI, OpenRouter, OpenAI-Compatible — with Azure OpenAI configured through OpenAI-Compatible), local (Ollama), or a managed Dedicated API for complete privacy and flexibility.
- Workflow-Integrated: Execute commands instantly via global hotkeys, the context-menu overlay, or drag-select actions without breaking your flow—on Windows, macOS, or Linux.
The workspace at a glance
Rephlo is a connected workspace with four core capabilities working from one hotkey — Smart Select (in-app commands), Multi-Turn Chat, Knowledge Spaces, and Visual Intelligence — backed by your choice of AI provider.
Smart Select — work in any app
Select text in any application—email, code editor, word processor, or browser—and instantly run a command in place. Summarize long emails, fix grammar in reports, translate, or generate code documentation with a single hotkey—no copy-paste, no tab switching.
Multi-Turn Chat
Beyond one-shot commands, hold multi-turn conversations for brainstorming, iterating on ideas, or step-by-step guidance—with full history and your Spaces available as grounded context. See Chat & Conversations.
Visual Intelligence
Capture any region of your screen and a vision model analyzes what it sees—explain a diagram, read a chart, extract text from an image, or debug an error message—right in your flow.
Knowledge Spaces
Create Spaces to store your documents (PDF, Word, text, Markdown, and CSV files). When you run a command within a Space, Rephlo uses that information as context.
- Example: "Based on the uploaded 'ProjectSpecs.pdf', draft a release email."
Flexible AI Providers
Choose the engine that fits your needs:
- Cloud Power: Connect to OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, Google, xAI, or OpenRouter for maximum intelligence.
- Enterprise Deployments: Use Azure OpenAI for dedicated Azure-hosted models, or OpenAI-Compatible to connect to vLLM, LocalAI, LiteLLM, or any OpenAI SDK-compatible service.
- Local Privacy: Use Ollama to run models locally on your hardware, or download on-device models that run entirely offline—perfect for sensitive data.
- Managed Access: Sign in to use the Dedicated API managed by Rephlo, with no API keys to manage.
See Providers and Models & Inference for details.
Smart Commands
Build and customize Commands—reusable instructions for the AI. Each command runs in one of three execution modes:
- Combination (default): Combine selected text + Space context + your instruction. Selected text and the active Space are injected automatically.
- Standalone: Ask the AI directly. You control where input appears using
{{input_content}}and{{space_data_all}}placeholders. - Template: Copy a pre-filled instruction to the clipboard without calling the AI—useful for boilerplate, snippets, or prompts you paste into another tool.
Template Gallery
Don't start from scratch. Browse and install pre-built, production-ready commands created by experts for writing, coding, translation, and business tasks. See the Template Gallery or the web Command Gallery.
AI Command Builder
Describe what you want in plain language, and Rephlo's AI Command Builder crafts the perfect command for you—no prompt engineering required.
Image Generation
Turn a prompt into an image right from chat — or ask for a full illustrated article with images generated at the relevant points. Available on every plan, metered by credits. See Image Generation for how it works.
On the roadmap
A few capabilities are still in progress, so you'll know what to expect:
- Privacy redaction (beta) — opt-in, on-device PII masking, off by default.
Next Step: Ready to get started? Proceed to Installation & Setup.