DevType

Less typing. More of your own words.

A native macOS menu bar app for reusable snippets, voice dictation, on-device writing tools, and deliberately copied secrets. Built with Swift and AppKit. Free and open source under the MIT license.

Download for macOS · User guide · Documentation · Release notes

What you can do

• Expand a few characters into the text you reuse. Organize text, image, template, and AI-action snippets into groups. Import TextExpander bundles or Espanso YAML; export to JSON, YAML, an Espanso folder, or CSV.
• Find it with ⌘/. Search snippets, calculate, insert dates, change case, format JSON, generate UUIDs, or run a custom AI instruction. Structured queries such as group:"Client Work" -tag:draft narrow your library.
• Work on selected text with ⌘⌥A. Proofread, rewrite, condense, translate, and use code-oriented actions through Apple Foundation Models. Remove Markdown and other deterministic text operations also work without an AI model.
• Dictate with ⌘⌥V. Choose Apple Speech, Local AI, Local Whisper, or optional Gemini cloud transcription. Type progressively, preview in the floating bubble, or insert at the end.
• Keep secrets separate. Add passwords in Copy Secret → Manage Secrets…, then deliberately copy and paste. Secrets have no typed trigger. Values live in encrypted storage, separate from snippet exports.
• Control where expansion happens. Mute apps, pause during secure input, rebind global shortcuts, and choose whether Backspace reverses a recent expansion.

Start here

1. Download a .dmg from GitHub Releases, move DevType.app to Applications, and open it.
2. Follow the permission setup for Accessibility and Input Monitoring. See permission recovery if macOS does not recognize the grant.
3. Open Snippet Manager from the menu bar. Create a text snippet with trigger ;sig and a short signature, then try it in a regular text field.
4. Open Preferences → Hotkeys to review the palette, AI, and voice shortcuts.

The repository's release workflow permits ad-hoc signed, unnotarized builds. Read the notes for the artifact you download; signing and Gatekeeper approval are different checks. See installation help.

Requirements

Feature	Requirement
Snippets, palette, deterministic text tools, Secrets	macOS 14 or later; core expansion needs Accessibility and Input Monitoring
Apple Foundation Models actions	macOS 26 or later, a compatible Mac, Apple Intelligence enabled, and an available system model
Dictation	Microphone permission and a ready selected recognizer; Apple transcription and live previews also use Speech Recognition permission
Local Whisper / local model correction	A ready loopback server and its model; setup may require downloads
Gemini dictation	Your Google API key plus separate cloud-audio consent

App availability and model readiness are separate. Preferences reports the selected engine's current state; an OS version alone does not guarantee it can run.

Shortcuts

Default global shortcut	Action
⌘/	Command palette
⌘⌥A	AI action palette for selected text
⌘⌥V	Voice dictation

These shortcuts are configurable in Preferences → Hotkeys. Menu commands also expose Snippet Manager (⌘⇧M), Preferences (⌘,), and Permission Recovery (⌘⇧P); they are not additional globally registered hotkeys.

Privacy, with the boundaries explained

Trigger matching and deterministic text tools run locally. Apple Foundation Models actions use the on-device system model. DevType has no analytics or automatic update installation.

Optional features have different data paths: Gemini uploads recorded audio and instructions to Google after consent; local servers receive audio or transcript text over loopback; model setup downloads assets; update checks contact GitHub; a library placed in a synced folder is handled by your sync provider. Voice recovery stores recordings and transcripts on disk. See the privacy policy and voice guide before choosing a route.

Secret copies clear after 90 seconds only if DevType still owns the clipboard. Concealment markers request exclusion from compatible clipboard managers; they cannot prevent another app from retaining a copy. Secrets design and limits →

Build and contribute

Use a full Xcode installation. The package declares Swift tools 5.9 and a macOS 14 deployment target; building the Foundation Models paths requires an SDK that includes them.

git clone https://github.com/bharathvbcr/DevType.git
cd DevType
./Scripts/test.sh
./Scripts/package-app.sh release

The bundle is written to .build/DevType.app. Use ./Scripts/signing-identity.sh to inspect the selected identity. Packaging, local installation, and release publication are distinct operations; the developer guide covers each.

Contributing · Architecture · Support · Security reports

Contributors

Bharath Chandra Vaddaram 💻 📖 🎨 🚧 🛡️ ⚠️ 🚇

License and acknowledgements

MIT. See NOTICE for component attributions. Voice workflow inspiration includes Google Gemini Jot; local Whisper integration uses whisper.cpp.