Vehla Docs.

Complete Vehla 8.7 documentation: install, Island, SnapWheel, free text expansion, Dock Widgets, native workspaces, QuickGlass, Store extensions, Recall, and local AI.

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DOCS · V8.7 · BUILD 419

Vehla Docs.

Install Vehla, learn the palette, then use QuickGlass, Flow, Magic Rewrite, Recall / Ask Memory, Store extensions, SnapWheel, Island, Shelf, Folder Dock, clipboard intelligence, MCP tools, and local or cloud AI.

Getting started

Vehla is a native macOS menu-bar command center. It combines app launching, file search, clipboard intelligence, window management, notes, drawing, Kanban, dictation, selection tools, local AI, BYOK cloud AI, MCP, and installable command extensions in one keyboard-driven palette.

Install

Download the DMG from vehla.app/download. Open it, drag Vehla.app into Applications, eject the DMG, and launch Vehla. Version 8.7 is build 419 and requires macOS 15.0 or later on Apple Silicon. Vehla lives in the menu bar; click the aurora glyph or press your palette hotkey to begin.

The public DMG is delivered from https://vehla.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Vehla.dmg and is verified with SHA-256 before updater installs: 330b9c2a0c553cfd51bb4bd41f2219495a1e526c8d9761317f82cb85cbe67ebc

Permissions

Vehla asks only when a feature needs macOS access. You can revoke any permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Accessibility. Required for selected-text capture, Magic Rewrite replacement, QuickGlass positioning, window management, Folder Dock placement, Shelf drag behavior, and Flow text injection.
Input Monitoring. Required for global hotkeys, SnapWheel mouse triggers, Flow push-to-talk, Folder Peek, and system-wide text expansion.
Screen Recording. Required for Snipe Text, screenshot capture, and screen-region vision actions.
Microphone and Speech. Required for Flow dictation and Voice Notes transcription.
Calendar, Contacts, Reminders, Automation, and Notifications. Requested only when you use agenda, contact, reminder, Messages, music, notification, or extension features that need them.

Onboarding

First launch introduces appearance, hotkeys, permissions, Flow setup, Read Aloud providers, local AI models, and optional Quick Surfaces. You can re-run it from Settings → General → Run onboarding again. The onboarding flow adds Dock Widget previews plus everyday behavior, AI, palette, and search preferences.

Your first action

01Select text in any app.
02Press Option Space, or your custom palette hotkey.
03Type a few letters of an action, such as rewrite, summarize, translate spanish, ask, or clip.
04Press Return. Results stream in Markdown with copy and paste controls.

What's new in 8.6

Vehla 8.6 expands QuickGlass with focused local tool packs, adds provider reasoning controls, introduces Glide trackpad-edge controls, and improves Finder, Weather, and selection formatting.

QuickGlass tool packs. Toolbox, Link Lens, Markdown Quick, List Lab, Type Polish, Number Crunch, Data Extractor, Capture Hub, and Reading Tools add local actions for selected content.
Reasoning controls. Cloud providers expose provider-specific reasoning controls and collapsible thinking details when supported.
Glide. A hidden Premium beta adds trackpad-edge controls for volume and brightness with clearer sensitivity presets.
Finder and Weather. Command-Return reveals file and app results in Finder, while Weather Dock Widgets use forecasts from MET Norway.
Formatting fixes. Thinking details render Markdown correctly, Claude reasoning summaries appear reliably, and QuickGlass preserves web selection formatting and paragraph structure.

What's new in 8.7

Vehla 8.7 continues the 8.x documentation line with current build 419 behavior. The 8.6 notes above remain for upgrade context; this section captures the latest user-visible additions and fixes.

Pinned Ask AI. Ask AI conversations can stay pinned open while you work in other apps, and conversations no longer have a turn limit.
Glide on every edge. Glide can assign volume, brightness, or disabled behavior independently to the left, right, top, and bottom edges of the trackpad.
Verified official extensions. Official Vehla Store extensions are recognized as verified publishers on every Mac, making catalog trust clearer after install or update.
Window Layout navigation. The Window Layouts back button returns to search instead of reopening layouts.
Safer Purge. Purge quits running apps, unloads user LaunchAgents, uses Finder-compatible Trash, and verifies removal before reporting success.

The palette

Keyboard shortcuts

Option SpaceOpen the command palette.
Command ,Open Settings.
Option Shift RLegacy Rewrite Selection shortcut.
Option Shift SCapture a screen area for vision.
Option Shift BCapture a region into Scrapbook when the beta workspace is enabled.
Command Shift 2Snipe Text: OCR a screen region to the clipboard.
Option Shift NQuick Capture into today's daily note.
Control Option BSummon Shelf while dragging.
Fn holdFlow push-to-talk dictation, when enabled.
Command DFavorite an action or pin an emoji/clipboard item.

Settings lets you bind global shortcuts for Magic Rewrite, Magic Rewrite with Tone, SnapWheel, every AI action, native commands, and all window snap positions.

The palette searches apps, files, native commands, AI actions, snippets, personas, Store commands, Docker apps, workflows, aliases, and custom searches. Extension and plugin commands rank above file and folder results, and popular apps expose curated, non-blocking actions.

Use filters and modes when you know the kind of result you want: :actions for actions, :snip or / for snippets, :persona for personas, #native for native commands, and #ai for AI actions. The footer opens Canvas, Notes, Kanban, Recall / Ask Memory, Scratchpad, MCP, Emoji, Clipboard, Snippets, Personas, Downloads, and Settings.

Additional category filters include :all, :web, :files, :library, :system, :utility, :workflow, :email, :social, :productivity, :vision, and :agent. Search preferences let you prioritize apps, enable fuzzy matching, make the palette follow the mouse, use clipboard text as input, and turn app-specific actions on or off.

