Actions

Edit selected text with a spoken command, or run a quick web search by voice — without leaving the app you're in.

Coming June 2026

Actions isn't available yet. This page describes how it'll work when it ships.

Actions let you do two things with a single hotkey:

  • Transform selected text — Highlight a paragraph, press the Actions hotkey, and speak a command like "make this shorter" or "translate to Spanish". Epilude replaces the selection with the result.
  • Search the web — Press the hotkey with nothing selected and speak a query. Epilude opens your chosen search engine with the question typed in.

The default hotkey is ⌃⌥Space.

Requires sign-in

Actions runs through the Epilude cloud, so you'll need to be signed in.

Enabling Actions

Actions is off by default. Turn it on in Settings → Actions — the top of the page has an Enable Actions toggle. Once it's on, the rest of the settings (hotkey, search provider, Action Prompts) appear.

Transforming selected text

Select the text

Highlight any text in any app — an email draft, a doc, a chat message.

Press the Actions hotkey

Hold ⌃⌥Space (or whatever you've set it to). A widget appears showing Epilude is listening.

Speak a command

Tell Epilude what to do with the selection. Some examples:

What you sayWhat Epilude does
"Make this shorter"Tightens the selection
"Fix the grammar"Corrects errors without changing meaning
"Translate to French"Translates the selection
"Rewrite as a bulleted list"Restructures into bullets
"Make it more formal"Adjusts tone

Release the hotkey

Epilude sends the command and the selected text to the AI, then pastes the result over your selection. Your clipboard is restored to whatever was on it before.

Searching the web

Press the Actions hotkey with nothing selected

Hold ⌃⌥Space without highlighting anything first.

Speak your query

Say what you want to search for, the same way you'd type it.

Release the hotkey

Epilude opens your default browser with the query already typed into your chosen search engine.

Change the search engine in Settings → Actions → Search Provider.

Action Prompts (named shortcuts)

If you have a transform you run often — "summarize", "fix grammar", "translate to French" — save it as an Action Prompt so you don't have to repeat the full instruction every time.

Saved prompts get a name and an optional position number (1–20). When you trigger Actions, you can invoke a saved prompt by:

  • Name — Say just the name, like "summarize"
  • Number — Say "action 1", "action 2", etc.

Anything else you say is treated as a free-form command.

To create one:

Open Actions settings

Open Settings → Actions and scroll to Action Prompts.

Click Add prompt

Give the prompt a short name (under 32 characters), write the instruction Epilude should follow, and pick a position number for the "action 1" shortcut.

Use it

Select some text, press the Actions hotkey, and say the name or number. Epilude runs your saved instruction on the selection.

You can save up to 20 Action Prompts.

Tips for good commands

  • Be specific about the output. "Rewrite this as three bullet points" beats "make it a list".
  • Use saved Action Prompts for repeat tasks. It's faster than repeating the full instruction.
  • Cancel anytime by pressing the hotkey again while a command is running — your clipboard and selection are restored.

Troubleshooting

  • "Actions requires sign-in." Sign in to Epilude in the menu bar or main window, then try again.
  • My selection wasn't picked up. Make sure the text is actually highlighted (the app shows a colored selection). Some web apps need an extra moment after selection — try holding for a beat before the hotkey.
  • The result pasted into the wrong place. Click into the text field again to restore focus, then re-trigger Actions on the same selection.
  • Search opened the wrong engine. Change it in Settings → Actions → Search Provider.
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