✨ Inkwell - AI Writing Assistant

A beautiful, offline-first AI writing assistant powered by local LLMs

What is Inkwell? • Features • Installation • Usage • File Formats

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🎯 What is Inkwell?

Inkwell is a desktop WYSIWYG editor that brings the power of AI to your writing workflow - completely offline. Using Ollama to run large language models locally on your machine, Inkwell provides:

• ✅ 100% Offline - All AI processing happens on your machine
• ✅ Privacy First - Your documents never leave your computer
• ✅ No Subscriptions - Free forever, no API keys needed
• ✅ Cross-Platform - Windows, macOS, and Linux support

✨ Features

📝 Rich Text Editing

• Word-like formatting toolbar (Bold, Italic, Underline)
• Headings (H1, H2, H3)
• Text alignment (Left, Center, Right, Justify)
• Bullet and numbered lists
• Blockquotes
• Text Color - Customize text color
• Images - Drag & drop, paste, or upload; Resizable!
• Horizontal lines
• Undo/Redo

💾 Auto-Save & Recovery

• Never Lose Work: Your document is automatically saved as you type.
• Session Restore: Close the app anytime; it reopens exactly where you left off.
• Safe New Document: "New" button ensures you don't accidentally wipe your work.

🪄 AI Magic (The Core Feature!)

1. Select any text in your document
2. A floating menu appears with "AI Magic" button
3. Choose a quick command or type your own:
   • Fix Grammar
   • Improve Writing
   • Expand Text
   • Simplify
   • Make Professional
   • Or any custom command!
4. Watch as the AI streams the response in real-time directly on the canvas
5. Your selected text is automatically replaced, preserving rich formatting (Bold, Lists, Headings, etc.)

📚 Context Library (RAG)

New in v0.2! Give your AI knowledge about your specific documents.

1. Upload Files: Add PDF, Word (.docx), or Text files to the Context tab.
2. Context-Aware Chat: The AI automatically searches your uploaded documents to answer questions.
3. Smart Citations: See exactly which parts of your documents were used in the AI's response.

💬 AI Chat Sidebar

• Read-Only Mode: Ask questions about your document
• Agentic Mode: Let AI directly edit your document
  • "Add a conclusion to my essay"
  • "Fix all grammar mistakes"
  • "Rewrite the introduction to be more engaging"

⚙️ Advanced AI Settings

• Model Selection: Choose any Ollama model
• Temperature: Control creativity (0 = precise, 1 = creative)
• Top K: Limit token candidates
• Top P: Nucleus sampling threshold
• System Prompt: Customize AI personality

🎨 Theme & Layout

• Dark Mode: Easy on the eyes for night writing
• Light Mode: Clean and bright for daytime
• Visual Pagination: Work with A4-styled pages with visual gaps for a true print-ready experience
• Tables: Create and manage tables directly in the editor

📤 Export Options

• Word (.docx): Professional export with image support and proper formatting
• PDF: Clean A4 PDF export with one-click generation

📥 Import Support

• Markdown (.md)
• HTML (.html, .htm)
• Plain text (.txt)
• Word (.docx)
• PDF (.pdf) (Context only)

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📥 Installation

Prerequisites

1. Install Ollama - Required for AI features

   # Windows (PowerShell)
   winget install Ollama.Ollama
   
   # macOS
   brew install ollama
   
   # Linux
   curl -fsSL https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh

2. Pull an AI model (run after installing Ollama)

   # Recommended for general use (~4GB)
   ollama pull llama3.2
   
   # Smaller, faster option (~2GB)
   ollama pull phi3
   
   # Larger, more capable (~8GB)
   ollama pull llama3.1:8b

3. Start Ollama with CORS enabled (required for Inkwell)

   # Windows (PowerShell) - IMPORTANT: Run this way for Inkwell to connect
   $env:OLLAMA_ORIGINS="*"; ollama serve
   
   # macOS/Linux
   OLLAMA_ORIGINS="*" ollama serve

   Note: The OLLAMA_ORIGINS="*" setting allows Inkwell to communicate with Ollama. Without this, you may see connection errors.

Download Inkwell

Windows

1. Download the latest installer (.exe or .msi) from Releases
2. Run the installer
3. Launch "Inkwell" from Start Menu

macOS

1. Download the .dmg file from Releases
2. Open the DMG and drag Inkwell to Applications
3. Right-click → Open (first time only, to bypass Gatekeeper)

Linux

# Debian/Ubuntu (.deb)
sudo dpkg -i inkwell_0.2.0_amd64.deb

# Arch Linux (.AppImage)
chmod +x Inkwell-0.2.0.AppImage
./Inkwell-0.2.0.AppImage

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🚀 Usage

Getting Started

1. Launch Inkwell - The app opens with your last session restored.
2. Check Connection - Look for "Connected" status in the sidebar
   • If "Disconnected", make sure Ollama is running (ollama serve)
3. Select a Model - In Settings tab, choose an AI model
4. Start Writing!

Using AI Magic

1. Type or paste text into the editor
2. Select the text you want to transform
3. A floating menu appears above your selection
4. Click "AI Magic" ✨
5. Either:
   • Click a quick command (Fix Grammar, Improve, etc.)
   • Type your own command (e.g., "Translate to Spanish")
6. Press Enter or click Send
7. Watch the AI response stream in real-time!
8. The result automatically replaces your selection

Using Chat

1. Switch to the Chat tab in the sidebar
2. Read-Only Mode (default):
   • Ask questions: "What's the main theme of my document?"
   • Get suggestions: "How can I improve the flow?"
3. Agentic Mode (toggle on):
   • Give commands: "Add a bullet point summary at the end"
   • AI will directly edit your document!
   • Note: For best results, use a capable model like llama3.2 or larger

Saving Your Work

1. Auto-Save: You don't need to do anything! Inkwell saves automatically.
2. Save (Ctrl+S): Manually save to Documents folder as HTML if you wish.
3. Export Menu: Choose Word or PDF Document.
4. New Document: Click "New" to start fresh (don't worry, it asks for confirmation).

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🔧 Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Rust (latest stable)
• Tauri Prerequisites

Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Abdulkadirklc/Inkwell.git
cd inkwell

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev

Building for Production

# Build the application
npm run tauri build

Output files will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:

• Windows: .msi and .exe installers
• macOS: .dmg and .app
• Linux: .deb, .rpm, .AppImage

Sharing Inkwell

To share the app with friends or colleagues:

1. Build the app using npm run tauri build
2. Navigate to src-tauri/target/release/bundle/nsis/ (on Windows for .exe)
3. Share the .exe setup file found there.
4. They just need to install it and (optionally) install Ollama for AI features.

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📄 License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Tauri - Desktop framework
• Ollama - Local LLM runtime
• Tiptap - Rich text editor
• React - UI framework
• Lucide - Beautiful icons

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❤️ For writers who value privacy