Native actions

Native actions run without an AI model. Vehla includes app launching, file search, Finder selection actions, web shortcuts, calculator, unit and currency conversion, dictionary lookup, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, bookmarks, browser history, music controls, timers, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and volume toggles, lock/sleep/restart, empty Trash, Apple Shortcuts, terminal commands, password and UUID generators, emoji, QR codes, colors, symbols, ports, Homebrew, media downloads, and keep-display-awake.

App-specific actions

When App Actions are enabled, Vehla can show contextual commands for the frontmost app and keyword commands for supported apps. Type the app token, such as slack, zoom, arc, cursor, or spotify, then choose an action.

Browsers. Arc, Safari, and Chrome support opening URLs or searches, new windows and private windows, back/forward, reload, reopen closed tab, bookmark or reading-list actions, history, downloads, settings, sidebars, URL copying, and Markdown link copying.
Communication. Slack, Zoom, Outlook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and Messages expose quick switching, search, replies, chat compose, meeting join/start/schedule, mute, video, screen share, people, downloads, conversation details, and keyboard shortcuts where supported.
Productivity. Linear, Obsidian, Things, Notion, 1Password, Word, and Excel provide search, create/open items, command menus, projects, to-dos, vault navigation, copy password or one-time code, comments, printing, tables, and app settings.
Developer tools. Cursor, VS Code, Xcode, Claude, ChatGPT, and Codex include chat, agent, command palette, inline edit, terminal, source control, problems, settings, build, run, test, clean, model switching, threads, folders, and review helpers.
Media. Spotify actions cover play/pause, next/previous, shuffle, repeat, queue, liked songs, volume, mute, and search. Music controls also appear through native commands, Island, and Dock Widgets.

Clipboard

Type clip, :clip, or clipboard to open Smart Clipboard. Vehla keeps up to 1,000 clips by default, with searchable tabs for text, URLs, images, pinned clips, and all history.

Text and URL clips. Copy, paste, pin, rename, tag, clean formatting, extract links, copy Markdown links, or ask AI about the clip.
Image clips. Local analysis extracts OCR text, QR codes, screenshot details, dimensions, and dominant colors.
Multi-select and stacks. Select multiple clips, join them, reorder them, save named stacks, and paste groups back into the front app.
Privacy. Use private mode, sensitive-content controls, pinned-clip protection, ignored apps, and per-app retention rules.
AwesomeCopy. If enabled, AwesomeCopy can replace Vehla's watcher while syncing history into Vehla in the background.

Quick utilities

Use qr for QR codes, color for color values, symbol and sf for SF Symbols and Unicode, math for the scratchpad, speedtest for network speed, port 3000 and kill port 3000 for developer cleanup, emoji fire for emoji search, and commands for the built-in command reference.

Command Reference

The Command Reference in Settings is a searchable catalog of native commands, trigger syntax, and examples. It covers library commands, files and apps, calendar and tasks, web searches, system controls, native utilities, command filters, Homebrew, media downloads, windows, layouts, and palette workspace openers.

Text transforms

Native text transforms work on typed input, selected text, or the clipboard without calling an AI model. Search for encoding, cleanup, hash, or case commands when you need a deterministic utility.

Encode and decode. Base64 encode/decode, URL encode/decode, JWT decode, JSON formatting, Markdown cleanup, slugify, and line normalization.
Hashes and identifiers. Generate MD5, SHA hashes, UUIDs, random passwords, tokens, and developer-safe strings from the palette.
Case and spelling. Convert text casing, clean whitespace, define words, spell-check terms, and copy the transformed result back to the clipboard or front app.

Snipe Text

Snipe Text captures a screen region, performs OCR, and copies the recognized text to the clipboard. Use Command Shift 2, the menu-bar command, or a custom hotkey. Screen Recording is required because macOS treats OCR regions as screen capture.

Scratchpad

Scratchpad is a Soulver-style workspace for quick math and notes. Open it from the footer, SnapWheel, or queries such as scratchpad, scratch, math, or soulver. You can seed it with an expression from the palette and keep calculations inside the command window.

Files, apps, and system

File search uses Spotlight plus common-folder fallbacks. File rows can reveal in Finder, copy paths, move items to Trash, and run copy/move operations. Finder selection commands operate on whatever is selected in Finder. System commands include latest screenshot, settings panes, eject volumes, quit or force quit apps, lock, screen saver, display sleep, sleep Mac, restart, empty Trash, window snaps, saved layouts, audio output switching, and keep-display-awake.

Inputs and output

Vehla can use typed input, pasted input, clipboard text, selected text, Finder files, screenshots, clipboard images, dropped images, and front-app context. The context label tells you what will be sent. AI results stream as Markdown with copy, paste, formatted RTF, and plain-text options. QuickGlass can deliver results by replacing the selection, showing a compact result, or opening the full palette.

Themes

Vehla 8.0 applies appearance across the palette, Settings, onboarding, License Gate, and What's New. Built-in themes include Aurora, Light, Midnight, Liquid Glass, Clear Liquid Glass, Translucent Cold, Translucent Warm, Minimal, Obsidian, Graphite, Nordic, Vintage, and Custom. The custom theme editor lets you tune colors and glass treatment from Settings.

AI

AI action catalog

Vehla 8.0 ships with 73 built-in AI actions, plus any custom actions you create. Categories include Ask, Magic Rewrite, 11 rewrite tones, writing, translation, code, terminal, email, social, clipboard, productivity, privacy, utilities, vision, and agent actions. Actions can be hidden, favorited, aliased, attached to SnapWheel, or bound to a global hotkey.

