[zlwaterfield]

After years with Grammarly, I wanted a simpler, cheaper way to improve my writing. So I built Scramble, a Chrome extension that uses an LLM for writing enhancements.

Key features: - Uses your OpenAI API key (100% local) - Pre-defined prompts for various improvements - Highlight text and wait for suggestions - Currently fixed to GPT-4-turbo

Future plans: add LLM provider/model choice, custom prompts, bug fixes, and improve default prompts.

It's probably buggy, but I'll keep improving it. Feedback welcome.

GitHub: https://github.com/zlwaterfield/scramble

[xdennis]

> Key features: - Uses your OpenAI API key (100% local)

Sorry, but we have a fundamental disagreement on terms here. Sending requests to OpenAI is not 100% local.

The OpenAI API is not free or open source. By your definition, if you used the Grammarly API for this extension it would be a 100% local, open source alternative to Grammarly too.

[zlwaterfield]

Agree, I want to add a local LLM set up. The wording there isn't great.

[kylebenzle]

Without marketing speak can I ask why anyone would have a need for a service like grammerly, I always thought it was odd trying to sell a subscription based spell checker (AI is just a REALLY good spell checker).

[gazereth]

Non-native speakers find it useful since it doesn't just fix spelling but also fixes correctness, directness, tone and tense. It gives you an indication of how your writing comes across, e.g. friendly, aggressive, assertive, polite.

English can be a very nuanced language - easy to learn, difficult to master. Grammarly helps with that.

[rlayton2]

I'm a big fan of Grammarly and have been using it, and paying for it, for years.

The advantage is not spell checking. It is grammar and style improvements. It tells you things like "this language is informal", or "this is a better word for that".

[mhuffman]

The "grammar" part, at least in a professional setting. You might be shocked at how many people will write an email pretty much like they would talk to friends at a club or send a text message (complete with emojis!) or just generally butcher professional correspondence.

[dotancohen]

So it may be more attractive to employers to check their employees' output, rather than an individual checking his own?

[oneeyedpigeon]

No, it's also useful to check your own writing. I've used it as both an Editor and a Writer.

[socksy]

It is widely used in countries where the professional language is English, but the native language of the speakers is not.

For example, most Slavic languages don't have the same definite/indefinite article system English does, which means that whilst someone could speak and write excellent English, the correct usage of "a" and "the" is a constant conscious struggle, where having a tool to check and correct your working is really useful. In Greek, word order is not so important. And so on.

Spell check usually just doesn't cut it, and when it does (say, in Word), it usually isn't universally available.

Personally, I have long wanted such a system for German, which I am not native in. Lucky for me DeepL launched a similar product with German support.

A recent example for me was that I was universally using "bekommen" as a literal translation of "receive" in all sentences where I needed that word. Through DeepL I learned that the more appropriate word in a bunch of contexts is "erhalten", which is the sort of thing that I would never have got from a spell check.

Grammarly is notably a Ukrainian founded company.

[pbhjpbhj]

Without marketing speak, can I ask why anyone would have a need for a service like Grammarly?

    ---

Manual corrections here, but maybe they give a clue?

[robertlagrant]

They aren't a native English speaker and would like a hand with phrasing.

[lhousa]

Rookie question: the openAPI endpoint costs extra right? Not something that comes with chatGPT or chatGPT+.

[zlwaterfield]

Correct but I'm going to loom into a locally running LLM so it would be free.

[Tepix]

Please do (assuming you mean "look"). When you add support for a custom API URL, please make sure it supports HTTP Basic authentication.

That's super useful for people who run say ollama with an nginx reverse proxy in front of it (that adds authentication).

[nickthegreek]

Look into allowing it to connect to either a LM Studio endpoint or ollama please.

[paraknight]

Yes

[Szpadel]

yes, but gpt-4o-mini costs very little so you probably will spend well under $1/month

[miguelaeh]

I don't think the point here should be the cost, but the fact that you are sending everything you write to OpenAI to train their models on your information. The option of a local model allows you to preserve the privacy of what you write. I like that.

[nickthegreek]

Openai does not train models on data that comes in from the API.

https://openai.com/policies/business-terms/

[punchmesan]

Assuming for the moment that they aren't saying that with their fingers crossed behind their back, that doesn't change the fact that they store the inputs they receive and swear they'll protect it (Paraphrasing from the Content section of the above link). Even if it's not fed back into the LLM, the fact that they store the inputs anywhere for a period of time is a huge privacy risk -- after all a breach is a matter of "when", not "if".

[TheRealPomax]

Does it work in "not a browser" though? Because that's the last place I need this, I really want this in Typora, VS Code, etc. instead.

[zlwaterfield]

Not right now. Looking into a mac app. This was just a quick and dirty first go at it.

[TheRealPomax]

Makes sense. Strongly hope it won't be a "mac app" but a cross-platform application instead though, nothing worse than having a great mac app that you can't use 50% of the time because your work computer's a mac and your personal computer's a windows machine because you like playing games.

[compootr]

how much does it cost in a normal day?

[Tepix]

Don't think about money. Think about the cost in terms of forgone privacy.

[compootr]

to protect your privacy from grammarly you fork over your data to openai?

[Tepix]

Hopefully we soon get local llm support

[pkhamre]

What is a normal day?

[compootr]

like what he's spending on average.

Maybe sending some emails, writing or proofreading some docs -- what you'd do in a business day

[exe34]

a day when nothing too unusual happens.

[_HMCB_]

This is awesome. Can’t wait to install it and put it through its paces.