TabType adds Cotypist-style ghost-text autocomplete to every Mac app β Slack, mail, browsers, anywhere you type. A local LLM (MLX) generates suggestions 100% on-device: no cloud, no account, no keystroke ever leaves your Mac. Free & MIT-licensed.
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Maker
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Hey PH! π
I built TabType because I loved the idea behind Cotypist β inline AI autocomplete that works in *every* Mac app β but I wanted it open-source, free forever, and fully private. So I built exactly that.
What it does:
β¨οΈ As you type β in Slack, WhatsApp, your browser, anywhere β a dimmed ghost-text suggestion appears at your cursor. Tab accepts it word-by-word, or all at once.
π 100% on-device. A local LLM (Qwen3-4B via Apple's MLX) generates every suggestion on your Mac's own silicon. No cloud, no account, no telemetry β nothing you type ever leaves your machine. Macs with 24 GB+ RAM automatically get a higher-precision model.
π§ It's context-aware: it reads the conversation around your cursor (via the accessibility tree β no screenshots needed in chat apps), remembers your recent messages, and learns your writing style locally.
Full transparency, because I think it matters: I'm a senior full-stack engineer (5+ yrs) and I built this with heavy use of AI coding assistants β the README has a complete AI disclosure covering the code, the artwork, and exactly where the suggestions come from. It's a real native Swift app with a hand-tuned inference pipeline and 50+ tests, not a wrapper.
It's an early alpha and it's MIT-licensed with no plan to ever commercialize. The most valuable thing you can do is try it and tell me where it breaks β every bug report genuinely shapes the roadmap.
GitHub: https://github.com/nilava/TabType
Download: https://github.com/nilava/TabTyp...
Ask me anything β architecture questions especially welcome π
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A suggestion tab key feel a bit jarring on first use, so maybe an option to remap the accept shortcut to something like the right arrow or a customizable combo would feel more natural in apps like Slack or Gmail.
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been wanting something like this for ages. the MLX setup actually keeps up with my typing speed in slack, which i did not expect for a local model.
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Runs locally on Mac with zero setup hassle and the suggestions actually feel like they match my tone in Slack. Wish I had this years ago.
A suggestion tab key feel a bit jarring on first use, so maybe an option to remap the accept shortcut to something like the right arrow or a customizable combo would feel more natural in apps like Slack or Gmail.
been wanting something like this for ages. the MLX setup actually keeps up with my typing speed in slack, which i did not expect for a local model.
Runs locally on Mac with zero setup hassle and the suggestions actually feel like they match my tone in Slack. Wish I had this years ago.