Rewrite tones. Professional, Regular Joe, Friendly, Concise, Confident, Casual, Executive, Funny, Gen Z, Technical, and Customer Support.
Writing and productivity. Summarize, shorten, expand, grammar, bullets, Markdown, explain, smart compose, todos, calendar event, meeting notes, webpage summary, decision memo, PR description, release notes, and bug report.
Developer help. Explain code, refactor, convert language, debug, generate tests, SQL helper, generate shell command, explain shell command, and fix shell error.
Vision and tools. Describe images, extract text from images, ask about screenshots, research and reply, schedule from selection, draft and paste.
Ask actions. Ask AI starts a raw chat, Ask Memory opens retrieval chat over indexed local content, and Ask About This Text uses the current selection or typed prompt.
Translation. Translate to English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, and Arabic.
Email and social. Smart Reply, Accept Meeting, Decline Meeting, Follow-up, Summarize Thread, Refund Reply, Support Triage, Make it a Tweet, Generate Caption, Generate Hooks, Generate Hashtags, and Rewrite for Virality.
Clipboard and privacy. Clipboard Action, Clean Clipboard Formatting, Extract Links, Remove Sensitive Info, Fact Check / Find Claims, Improve Prompt, ELI5, Pros / Cons, Turn Into Checklist, Commit Message, and Extract Key Details.

QuickGlass

QuickGlass is a selection-triggered floating action bar. Enable it in Settings → QuickGlass. When you double-click, drag-select, or keyboard-select text, QuickGlass appears above the selection with configurable actions.

Add Copy, Read Aloud, Magic Rewrite, built-in palette AI actions, and custom actions.
Choose output behavior: replace the selection, show a compact result, or open the palette.
Configure ordering, delay, drag-handle repositioning, require-Command behavior, and excluded apps.
QuickGlass uses native Liquid Glass on macOS 26 and a frosted fallback on earlier supported macOS versions.

Magic Rewrite

Magic Rewrite rewrites focused text and replaces it in place. Use the palette action, a dedicated Magic Rewrite hotkey, a Magic Rewrite with Tone hotkey, or QuickGlass. Choose a default tone, pick a tone per run, or create custom tone prompts in Settings → Magic Rewrite. Accessibility is required so Vehla can safely read and replace text in the front app.

Flow dictation

Flow is private push-to-talk dictation. Enable it in Settings → Flow, grant Microphone, Accessibility, and Input Monitoring, pick a speech model, then hold Fn or your custom Flow hotkey. Release to transcribe and paste into the focused field.

Model options include NVIDIA Parakeet, NVIDIA Nemotron, Apple Speech, Apple Speech Analyzer, and multiple Whisper sizes. Flow includes downloadable model management, configurable storage, language selection, live preview, and unload controls.

Read Aloud

Read Aloud speaks selected text from QuickGlass or supported palette flows. Use private on-device Kokoro voices for English, or add an ElevenLabs API key for multilingual cloud voices. Kokoro models can be downloaded, stored, and unloaded locally.

Recall / Ask Memory

Recall is the customer-facing name for Vehla's local retrieval workspace; the in-app action is still called Ask Memory. Trigger it with recall, ask memory, ask notes, chat notes, or knowledge. Depending on Settings, the local index can include notes, clipboard history, Shelf items, snippets, canvases, Kanban boards, Deep Research reports, and selected folders.

Answers include citations. Citation chips can open the source, reveal it in Finder, copy content, or stage supported files on Shelf. 8.0 improves short-prefix and partial-code matches in notes and clipboard clips. Local models keep inference on your Mac; cloud models send the assembled prompt to the selected provider.

MCP tools

Vehla includes a standalone MCP client in the palette. Add HTTP/SSE or local stdio servers in Settings → MCP Client, store credentials in Keychain, review tools, and choose Allow, Ask, or Deny policies per server and tool.

The .mcp workspace supports agent tasks, live tool progress, one-time approvals, manual invocation, server management, audit history, durable run transcripts, cancellation, reconnect, output limits, and clean shutdown. MCP servers receive the prompt and context you choose to share, so only connect servers you trust.

Vision

Vision actions read images and screenshots: Describe Image, Extract Text from Image, and Ask About This Image. Press Option Shift S to capture a screen region. Local Gemma text models do not process images, so vision routes to a configured vision-capable cloud provider with a visible routing notice.

Agent actions

Agent actions let AI call built-in tools before answering. Vehla ships Research and Reply, Schedule from Selection, and Draft and Paste. Built-in tools include Fetch URL, Web Search through your Brave Search API key, Create Calendar Event through EventKit, and Paste Into Front App. Fact Check is a utility AI action that can use web context; Generate Calendar Event is a productivity action.

Deep Research

If Lekh AI Pro is installed, Vehla adds Deep Research from the palette. Jobs can show progress, recover in the background, be cancelled, reconnect after relaunch, use Lekh research models, and deliver reports and source files back to Shelf. Continue in Lekh can hand selected text, clipboard content, files, screenshots, Shelf items, notes, and personas into Lekh.

Surfaces

Notch / Island

Enable Settings → Notch / Island and choose Island, a floating capsule, or Notch, a top-attached surface. Tabs can be toggled individually. 8.0 tabs include Bucket, Music, Next Up, Clipboard, Quick Ask, Timer, Messages, Voice Notes, System Activity, and Recent Links.

Bucket. Drop files, images, links, or text and drag them back out or hand off to Shelf.
Music. Control Spotify or Apple Music with artwork, visualizer, queue, and playback controls.
Next Up. Calendar events with meeting links for Zoom, Meet, Teams, and Webex.
Clipboard. Search and reuse recent clips from the Island without opening the full clipboard workspace.
Quick Ask. Ask AI from the Island with compact input and responses that stay close to the menu bar.
Timer. Start, view, and manage active countdown timers from the Island and keep them available across the app.
Messages and reminders. Preview iMessage inbox activity when Messages integration is enabled, and include due reminders inside Next Up.
Voice Notes. Record even after the surface closes, save audio locally, and transcribe with the selected Flow model.
System Activity and Recent Links. See CPU, memory, thermal state, and enriched link history without opening another app.

