Prompy — Quick Start

Prompy turns rough drafts into clear, well-structured prompts — right where you type. It runs on your own AI provider key, so nothing goes through us.

There are two ways to use it: a browser extension (suggests as you type on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and more) and a desktop app (works with any app via the clipboard). You only need one — pick whichever fits how you work.

Step 1 · Get an API key

Prompy uses your own key from one provider. Pick one and grab a key:

Provider	Get a key
Claude (Anthropic)	console.anthropic.com
GPT (OpenAI)	platform.openai.com/api-keys
Gemini (Google) — has a free tier	aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
Mistral	console.mistral.ai

Your key is stored only on your device and sent straight to that provider. See the Privacy Policy.

Step 2 · Set up the browser extension

1. Download/clone Prompy.
2. Go to chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode (top-right).
3. Click Load unpacked and select the extension/ folder. (Once published, you'll install it from the Chrome Web Store instead.)
4. Click the Prompy icon in your toolbar to open the popup.
5. Choose your AI provider, paste your API key, and click Test connection. A successful test saves it automatically.

Step 3 · Improve your prompts

While typing (the main way)

• Start typing a draft on ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini / etc.
• Pause for a moment — a Prompy card appears with a sharper version (it streams in as it's written).
• Click Replace to swap it in, or Copy. Changed your mind? Undo.

More ways

• Styles — pick Detailed, Concise, Professional, or Coding from the card or popup, and re-run instantly.
• See what changed — expand "What changed" for a word-level diff.
• Right-click → Improve with Prompy — works on any text field or selected text, even where the live card doesn't appear.
• Manual hotkey — ⌘/Ctrl + Shift + K improves the focused field on demand.
• Conversation context — Prompy reads the visible conversation on the page so follow-ups ("make it shorter and add an example") fit the discussion. On by default; toggle it off in the popup with "Use page conversation as context."
• Per-site control — mute Prompy on specific sites from the popup.

Step 4 · Use the desktop app

The desktop app works with any application (including the ChatGPT/Claude desktop apps) through your clipboard.

1. Launch it: npm run app (or build it — see the README).
2. In Settings, pick your provider, paste your key, and Test connection.
3. Playground — paste a draft, click Improve, then Copy the result.

Improve from anywhere with the hotkey

• Copy your draft (⌘C / Ctrl+C).
• Press ⌘⇧J / Ctrl+Shift+J — Prompy improves it and puts the result back on your clipboard.
• Paste it (⌘V / Ctrl+V).

Add conversation context (desktop)

Sandboxed desktop apps can't be read directly, so the clipboard is the bridge.

• In the ChatGPT/Claude app, select the conversation and copy it (⌘C).
• Press ⌘⇧K / Ctrl+Shift+K to capture it as context.
• Then improve your copied draft with ⌘⇧J — the rewrite now fits the chat.
• Or just paste the conversation into the Context box in the Playground.

Use a local model (Ollama / LM Studio) — free & fully private

Prefer no API key and nothing leaving your machine? Point Prompy at a local model server. It works with anything that exposes the OpenAI-compatible API.

Ollama

1. Install from ollama.com, then pull a model: ollama pull llama3.2
2. Ollama serves automatically at http://localhost:11434.
3. In Prompy, choose provider Local, set the Server URL to http://localhost:11434/v1, click Test connection — it lists your models.
4. Browser extension only: Ollama blocks unknown origins, so allow the extension. Restart Ollama with: OLLAMA_ORIGINS=chrome-extension://* ollama serve (the desktop app needs no such setting).

LM Studio

1. In LM Studio, download a model and start the Local Server (Developer tab).
2. Set Prompy's Server URL to http://localhost:1234/v1 and Test connection. LM Studio enables CORS by default, so the extension works out of the box.

Once connected, everything (typing suggestions, Playground, hotkeys) runs against your local model — no key, no cost, no data leaving your device.

Troubleshooting

• "Invalid API key (401)" — the key doesn't match the selected provider, or has stray spaces. Re-copy it and make sure the provider tab matches the key.
• "Extension context invalidated" — you updated/reloaded the extension while a tab was open. Just refresh that tab (⌘/Ctrl + R).
• Styles seem stuck on one option — reload the extension from chrome://extensions, then refresh the page.
• "Tokens saved" isn't going up — only Concise mode shortens prompts; the other styles add structure, so they grow the prompt on purpose.
• Nothing happens while typing — check the popup: is Prompy enabled, is this site allowed, and is your key tested? Drafts shorter than the minimum character count won't trigger.

Questions or issues? Email arhaankhan7b@gmail.com or prompy922@gmail.com.