I’ve been remiss in posting updates, but I wanted to take a moment to highlight a significant enhancement to Gemini Scribe that streamlines the writing and editing process: the selection-based rewrite feature. This powerful tool replaced the previous full-file rewrite functionality, offering a more precise, intuitive, and safer way to collaborate with AI on your documents.
What’s New?
Instead of rewriting an entire file, you can now select any portion of your text and have the AI rewrite just that part based on your instructions. Whether you need to make a paragraph more concise, fix grammar in a sentence, or change the tone of a section, this new feature gives you surgical precision.
How It Works
Using the new feature is simple:
- Select the text you want to rewrite in your editor.
- Right-click on the selection and choose “Rewrite with Gemini” from the context menu, or trigger the command from the command palette.
- A dialog will appear showing you the selected text and asking for your instructions.
- Type in what you want to change (e.g., “make this more formal,” “simplify this concept,” or “fix spelling and grammar”), and the AI will get to work.
- The selected text is then replaced with the AI-generated version, while the rest of your document remains untouched.
Behind the scenes, the plugin sends the full content of your note to the AI for context, with special markers indicating the selected portion. This allows the AI to maintain the style, tone, and flow of your document, ensuring the rewritten text fits in seamlessly.
Why This is Better
The previous rewrite feature was an all-or-nothing affair, which could sometimes lead to unexpected changes or loss of content. This new selection-based approach is a major improvement for several reasons:
- Precision and Control: You have complete control over what gets rewritten, down to a single word.
- Safety: There’s no risk of accidentally overwriting parts of your document you wanted to keep.
- Iterative Workflow: It encourages a more iterative and collaborative workflow. You can refine your document section by section, making small, incremental improvements.
- Speed and Efficiency: It’s much faster to rewrite a small selection than an entire document, making the process more interactive and fluid.
This new feature is designed to feel like a natural extension of the editing process, making AI-assisted writing more of a partnership.
A Note on the ‘Rewrite’ Checkbox
I’ve received some feedback about the removal of the “rewrite” checkbox from the normal mode. I want to thank you for that feedback and address it directly. There are a couple of key reasons why I decided to remove this feature in favor of the new selection-based rewriting.
First, I found it difficult to get predictable results with the old mechanism. The model would sometimes overwrite the entire file unexpectedly, which made the feature unreliable and risky to use. I personally rarely used it for this reason.
Second, the new Agent Mode provides a much more reliable way to replicate the old functionality. If you want to rewrite an entire file, you can simply add the file to your Agent session and describe the changes you want the AI to make. The Agent will then edit the entire file for you, giving you a more controlled and predictable outcome.
While I understand that change can be disruptive, I’m confident that the new selection-based rewriting and the Agent Mode offer a superior and safer experience. I’m always looking for ways to improve the plugin, so please continue to share your thoughts and feedback on how you’re using the new features.
The Future is Agent-ic
Ultimately, over the next several iterations of Gemini Scribe, I’ll be moving more and more functionality to the Agent Mode and merging the experience from the existing Gemini Chat Mode into the Agent. I’m hoping that this addresses a lot of feedback I’ve received over the last nine months for this plugin and creates something that is even more powerful for interacting with your notes. More on Agent Mode in a coming post.
I’m really excited about this new direction for Gemini Scribe, and I believe it will make the plugin an even more powerful tool for writers and note-takers. Please give it a try and let me know what you think!