Inline AI edits

For a paragraph that needs tightening or a broken equation that needs one fix, a chat conversation is overkill. Inline edit is the fast path: select, ⌘L (Ctrl+L), describe, review, done.

The flow

Select the text to change (or just leave the cursor on a line; the line becomes the target).
Press ⌘L, or right-click and choose Ask AI…
A prompt box opens under the target. Type what you want, or tap a preset: Improve, Fix grammar, Make concise, Expand, Fix LaTeX, Translate.
The proposal streams in as an inline diff laid over your text: deletions struck through in red, additions in green. Your document is not modified yet.
Enter accepts, Esc rejects, or hit Retry for another take.

Nothing mutates until you accept, and the diff renders in place, in context, where you can actually judge it, rather than in a side panel you have to mentally map back.

An inline AI edit reviewed as a red/green diff

What powers it

Inline edit uses the same active provider and model as the chat (the panel shows which), plus your custom instructions. It’s a single-shot edit rather than an agent: no tools, no multi-step runs, which is what makes it instant.

The response is constrained to be a pure replacement for the selected text: no code fences, no commentary, no “Here’s your improved version!”.

Details worth knowing

⌘L again closes an open session; so does Esc.
Empty or whitespace-only targets are ignored; select something real.
Errors show inline with Retry and Dismiss; if no provider is connected you get an Open Settings → AI shortcut instead.
Accepted edits are ordinary editor changes: ⌘Z undoes them like anything else.

When to use which AI surface

A sentence, a paragraph, an equation: inline edit, right here.
Anything multi-file, structural, or needing a compile to verify: chat, where the agent has tools.
A figure: Draw with AI or the diagram composer.