Shelf

Shelf is a drag-and-drop staging area for files, images, links, and text. Enable it in Settings, summon with Control Option B while dragging, jiggle a drag to reveal it, or use the menu-bar command. Shelf supports multiple buckets, image preview, open/reveal/share actions, zipping, moving, saving, and Deep Research delivery.

Folder Dock

Folder Dock is a mini folder strip beside the macOS Dock. Pin folders, open paginated folder grids, drag items out, remove items with Command-drag, and let the panel track Dock size and position. Configure it in Settings → Folder Dock.

Dock Widgets

Dock Widgets place compact, expandable tiles beside the macOS Dock. Enable them in Settings → Dock Widgets, choose visible widgets, use Liquid Glass styling, and let automatic contrast adapt text color to the Dock background. Weather, Calendar, and Now Playing are enabled by default when Dock Widgets are first turned on.

Weather. MET Norway forecast data, current conditions, hourly outlook, and expanded multi-day forecast.
Calendar and reminders. See the next event, expanded agenda, upcoming reminders, and completion controls where macOS permissions allow.
Now Playing. Artwork, track title, playback progress, and media controls for supported players including Apple Music and Spotify.
System and network. CPU, memory, disk, battery, thermal state, load, connection state, and live network activity in small Dock-side tiles.
Timers and Shortcuts. Monitor active countdowns, control timers, search Apple Shortcuts, and launch shortcuts from the Dock area.
Plugin widgets. Store packages can add Dock Widgets with compact, inline, and popup presentations, subject to user consent and package permissions.

Folder Peek

Folder Peek previews Finder folders without leaving Finder. Enable it in Settings → Folder Peek, choose Folder Dock or Finder styling, select a folder in Finder, and press Space to open a quick grid preview. Input Monitoring and Accessibility help Vehla detect the Finder selection and show the preview reliably.

SnapWheel

SnapWheel is a radial action wheel opened with middle-click, a configured hotkey, or from the palette. It includes 15 window snap positions, app actions, AI actions, clipboard actions, colors, symbols, QR, ports, layouts, notes, canvas, Kanban, scratchpad, emoji, purge, and memory shortcuts.

The layout editor supports radial drag reordering, accessible list controls, custom AI/app arcs, Focus-aware color profiles, reduced motion, fast flick selection, submenu behavior, and an optional Command-middle-click bypass so the current app receives its normal middle-click action.

Window management

Vehla moves the focused window using Accessibility. Search for window left, window right, window maximize, thirds, corners, center, next display, or previous display. The Layouts workspace saves and restores multi-app window arrangements and can auto-layout apps when they launch. Drag-to-snap shows edge previews while moving windows.

Window Layouts

Window Layouts stores named arrangements of apps, windows, displays, and positions. Open it from the footer, SnapWheel, or layouts. Capture the current desktop, apply saved layouts, move windows between displays, enable auto-layout for apps as they launch, and turn window drag snap previews on or off.

Glide

Glide is a premium beta trackpad gesture layer for volume and brightness. Enable Beta Features, then open Settings → Glide. Each trackpad edge can be set to Volume, Brightness, or Disabled, with independent edge width, sensitivity, inversion, and HUD controls. Left and right edges use vertical sliding; top and bottom edges use horizontal sliding.

Window Tabs

Window Tabs is a beta window organization feature that groups regular app windows into tabbed sets. Turn it on from the beta settings, choose Option, Shift, or Command as the drag modifier, then modifier-drag windows together to create and rearrange tab groups. Accessibility is used to track and activate grouped windows.

BarKeep

BarKeep hides menu-bar icons behind a separator and chevron. Command-drag icons to the hidden side, click to expand or collapse, use auto-collapse, and Option-click separators for quick controls. Turn it on from Settings → BarKeep. BarKeep is available on macOS 26 and prior only.

Break reminders

Break Reminders show scheduled wellness prompts. Choose Plane, Focus, or Full Blur styles; configure interval, work hours, workdays, message, reduced motion, and Escape-to-dismiss; preview the reminder from Settings.

Floating bubble

The floating bubble is a draggable orb that opens the palette with a click. Enable it from Settings → General → Floating AI bubble.

Workspaces

Notes

Notes is a Markdown workspace inside the palette with folders, tags, backlinks, wikilinks, image attachments, search, live preview, and Quick Capture to daily notes. Notes can be indexed by Recall / Ask Memory and stored in Application Support or an iCloud Drive folder.

Canvas

Canvas embeds Excalidraw in the palette. Create drawings, organize them into folders, tag, search, rename inline, export PNGs, and store canvases locally or in an iCloud Drive folder. Canvases can be indexed for Recall.

Kanban

Kanban is a full planning workspace with folders, tags, board search, customizable columns, WIP limits, priorities, due dates, labels, checklists, archives, drag-and-drop card movement, draggable columns, Markdown export, storage controls, iCloud folders, and Recall indexing. Open it from the footer or with kanban, board, or a board-name match.

Mind Map

Mind Map is a palette workspace for connected ideas. Open it from the footer, SnapWheel, or mindmap. Create maps and folders, search titles or tags, rename inline, undo/redo, fit the map, maximize the workspace, and export PNG, SVG, JSON, or a Markdown outline.

Scrapbook

Scrapbook is a premium beta moodboard workspace for screenshots, images, links, and visual notes. Open it from the footer when Beta Features are enabled, or capture a region with the Scrapbook hotkey. You can create scrapbooks and folders, search by title or tag, paste images with OCR, add text, undo/redo, fit the board, export PNG, maximize the workspace, and store documents locally or in iCloud.

