AI: menu, chat and privacy

AI in Sidekick Note only runs when you ask, shows you what will be sent, and never changes your note without your OK. Every edit opens as a change preview you accept or reject.

The AI menu (⌘JCtrlJ)

1. Select some text (or nothing, for the whole note) and press ⌘JCtrlJ.
2. The header says exactly what goes where — e.g. “Sent to Sidekick AI: this selection” — plus the model and the credits left.
3. Type to filter, press ↵Enter to run.

Actions:

• Markdown: Format as Markdown (⌘⇧MCtrlShiftM) · Tidy this note · Text / CSV → table · Extract tasks.
• Write: Fix spelling + grammar · Translate Thai ⇄ English · Summarise · Make shorter · Make longer · Continue writing.
• Dev: Explain code · Commit message · README · Regex / SQL / cron from words.
• Organise: Suggest title + tags. YAML: fix · explain · write from words · .env / JSON → YAML.
• Image: alt text · image → Markdown (only when the model can read images).

The change preview

An AI edit appears inside the Editor as a difference — removed text struck out, new text highlighted — while it is being written. The Preview bar has:

• Accept (⌘↵CtrlEnter) — keep it. One ⌘ZCtrlZ undoes the whole change.
• Reject (Esc) — nothing changes.
• Try again — ask for another version. Stop — stop while it is still writing.

Smart paste

Paste messy text (copied from a PDF or e-mail) and a small Smart paste offer asks “Format it as Markdown?”. It never runs by itself; clicking it opens the usual change preview. Turn the offer off in Settings → AI.

AI chat (⌘LCtrlL)

The AI tab in the Right panel is a chat about the open note. ⌘LCtrlL opens it and puts the cursor in the Input box.

• Context chips show exactly what is sent with your message: 📄 This note (click to leave it out), ✂ Selection (appears when you select text), @notes (type @ and pick another note), 🖼 Image (with a model that reads images). In the Chrome extension there is also 🌐 This page — off until you turn it on.
• Type / for the same actions as the AI menu.
• Each answer has Insert at cursor, Replace selection, Add to end, New note, Copy and Retry. Insert, Replace and Add open the change preview.
• ↵Enter sends, ⇧↵ShiftEnter starts a new line, Stop (or Esc) stops an answer.
• Long chats: earlier messages are trimmed to fit; the answer tells you when that happened.

History

🕘 History lists this note’s chats; ＋ starts a new one. Chats are kept encrypted and synced like notes (last 50 messages per chat). Turn off Keep AI chats (⋯ or Settings → AI) to keep new chats in memory on this device only. Settings → AI → Delete all AI chats removes them.

Cards from the AI chat

Ask for a recipe and the answer comes as a card, with Insert card only, Card to end and Replace card in note under it (through the change preview). Say “make it vegan” or “double it” to change a card already in the note. Ask for the chords of a song and you get a songbook card (Widgets: cards in your notes). Check the amounts — the card says “AI-written” until you edit it. Details: Widgets: cards in your notes.

Templates from the AI chat

Ask for a template (“turn this note into a reusable template”, “make a meeting note template”) and the answer is the template text, with {{title}}, {{date}} and {{cursor}} where they belong and any cards kept. Under it, 📄 Save as template keeps it in your Templates notebook once you name it. The AI never saves anything by itself (Templates).

AI choices and models

Settings → AI picks how AI works on this device:

The model picker in the AI header lists the models your plan allows (default gemma4:31b); the choice is per device.

Credits

Sidekick AI uses AI credits from your IDUnify account — a monthly allowance with a daily safety limit, shared across the sites that use IDUnify. The Credits meter shows what is left; click it to open your AI credits page. Out of credits? You get a notice with a link — or switch to On-device or My key. More in Plans & AI credits.

Privacy: what is sent

• Only what you ask about: the selection, the note, or the chips in the chat. Nothing runs in the background.
• Text is sent as data, not instructions, and is not stored by Sidekick Note or the AI service; we never use notes to train AI.
• Never send to AI (Note menu ⋯ or ⌘KCtrlK): cloud AI refuses that note — also when someone @mentions it in a chat. On-device AI still works.
• Private notebooks: before a private note goes to a cloud AI, Sidekick Note asks once per note per session. On-device AI needs no confirmation.
• AI off on a device: nothing is sent from that device.