LowLighter docs

System docsOverview

Get started with LowLighter

Learn what the app does, how its workspaces fit together, and where to find the instructions for each feature.

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What LowLighter is

LowLighter is a desktop assistant for asking questions about content already visible on your screen. You trigger a mode, select the material to use, and read the response in an answer surface that stays separate from the app you were using.

That same desktop experience includes focused answers, summaries, translations, rewrites, explanations, custom prompts, live Meetings assistance, and Agent tasks in a separate browser workspace.

The core screen workflow

From selection to response

  1. 1

    Choose what you want LowLighter to do

    The desktop provides Answer, Summarize, Translate, Rewrite, and Explain. Pro accounts also have Custom Prompt for a saved instruction.

  2. 2

    Use the mode shortcut

    Each enabled mode can have its own global hotkey. The shortcut opens the screen-selection flow without requiring you to leave the application in front of you.

  3. 3

    Select the relevant area

    Drag across a paragraph, chart, image, diagram, code sample, or other visible content. The selection becomes the context for the request.

  4. 4

    Read the answer

    LowLighter presents the response in its answer surface. The desktop can show text as it arrives, then completes the response when processing finishes.

A focused selection is the best starting point. Include the full visual when layout, symbols, or a diagram carries meaning. Select only the relevant text when the question is text-based.

Capabilities in the desktop app

LowLighter separates the user-facing actions by purpose. Open the page for the capability you need, or use the product pages in the sidebar to follow a feature from setup to daily use.

Answer
Ask about the selected content and receive a direct response.
Summarize
Reduce selected material to the main points.
Translate
Translate the selected content into the language chosen in the desktop settings.
Rewrite
Create a new version of selected text while keeping the original material as context.
Explain
Ask LowLighter to make selected content easier to understand.
Custom Prompt
Save your own instruction and apply it to a selection. This mode is available with Pro access.
Meetings
Use live listening, transcription, screen context, references, modes, and meeting chat in a separate workspace.
Agent
Complete supported browser, document, presentation, spreadsheet, form, and file tasks from an interactive overlay.
Phantom
Use the app's capture-protection controls for LowLighter surfaces, with related appearance and system settings.
Offline AI
Use the supported local text-processing option after the local components are available on the installation.
Aesthetics
Customize the desktop with Cursor Companion, Ambient Frame, and Winter Frame controls.

Engine and capture choices

The Settings view exposes Fast, Auto, and Vision. Fast uses the text-first path, Auto chooses a route for the captured material, and Vision prioritizes image understanding. When the selected path cannot be used, the service has a text-processing fallback for supported requests.

The Selection Box also includes Automatic Screen Capture. After you save a region, LowLighter can reuse it when you press a mode hotkey instead of opening a new selection each time.

Fast

Use this for a text-first response when the selected material is readable text.

Auto

Let LowLighter choose between text processing and image understanding based on the captured material and current account allowance.

Vision

Prioritize image understanding for content where pixels, layout, symbols, or diagrams matter.

Automatic Screen Capture

Save one region and reuse it with your mode hotkeys. The feature is available to Basic and Pro accounts.

Account access and plans

The service supplies the desktop with the current account, usage, subscription, and mode access state. The desktop account view shows the plan, usage meter, available modes, reset information, and subscription controls.

Free
Includes Answer and Summarize, 15 daily answers, Anti-Focus Overlay, limited Meetings access, and a 15-minute Phantom trial.
Basic
Adds Explain, Translate, and Rewrite for all five core modes, plus unlimited Fast, Vision, Offline AI, Anti-Focus Overlay, GhostKeys, and Winter and Ambient aesthetics.
Pro
Includes Basic features and adds unlimited Phantom invisibility, maximum Meetings, Agent with 500 included monthly credits, higher-thinking models, Custom Prompt, all aesthetic decorations, and twice the Basic Vision allowance.
Billing
Monthly and yearly plans are offered through Stripe. The account view links to the subscription portal for billing management.

Your account page is the source for your current state. Limits, resets, and access can change with a subscription or payment update, so the value shown in the app takes precedence over a static example in documentation.

Choose where to continue

LowLighter docs are split by the task you want to complete. Use the sidebar to move between focused pages instead of reading one uninterrupted guide.

Set up the desktop

Open Installation

Understand modes and engines

Read Answer Modes

Choose a processing path

Read Engine Modes

Set up keyboard control

Read Hotkey Overlay

Use local processing

Read Offline AI

Work in a live meeting

Read Meetings

Complete a computer task

Read Agent

Keep overlays available

Read Overlay Lifecycle

Configure capture privacy

Read Phantom

Compare access

Read Plans and Usage

Review the desktop system

Read Architecture