VS Code for writers — a live WYSIWYG editor, multi-language spell check, thesaurus, AI-assisted prose checks (tense, passive voice & continuity), and publisher-ready DOCX/PDF manuscript export.
Proser turns VS Code into a calm, capable studio for prose: a live page you can
write on, the proofreading and reference tools writers actually need, and one-click
manuscript export — all scoped to Markdown so it never gets in the way of code.
Everything works offline. AI is entirely optional, and can run locally.
✨ The Pretty editor
A live WYSIWYG view backed by the real .md file — your edits are real edits
(undo, git diff, save all work the same as ever).
- A clean, book-width centered page with adjustable font size.
- Right-click anything: synonyms / antonyms, Revise with AI, and inline
formatting (bold, italic, underline, ~~strike~~,
code) — or just right-click a
word, no selecting required.
- Inline spelling squiggles, Find (
Ctrl/Cmd+F), live word-count footer, and a
one-tap Markdown toggle when you want the raw source.
Open it from the editor title bar (the book icon), or Reopen Editor With… → Proser.
✓ Spell check that understands prose
- Built on a real dictionary with compound-word smarts (it won't flag rearview,
seatbelt, floorboards) and skips proper nouns, code, URLs, and frontmatter.
- A dedicated Spelling sidebar lists every misspelling with one-click fixes,
Add to dictionary, and Ignore (suppress without changing your dictionary) —
plus the inline squiggles in the Pretty view.
- Multiple languages: English is built in; Spanish, French, German, Italian,
Portuguese, Dutch, and Russian download once and then work offline. Switch with
Proser: Select Spell Check Language.
📖 Thesaurus
Right-click a word for synonyms or antonyms — online (Datamuse) with an offline
WordNet fallback, or context-aware suggestions when AI is enabled.
Catch the things drafts hide:
- Tense consistency — flags sentences that drift from your narrative tense.
- Passive voice — finds passive constructions (works offline; sharper with AI).
- Continuity — AI scan for contradictions in names, details, timeline, and facts.
Run a check once, or toggle Scan continuously to re-check as you write. Each finding
has Go / Fix / Ignore, and Go jumps right to the passage in the Pretty view.
- New Chapter — creates a new file ordered right after the current one.
- Add Divider / Add Scene Break — inserted at your cursor.
- Title & Author — your manuscript's title page.
- Export to DOCX or PDF in Standard Manuscript Format (Courier 12pt,
double-spaced, 1″ margins) — for this file or the whole folder. Also on the
Pretty toolbar's Export menu, alongside a quick PDF of the current view.
🤖 Optional AI assistant
- Revise with AI on any selection, with reusable saved prompts.
- Powers context-aware synonyms and the continuity check.
- Choose your engine: OpenRouter (cloud) or Ollama (fully local & private).
Pick, switch, or delete local models from the status-bar Model indicator. Your
API key lives in the OS keychain — never in settings.
📊 Word count & goals
Live word count, character count, and reading time in the status bar, with an
optional per-document word goal. Select several .md files in the Explorer →
Count Words in Selection for a combined total.
🎯 And the rest
Document outline, focus mode and typewriter mode, and writing-quality
lint (weasel words / passive voice / filler).
Requirements
- VS Code 1.90+.
- AI features are optional: the cloud path needs an OpenRouter API key and internet;
the local path needs Ollama installed. Everything else —
spell check, thesaurus (offline), word count, the Pretty editor, and export — works
with no account and no network.
License
MIT
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