Draw.io

Draw.io embeds diagramming inside Vehla. Open it from the footer, SnapWheel, or drawio / draw.io. Create diagrams and folders, search diagrams or tags, rename and tag documents, use the embedded Draw.io editor, export, and maximize the workspace while keeping diagrams in Vehla storage.

Store and extensions

The Store installs command extensions that appear in palette search. Open Settings → Store to browse the catalog, search, preview commands, install, enable/disable, update, filter by runtime, manage permissions, and configure secrets. Extension commands run in isolated background processes with timeouts, bounded output, structured errors, and crash containment.

Store installs verify HTTPS URLs, archive size limits, SHA-256 checksums, secure extraction paths, manifest identity, immutable versioned packages, arm64 Mach-O architecture for native extensions, and publisher signatures for catalog native packages. Publisher signing uses Ed25519, first-use trust, signing-key fingerprints, key continuity checks, and trust revocation.

Runtimes. Packages can run as Node commands, Swift executable commands, native in-process workspaces, QuickGlass actions, or Dock Widget plugins.
Capabilities. Users grant clipboard read/write, open URL, notifications, selected text, user-selected files, network, persistent storage, shared context, and app action permissions per package.
Native consent. Native workspaces and Dock Widget plugins show a full-access consent prompt before first run and are blocked for recovery if the app exited while they were active.
Secrets. Package secrets live in Keychain, are scoped to the extension package, and can be added, replaced, or removed from Store settings.

Developer SDK

Vehla 8.0 documents public extension development for TypeScript/JavaScript and Swift. The TypeScript and JavaScript SDK supports typed invocations, async handlers, clipboard and selected-text context, secure secrets, private storage, network access, file selection, notifications, brokered actions, declarative forms, and rich native results. The Swift SDK supports typed handlers, forms, rich results, brokered actions, signed arm64 executable extensions, confined atomic storage, Codable preferences, structured secret-redacting logs, and permission-aware HTTP networking.

The vehla-swift developer CLI can validate, build, test, package, and code-sign native extensions. Example extensions include GitHub Workflow, Web Inspector, Webhook Runner, Developer Security Tools, File Toolkit, Notification Lab, Swift Hello, and Swift SDK Lab.

The native workspace SDK exposes SwiftUI/AppKit workspaces, launch payloads, theme updates, secret lookup and storage, local AI completions, and brokered app actions. The Dock Widget SDK exposes compact, inline, and popup widget surfaces plus optional bridges for clipboard history, notifications, secrets, open URL, local AI, and app actions. Current Store APIs support manifest versions 1 through 3.

Media downloads

Vehla can download audio, video, playlists, direct files, and formats through yt-dlp and ffmpeg. Use download, download audio URL, download video URL, formats URL, extract playlist URL, or direct file URLs. Settings shows tool health, install buttons, download location, history, and recent failures.

Purge and Uninstall

Type purge or uninstall plus an app name to review app bundles, caches, preferences, containers, logs, saved state, and nested Library files before moving selected items to Trash. Protected locations may ask for macOS authorization.

Integrations

Docker Apps

Docker Apps turns containerized tools into palette-launchable local apps. Configure it in Settings → Docker Apps, browse or pin containers, then launch them from the palette with Docker queries. It is useful for local developer tools, dashboards, automation apps, and self-hosted utilities such as Stirling, n8n, and Grafana.

Portals

Portals is a premium beta builder for turning websites into focused, locally installed Mac apps. Add a name and start URL in Settings → Portals, then save, install, launch, reveal, reinstall, or remove the generated app and its data.

Identity and windowing. Set app name, start URL, fixed window title, custom user agent, launch mode, window size, and app-style behavior.
Navigation and downloads. Control allowed navigation, content blocking, downloads, app icons, shortcuts, and maintenance actions.
Custom code. Inject custom CSS or JavaScript when a Portal needs focused styling, automation, or a kiosk-like experience.

AwesomeCopy

AwesomeCopy integration lets an external clipboard app feed Vehla's clipboard UI. Add the AwesomeCopy token in Settings → Clipboard, validate compatibility, then enable sync. When AwesomeCopy is active, Vehla disables its own watcher so the two history systems do not compete.

Extension catalog

The published Store catalog includes native workspaces, QuickGlass tools, Node commands, Swift executable commands, and Dock Widget packages. Catalog packages are searched from the Store, installed with permissions and secrets, and exposed in the palette only after install and enablement.

Native UI and QuickGlass. Capture Hub, Data Extractor, Link Lens, List Lab, Markdown Quick, Number Crunch, Reading Tools, Toolbox, and Type Polish can provide palette workspaces and selected-text QuickGlass actions.
Developer and utility commands. Developer Security Tools, File Toolkit, GitHub Workflow, Hello Store, Notification Lab, Text Toolkit, Web Inspector, Webhook Runner, Swift Hello, and Swift SDK Lab add searchable commands.
Dock Widget catalog. News Reader Dock Widget is available as a Store-installed Dock Widget package, while additional widget examples exist for developers building their own packages.

Customize

Snippets and expansion

Snippets are reusable templates filtered with / or :snip. They can use placeholders such as {selection}, {clipboard}, {app}, {date}, {time}, {uuid}, and {cursor}. Turn on system-wide expansion in Settings → Snippets & Expansion to replace triggers in any app, with secure-field exclusions and clipboard restoration.

Custom actions

Custom AI actions make your own prompt behave like a built-in palette command. Give the action a name, category, and prompt; use context variables; favorite it; bind it to a hotkey; add it to SnapWheel; or give it an alias.

Searches, workflows, aliases

Custom searches open URL templates with {query}, {query%}, or {query+}. Workflows can open URLs, run shell commands, or execute scripts through zsh. Aliases let you rename built-in commands, native shortcuts, custom AI actions, searches, workflows, and Store commands. These customizations sync through iCloud where supported.

