A command bar for Mac that can also do the typing.
One keystroke opens a field over whatever app you are in. Ask it a question and get an answer. Highlight some text first and it acts on that instead — rewritten, shortened, replied to, in place.
The Bar is a command bar for macOS, opened with ⌥Space, that works over whatever app you are in. Type a question and get an answer. Select text first and it acts on that text instead — rewriting it, shortening it, drafting the reply. Unlike Spotlight, it does not only find things and launch them. It can do the typing.
What is a command bar on a Mac?
A command bar is a single field you summon with a hotkey, type into, and dismiss. macOS ships with one: Spotlight, on ⌘Space. It finds files, launches apps, does arithmetic, converts currency and looks up definitions, and for those jobs it is fast and already installed. Raycast and Alfred are the popular replacements — same shape, more extensions, clipboard history, window management, scripts.
What every one of them has in common is direction. You ask, the bar retrieves, and then you go and do the work yourself. The bar is a way into things: an app, a file, a search result. It never touches the sentence you were halfway through writing, because retrieval is the whole job description.
That leaves an obvious gap on a Mac, and it is the reason people end up with a browser tab full of chat open on a second monitor. The thing you actually want, most of the time, is not to find a file. It is to ask a quick question without leaving the email you are writing, or to hand over the paragraph you just highlighted and get a better one back. Doing that through a separate app means copy, switch, paste, wait, copy, switch back.
Stilou's Bar is the same shape and a different verb. ⌥Space over any app, type in plain words, and it either answers you or edits what you have selected — in place, in the app you were already in. It also happens to be the fastest route to everything else Stilou does, because dictation, rewrites, notes and your own history are all reachable from the same field. And because it starts already holding your context, you rarely have to explain who anyone is.
How to use the Bar on macOS
Four steps. The only one you have to learn is the first.
- Press ⌥SpaceThe bar opens on top of whatever you were doing, with the cursor already in the field. Nothing behind it loses focus, so your email, document or terminal is still there and still where you left it.
- Or select text first, then press ⌥SpaceIf something is highlighted anywhere on screen, the bar opens knowing about it and switches to acting on that passage rather than answering about the world in general. This is the half of the bar most people discover second.
- Type the instruction in plain words"Reply saying yes but push it to Thursday." "Make this two sentences." "What did we agree with Maria about pricing?" No syntax, no prefixes, no keywords to memorise.
- Press EnterAn answer appears in the bar; an action lands in the app you were in, replacing the selection. ⌘Z undoes it like any other edit, and Esc closes the bar without touching anything.
Tip. Keep the hotkey on a modifier plus space so it lives next to ⌘Space in muscle memory. Most people end up using the Bar more than Spotlight within a week, which is a strange thing to discover about yourself.
What the Bar does that a launcher does not
Ask it, or point it at something.
With nothing selected it answers. With text selected it acts on that text. Same key, same field — the bar works out which job you meant from whether you had something highlighted.
The result lands where the work is.
Rewritten text replaces your selection inside the app you were in. No intermediate window, no clipboard shuffle, no tab to switch back from and lose your place in.
It already knows who you mean.
The Bar can reach your local brain, so "the pricing thread with Maria" resolves to an actual thread rather than a request for you to explain who Maria is and what the thread said.
The route into everything else.
Dictate into it, keep a note from it, start a rewrite, ask your own history a question. Learning one hotkey is the whole onboarding for most of the toolkit.
It answers with the network off.
In Private mode the model runs on your Mac. The bar still opens, still answers, still rewrites, and the egress counter in the app stays at zero because nothing leaves.
Questions become part of your memory.
What you asked and what came back become a dot in your local brain, linked to the people and projects mentioned. The answer you got in March is still there in September.
Stilou's Bar vs Spotlight vs Raycast
Two of these are launchers and one is not, which is the only distinction that really matters here.
| Stilou | Spotlight | Raycast | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find files and launch apps | No — that is not its job | Yes, and instantly | Yes, plus fuzzy aliases |
| Answer a question in the bar | Yes | Web results only | Yes, with AI add-on |
| Act on the text you selected | Yes — replaces it in place | No | Limited, via AI commands |
| Writes in your own voice | Yes, via your Voiceprint | No | No |
| Works with no network | Yes, in Private mode | Local search, yes | AI features need the network |
| Extension ecosystem | No — one app, one brain | No | Yes, large and active |
| Remembers what you asked | Yes — searchable, linked | No | No |
| Price | Free tier, paid plans for more | Free | Free tier, paid AI |
If what you want is a better launcher — window snapping, clipboard history, a hundred extensions — install Raycast and keep it. Stilou's Bar is not trying to replace it, and plenty of people run both on different keys. Come here when the thing you keep needing is not to open something, but to write something.
What the Bar can see, and what leaves
The Bar reads the text you have selected, at the moment you invoke it. It does not read your screen, watch your typing, or index the windows you have open. If nothing is highlighted, nothing is picked up.
In Private mode, that passage never leaves your Mac — the model runs locally, and the egress counter stays at zero. In Connected mode, the passage and your instruction go to a hosted frontier model from Anthropic or OpenAI, and nothing else goes with them. If you bring your own API key, the text goes straight from your Mac to your provider and never touches our relay at all.
No provider trains on what you send through the Bar, and neither do we. The record of what you asked is a set of files on your own disk, which you can search, export, or delete.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Bar and Spotlight?
Spotlight finds and launches; the Bar answers and writes. Spotlight is the fastest way to open an app or a file, and Stilou does not try to replace that. The Bar is for the other half — asking a quick question without leaving your app, or handing it the paragraph you selected and getting a better one back in place.
Does the Bar work in any app?
Yes. It floats over whatever is in front of you and acts on the selection in that app, so Mail, Slack, Notion, Google Docs, an IDE or a browser form all work without an integration. There is no supported-apps list, because the Bar works with your cursor and your selection rather than with an API.
Can I change the hotkey from ⌥Space?
Yes. ⌥Space is the default because it sits next to ⌘Space in muscle memory, but any key or combination works. If another app already owns your preferred combination, pick a different one — Stilou will not fight it for the shortcut.
Is it better than Raycast?
It is a different tool. Raycast is the better launcher by a distance — extensions, window management, clipboard history — and if that is the job, use it. Stilou's Bar wins when you want the text in front of you changed, or a question answered against your own history rather than the web.
Does the Bar read my screen?
No. It reads the text you have highlighted, at the moment you press the key, and nothing else. There is no continuous capture, no screen recording, and no background reading of your open windows.
Does it work offline?
Yes, in Private mode. The model runs on your Mac, so the Bar opens and answers with the network off entirely. Connected mode sends only the passage in question to a hosted model, and you can see which mode you are in without opening settings.
Can I use my own OpenAI or Anthropic key?
Yes. With your own key, requests go directly from your Mac to that provider and never pass through Stilou's relay. You keep the billing relationship and the logs on your side.
What do I need to run it?
A Mac running a current version of macOS, and accessibility permission so the Bar can read your selection and type the result back. There is a free tier, and the app updates itself.