---
title: Global Selection Assistant
description: "SpotAsk Selection Assistant enables in-place translation, explanation, summarization, and polishing for highlighted text across macOS applications."
canonical: https://shiquda.github.io/SpotAsk/use-cases/selection-assistant
---

# Global Selection Assistant: Process Selected Text Across macOS Apps

SpotAsk Selection Assistant brings AI-powered text processing directly to the window where you read or write.

Highlight text in any application, and a lightweight action bar appears next to your selection. Without switching windows or repetitive copy-pasting, you can translate, explain, summarize, polish, or ask follow-up questions immediately.

## Core Capabilities

- **Common Actions & Custom Prompts**: Built-in actions for Translate, Explain, Summarize, and Polish, with full support for custom templates in Settings > Prompts.
- **In-Place Replacement**: In editable areas (such as Mail composers, Notes, or text fields), generated results can replace your selected draft in one click; in read-only views (webpages or PDFs), results are copied to the clipboard or displayed in a popover.
- **Context-Aware Follow-Up**: Clicking "Ask in Chat" opens the main conversation window with your selected text automatically pre-filled as context.

## 3-Step Quick Start

1. **Enable & Grant Permission**: Launch SpotAsk, check "Enable Selection Assistant" in **Settings > Selection**, and grant permission in **System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility**.
2. **Highlight Text in Any App**: Select text in Safari, Xcode, Notes, Mail, or Terminal using your mouse or keyboard.
3. **Trigger Action**: Click a button on the floating bar or press its assigned shortcut to stream results.

## Visual Demo

![SpotAsk Selection Assistant displaying inline quick actions next to highlighted text](https://shiquda.github.io/SpotAsk/images/spotask-selection.gif)
*Figure 1: The Selection Assistant displays quick actions adjacent to highlighted text.*

## Verified Boundaries & Data Handling

- **Model Endpoints & Data Handling**: When processing text, requests are dispatched to the API endpoint configured in your Services settings. For remote providers, data handling follows their respective published policies; when paired with local models via Ollama, processing remains on-device.
- **Accessibility Authorization**: macOS requires Accessibility permission to compute the screen coordinates of highlighted text. If revoked, selection tracking cannot locate text.
- **Custom Canvas & Password Fields**: Views using custom-drawn canvas elements without accessible text nodes may not report coordinates; system password fields are protected by macOS and the assistant does not intervene.

## Download SpotAsk

Download the latest DMG from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/shiquda/SpotAsk/releases/latest) (Apple Silicon and Intel supported), or install via Homebrew:

```sh
brew tap shiquda/spotask https://github.com/shiquda/SpotAsk
brew install --cask shiquda/spotask/spotask
```

### Related Guides

- [Selection Assistant Guide](/guides/selection-assistant) — Trigger modes and shortcut setup.
- [Prompts Configuration Guide](/guides/prompts) — Build custom prompt templates.
- [macOS AI Launcher](/use-cases/mac-ai-launcher) — Hotkey summoning for quick questions.
- [Zero-Telemetry Privacy Architecture](/use-cases/privacy-architecture) — Data destinations and storage design.