Hotkeys

Settings → Hotkeys manages the palette hotkey, Magic Rewrite shortcuts, capture shortcuts, Quick Capture, SnapWheel, Flow, window management defaults, action hotkeys, and native command hotkeys. Vehla can also help you reclaim Command-Space from Spotlight if you want the palette there.

App hotkeys

App Hotkeys bind keyboard shortcuts directly to applications. Choose an app in Settings → App Hotkeys, assign a global shortcut, and Vehla launches or focuses that app without opening the palette.

Folder shortcuts

Folder Shortcuts map dot-prefixed keywords to folders. Built-in shortcuts include Home, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Applications, Pictures, Music, Movies, Public, Network, and iCloud Drive. Add custom folder shortcuts in Settings → Folder Shortcuts, then type a shortcut such as .downloads in the palette.

Personas and memory

Personas are style instructions applied to prompts. Memory is a small always-on note injected into prompts as system context. Portable persona packs can be imported/exported, and Recall source settings control which local data is indexed for retrieval.

Vehla Packs

Vehla Packs bundle workflows, aliases, custom searches, custom AI actions, snippets, and personas. Starter packs include Productivity & Email, Writing & Content, Developer Essentials, and Research. Packs do not include API keys, license keys, clipboard history, notes, or canvases.

App Intents

Vehla registers Shortcuts.app intents to open Vehla, activate a persona, continue text in Lekh AI Pro, and set SnapWheel Focus appearance. Use them in Focus automations or personal Shortcuts when you want macOS to trigger Vehla without opening the palette first.

AI providers

Local models

Vehla ships an MLX local inference runtime for Apple Silicon. Download catalog models, import compatible MLX models, choose storage locations, warm-start models, or offload them when idle. Text-only actions run on-device when Local AI is selected and a model is available. Vision and tool-using actions require a compatible cloud provider.

Cloud API keys

API keys are stored in macOS Keychain and sent directly from your Mac to the provider. Supported BYOK providers are OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, and OpenRouter. Settings includes model pickers and key testing; the palette footer disables providers that are not configured.

Ollama

Point Vehla at a local Ollama endpoint, usually http://localhost:11434, and choose a pulled model tag such as llama3.2:3b. Keep Ollama running before selecting it in the palette footer.

LM Studio

LM Studio works as a local server provider. Start LM Studio's local server, copy its base URL into Vehla, choose a served model, and select LM Studio from the palette footer. Requests go to your local LM Studio server rather than Vehla infrastructure.

Lekh AI Pro

When Lekh AI Pro is installed, Vehla can discover compatible local models, use Lekh as a local provider, hand off context with Continue in Lekh, run Deep Research, and share portable personas. Lekh routes stay hidden until the companion app advertises the required integration capability.

Privacy mode

Use Local AI to route text-only AI actions to a selected local model. If the model is unavailable, Vehla shows an error instead of silently falling back to cloud. Cloud providers, web search, MCP servers, Store extensions, ElevenLabs, updates, and licensing use the network only when you configure or invoke those features.

Licensing and support

Feature access

Vehla has three access layers: Free, Premium through a lifetime license or active 7-day trial, and Beta Features. Premium tabs show a Pro lock when unavailable. Beta Features are enabled from the Updates screen by tapping the version label four times, and beta features can still require Premium if their runtime is premium-gated.

Free. Command Palette, app and file search, native utilities, BarKeep, basic window management, window drag snap, limited clipboard, limited notes, limited snippets, text expansion, local AI catalog models up to 2B parameters, BYOK providers, and monthly AI usage.
Premium or trial. Island, Shelf, Folder Dock, Dock Widgets, Folder Peek, SnapWheel, QuickGlass, Flow, Break Reminders, Floating Bubble, MCP, Store installs, most workspaces, Snipe Text, premium themes, custom automation settings, and expanded quotas.
Beta. Glide, Portals, Scrapbook, and Window Tabs are beta features. Glide also requires Premium.
Data controls. Privacy & Pro includes license activation, free usage meters, anonymous analytics, iCloud sync toggles for local workspaces, text-data export, pack import/export, clipboard clearing, and open-source notices.

Vehla Free

Vehla Free is free forever and does not require a card. It includes the Command Palette, search, utilities, basic window management, a rolling 50-item clipboard history, up to 5 notes and 3 snippets, catalog local models up to 2B parameters, BYOK cloud providers, and 50 successful combined Ask AI sessions and AI Action runs per local calendar month.

System-wide text expansion is available on the Free plan within the snippet limit. Premium removes the snippet, note, clipboard, local model size, and monthly AI usage limits and unlocks the premium surfaces and integrations listed above.

Activation

You can try Premium for 7 days with no card required. Vehla Pro is a one-time $29.99 purchase for two Macs. Paste the license email and key into Settings → Privacy & Pro → License. Deactivate a Mac from the same area to release a slot. Without an active trial or license, Vehla continues on the Free plan.

Updates

Vehla checks an HTTPS manifest, downloads the DMG, verifies SHA-256, records pending What's New notes, and installs on relaunch. The menu-bar icon shows an update indicator when a newer verified build is available.

