External Ask

External Ask lets you start every question in SpotAsk, then continue in any AI you like. SpotAsk handles the global hotkey and quick input; the AI you choose writes the answer.

Ask another AI

External Ask buttons appear below the prompt presets in a new question window, and can also be triggered via the @ command palette or the preset popover menu:

• When the input is empty: Clicking an External Ask button, pressing its shortcut (e.g. ⌘ + 5), or selecting it from the @ palette pins a pending target badge at the top-left above the composer. Enter your question and press ↩ to send; nothing has left yet, so the window stays open. Click its ×, press Esc, or clear the input to cancel.
• When input is already present: Selecting an External Ask button, pressing its shortcut, or choosing it from a menu immediately sends the question to the target and closes the question window. If the target cannot be opened, the window stays open with your question and an error, ready to send again.
• In ongoing conversations: Click the preset popover menu at the bottom-left of the composer to access enabled External Ask targets alongside prompt presets.
• Retrying an answer elsewhere: Picking an External Ask target in an answer's model picker sends the question that answer was generated for and keeps the window open, so you can compare the other platform's answer with this conversation.

External Ask does not consume API tokens from your configured AI providers, and queries are not stored in conversation history.

Action types

Each External Ask entry is one of three action types.

Web question opens a link in your browser with the question filled in. The link needs a {query} placeholder where the question goes:

Name	Link
Ask ChatGPT	https://chatgpt.com/?q={query}
Ask Grok	https://grok.com/?q={query}
Ask Perplexity	https://www.perplexity.ai/search?q={query}

Auto-submitting in ChatGPT with a userscript

By default, ChatGPT only pre-fills the query in the composer and requires clicking send manually. If you want ChatGPT to pre-fill and automatically submit the question upon opening, you can install this userscript:

• ChatGPT URL Prompt Auto Submit (Greasy Fork)

Once installed, visiting ChatGPT with a ?q= parameter will automatically trigger the submit button as soon as the composer is ready.

Open an app sends the question to another app on your Mac through the link format that app provides, for example a notes app that accepts quicknote://new?text={query}.

Terminal command runs a command in Terminal with your question filled in, such as:

omp {query}

Add your own

1. Open Settings > External Ask.
2. Select New.
3. Enter a Name, choose an Action Type, and fill in the link or command with {query} where the question goes.
4. Save it. A matching brand icon is picked automatically when one is available.

Entries can be reordered, disabled, edited, or deleted from the same settings page. Disabled entries keep their place but no longer appear in the question window.

Open Settings in SpotAsk

Opens the External Ask page in SpotAsk. If SpotAsk is not installed this link does nothing — open it by hand instead: SpotAsk menu bar icon → Settings... → External Ask, or press ⌘ + , to open Settings. Direct link: spotask://settings/external-ask

Shortcuts

Enabled entries get in-app shortcuts that continue after your prompt shortcuts: with the four built-in prompts enabled, the first two External Ask entries are ⌘ + 5 and ⌘ + 6. Reassign or clear them in Settings > Shortcuts.

Turn it off

Settings > External Ask has a single switch for the whole feature. When it is off, the buttons and shortcuts disappear; your entries are kept.

External Ask entries are included in configuration backups, and restoring an older backup without them works as before.

Common questions

Why are Claude and Gemini not built in? Only services that reliably open and answer a question from a link are built in. Claude opens with the question filled in but waits for you to send it; Gemini does not accept a question in its link at all. You can still add Claude as a custom entry and press send yourself.

What happens to my question? External Ask sends the question only to the destination you pick; SpotAsk does not send it anywhere else and does not keep it.

Related: Prompts, Privacy & Local Data, Settings & Shortcuts Reference