Text Commands

IWE includes text transformation capabilities that can be accessed right from your text editor. You can effortlessly rewrite text, expand on ideas, highlight important words, or apply any custom transformation using CLI tools.

Transform actions work by piping content through external commands. You can use custom scripts, standard Unix tools, or AI assistants like claude -p (Claude CLI in pipe mode) - any command-line tool that reads from stdin and writes to stdout.

How It Works

1. Select or place cursor on a text block in your editor
2. Open the code actions menu (Ctrl+. or Cmd+.)
3. Select a transform action (e.g., “Rewrite”, “Expand”)
4. The text is processed through your configured command
5. The result replaces the original content

Configuration

Transform actions require two parts:

1. Command definition - the CLI tool to run
2. Action definition - how to use the command

[commands.claude]
run = "claude -p"
timeout_seconds = 120

[actions.rewrite]
type = "transform"
title = "Rewrite"
command = "claude"
input_template = """
Rewrite this text to improve clarity and readability.
Keep links intact.

{{context}}
"""

Check Configuration section for detailed instructions on how to set up custom commands.

Example Commands

Using Claude CLI:

[commands.claude]
run = "claude -p"
timeout_seconds = 120

Using a Python script:

[commands.summarize]
run = "python ~/scripts/summarize.py"
timeout_seconds = 30

Using standard Unix tools:

[commands.uppercase]
run = "tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'"
timeout_seconds = 5