Troubleshooting

If the palette cannot read text, re-check Accessibility permission and restart the front app.
If global shortcuts, Flow, Folder Peek, or SnapWheel do not trigger, re-check Input Monitoring.
If Snipe Text or screenshots fail, re-check Screen Recording.
If Flow records silence, check Microphone permission, selected input device, and the chosen speech model download.
If QuickGlass appears in the wrong app, add the app to exclusions or require Command before showing.
If cloud AI is unavailable, test the provider key in Settings and choose a configured model from the palette footer.
If Store commands fail, review extension permissions, secrets, catalog trust, and the extension's diagnostic output.
If Dock Widgets do not appear, confirm Premium access, enable Dock Widgets, keep at least one widget visible, and use Show or Reposition from settings or the menu.
If Glide does not respond, confirm Premium access, Beta Features, a supported built-in or Magic Trackpad, enabled edge actions, and that you are not click-dragging while sliding.
If Window Tabs, Scrapbook, or Portals are missing, enable Beta Features from Updates and then reopen Settings or the palette.
If a native workspace or Dock Widget plugin is blocked after a crash, review the Store package, update or reinstall it, and re-accept the native consent prompt only for packages you trust.
If Portals cannot install an app, verify the start URL, save pending portal changes, and use Reinstall after changing icons, injected code, or launch behavior.
If Docker Apps do not launch, make sure Docker is running and the container or catalog app is installed, pinned, and healthy.
If App Hotkeys or Folder Shortcuts do not trigger, rebind the shortcut or keyword in Settings and check for conflicts with macOS or other apps.

Changelog

Complete release history from Vehla 8.7 through the initial 1.0.0 beta. Select a release to view every change.

8.7 Build 419 Vehla 8.7 Latest

New

  • Clipboard history adds Code, Commands, and Emails tabs so copied snippets, terminal commands, and addresses are easy to find.
  • Your notes, snippets, kanban boards, and canvases can now be indexed in macOS Spotlight, and opening a result jumps straight to it in Vehla. Turn it on in Settings › Memory, where you can also reindex on demand and check what Spotlight can find.
  • The command palette now finds your own notes, boards, canvases, mind maps, diagrams, and snippets by title or by words inside them, and opens the match where it lives. Untitled documents are listed by their first line.
  • Text drawn inside canvases, mind maps, and Draw.io diagrams is now searchable, so a shape label finds the document that holds it.
  • Type 1p in the palette to search your 1Password vault, then copy a password, one-time code, or username, or open the item in 1Password. Copied passwords are kept out of clipboard history and cleared from the clipboard afterwards. Turn it on in Settings › 1Password.
  • Send a selection or files to the Shelf, ask Vehla about selected text, or capture it to a note from any app's Services menu. Shelf and note captures leave you where you were, and you can give each action a keyboard shortcut in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Services.

Improved

  • Ask your memory now searches voice note transcripts and the text inside scrapbook captures.
  • Indexed folders now include PDFs, so reports and papers are searchable in Ask your memory.
  • Ask AI can now be pinned open while working in other apps and supports conversations without a turn limit.
  • Glide controls can now be assigned to the top and bottom trackpad edges.
  • A mouse wheel now scrolls the palette's side-to-side rows, including the Shortcut Guide, the footer buttons, the clipboard tabs, and running timers, which previously only moved with a trackpad swipe.

Fixed

  • An expanded Dock Widget now gets a row wide enough to read, instead of being squeezed when you only keep one or two widgets, and it opens and closes without the tiles twitching sideways.
  • Official Vehla extensions are recognized as verified publishers on every Mac.
  • The Window Layouts back button now returns to search instead of reopening layouts.
  • Purge now quits running apps, unloads user LaunchAgents, uses Finder-compatible Trash, and verifies removal before reporting success.
8.6 Vehla 8.6

New

  • Cloud providers now offer per-provider reasoning controls, with collapsible thinking details when supported.
  • Glide adds trackpad-edge controls for volume and brightness as a hidden Premium beta.
  • Toolbox adds local QuickGlass tools for JSON, encoding, hashes, dates, text, code, SQL, generators, and network diagnostics.
  • Link Lens adds QuickGlass actions for cleaning, inspecting, extracting, and checking selected links.
  • Markdown Quick adds QuickGlass actions for normalizing Markdown, formatting tables, unwrapping links, and extracting headings or links.
  • List Lab adds QuickGlass actions for splitting, joining, shuffling, numbering, quoting, wrapping, and prefixing selected lists.
  • Type Polish adds QuickGlass actions for cleaning quotes, dashes, spacing, hard wraps, and invisible characters.
  • Number Crunch adds QuickGlass calculations, expression evaluation, unit conversions, and file-size conversions.
  • Data Extractor adds QuickGlass extraction for emails, phone numbers, IP addresses, mentions, and hashtags.
  • Capture Hub turns selected text into reminders, calendar events, and formatted Apple Notes from QuickGlass.
  • Reading Tools adds reading statistics, readability and grade-level analysis, estimated reading time, and a Large Type view.

Improved

  • Command Palette file and app results can now be revealed in Finder with Command-Return.
  • Glide sensitivity controls now use clearer visual presets.
  • Weather Dock Widgets now use free forecasts from MET Norway.

Fixed

  • Thinking details now render Markdown formatting instead of showing raw markers.
  • Claude reasoning summaries now appear for adaptive and OAuth-backed models.
  • QuickGlass now keeps web selection formatting and structure, including paragraph breaks for actions like Number Lines and formatted Capture Hub notes.
8.5 August 10, 2026 Vehla 8.5

Fixed

  • Island now maintains a dark, readable surface over light apps and across different desktops.
  • SnapWheel modifier shortcuts now recover from interrupted keyboard monitoring and stale modifier-key state.
  • Free users can now enable text expansion and use their included snippets in any app.
8.4 August 8, 2026 Vehla 8.4

New

  • Choose from ten app languages during onboarding or later in Settings.
  • Vehla Free now includes Command Palette search, native utilities, window management, BarKeep on macOS 26 and earlier, 50 clipboard items, 5 notes, 50 monthly AI sessions and actions, and 3 snippets.
  • Premium can now be tried free for 7 days with no card required; existing lifetime licenses remain fully unlocked.

