What it does

This is a plugin for Bob, a macOS translation/OCR app. You highlight text, and the plugin sends it to OpenAI’s API for grammar correction and style polishing. The author claims it “perfectly replaces Grammarly” — your mileage and API bill may vary.

The interesting bit

The real architecture here is Bob + PopClip + OpenAI. The plugin itself is a thin adapter; the cleverness is in the integration. Bob handles the UI and text capture, PopClip triggers it from any selection, and ChatGPT does the actual heavy lifting. It’s a nice example of gluing together existing tools to solve a workflow problem.

Key highlights

• Requires macOS, Bob ≥ 1.8.0, and an OpenAI API key
• Supports streaming output (needs Bob ≥ 1.8.0, plugin ≥ 1.0.0)
• Non-macOS users are directed to the author’s browser extension, openai-translator
• Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — commercial use is a no-go
• The author is admirably honest: “I am just a small Bob plugin; the powerful one is Bob itself”

Caveats

• No mention of which model it uses, token costs, or rate limits
• CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license is unusual for developer tools and may block workplace adoption
• “Effect is outstanding” is the author’s claim, not a benchmark

Verdict

Grab it if you’re already a Bob user on macOS and have an OpenAI API key burning a hole in your pocket. Skip it if you need cross-platform support, predictable costs, or a license your employer can stomach.