Improved

  • Command Palette now searches every built-in workspace, offers curated actions for popular apps, adds a one-click Ask AI chat shortcut, lets you customize footer buttons, and shows actionable errors instead of failing silently.
  • Ask AI, AI Actions, and Recall now answer in Vehla's selected app language while respecting explicit translation and rewriting instructions.
  • Clearer Free and Premium boundaries: local models up to 2B parameters stay free, while larger and custom MLX models, Symbols, and Window Layouts move to Premium.
  • Free usage is easier to track, with menu bar and Settings counters for clipboard, Notes, snippets, and monthly AI, and AI usage counted only after an answer completes.
  • Dock Widgets, Folder Dock, and the floating Island now share a unified Liquid Glass look, expandable panels in SnapWheel, discoverable action menus, and structured context sharing with Ask AI, Notes, and Reminders.
  • QuickGlass now expands in place, groups its actions into clear categories with extensions first, and runs Toolbox transforms directly on selected text.
  • Smarter local model memory use: smaller models warm at launch and offload when idle, and Flow's speech model no longer preloads on macOS 27.
  • Settings now remembers its window size and position, stays responsive alongside SnapWheel, and shows Vehla in the Dock while open.
  • Optional anonymous analytics now help improve device compatibility, with an opt-out in Privacy settings.

Fixed

  • Switching app languages now relaunches Vehla cleanly, and onboarding, Settings, Recall, and Command Reference stay consistent while provider and model brand names remain in English.
  • Premium gating is more reliable: trials start without crashes, Premium features lock and unlock correctly, and returning to Free stops Premium runtimes immediately.
  • QuickGlass fixes: reliable action menus that preserve selected text, verified Kokoro model install, and no crash opening Settings on macOS 27.
  • Dock Widget fixes: no crashes on macOS 27, aligned Calendar and Timer controls, a consistent Battery card, reliable Speedtest, and Reminders that open the app immediately.
  • SnapWheel keyboard activation now requests required access and recovers automatically after permission changes.
  • Command Palette fixes: Escape returns from workspaces, pending edits save before quitting, Ask AI waits for a prompt, and Claude, ChatGPT, and Codex use their current shortcuts.
8.3 August 3, 2026 Vehla 8.3

New

  • Toolbox. Added Generators, Web Dev, and Networking categories with UUID, fake data, CSS helpers, playgrounds, CORS and accessibility checks, DNS, CIDR, and port tools.
  • Draw.io workspace. Added a dedicated offline diagram workspace with folders, tags, search, autosave, and native save panels for built-in export formats.
  • Mind Map workspace. Added a private, offline workspace with hybrid automatic and freeform layout, folders, tags, search, autosave, and flexible exports.
  • Native Swift Dock widgets. Added support for installable native Swift Dock widgets.
  • Native workspace extensions. Native extensions can add full SwiftUI and DockWidgetSDK experiences directly inside Vehla, with explicit full-access consent and crash recovery.
  • Dock Widgets. Added expandable Weather, Calendar, Music, System Activity, and Timer widgets beside the macOS Dock.
  • Docker Control Dock Widgets. Monitor container status and resources, stream logs, and start, stop, or restart containers.
  • News Reader. Added an installable Dock Widget for RSS and Atom feeds, artwork, unread tracking, and OPML backup.
  • App Hotkeys. Assign global keyboard shortcuts to launch or focus favorite apps.
  • Private vision models. Qwen3-VL models can now run image actions on-device, with RAM-aware model recommendations and cloud fallback when needed.

Improved

  • Canvas, Draw.io, Mind Map, Notes, Kanban, Docker, and Docker app workspaces can be maximized.
  • Anthropic Claude supports Console API keys, while Claude Code OAuth tokens use the compatible Haiku 4.5 model.
  • Native workspace extensions follow live Vehla theme changes and can use the selected on-device AI model.
  • Native in-process package updates now explain when Vehla must be restarted.
  • Open Palette at Mouse Cursor is disabled by default for fresh installs.
  • QuickGlass can now show a compact icons-only action strip.
  • Command Reference now has search, category filters, and a clearer card layout.
  • Extension catalog and installed package rows can now open a formatted package README and its GitHub repository.
  • The Store catalog adds a dedicated Dock Widgets tab with widget-aware search.
  • Pinned Docker app buttons can now be hidden from the command-palette footer.
  • Notes keeps pasted URLs as plain text while rendering properly formatted Markdown links in Preview.
  • SnapWheel can open from a left or right Control, Option, or Command key used by itself, or from a custom shortcut.
  • SnapWheel can use its own custom colors and transparency independently of the selected Vehla theme.
  • Advanced local models now include an uncensored Huihui Gemma 4 12B coding and reasoning option.
  • Music play and pause controls now update immediately while Spotify confirms playback in the background.
  • Folder Dock and Dock Widgets now follow the macOS Dock smoothly between displays at the correct size and stay steady when app icons bounce.
  • Weather Dock widgets can use a manually entered city, country, or postal code without device location access.
  • The floating AI bubble can be resized from Settings.
  • Magic Rewrite windows now use a streamlined Liquid Glass design on macOS 26 and a dark frosted finish on earlier macOS versions.
  • Notch and Island settings can now hide the Music tab while playback continues in the background.
  • Onboarding now lets you preview and enable Dock Widgets alongside other Quick Surfaces.
  • Onboarding now includes everyday behavior, AI, palette, and search preferences.
  • Command Palette now shows curated, non-blocking actions for popular browsers, communication, productivity, music, and developer apps, with guided search and everyday controls.
  • Xcode, 1Password, VS Code, Chrome, Arc, Safari, Obsidian, Outlook, Spotify, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, Linear, Discord, Visual Studio Code, Claude, ChatGPT Classic, Codex, Microsoft Word, and Excel now offer curated Command Palette actions.
  • Extension and plugin commands now appear above file and folder results in Command Palette searches.
  • Calculations and conversions now present the expression and result in a clearer side-by-side card.

Fixed

  • Local model download progress remains visible in Settings and the Command Palette while queued downloads run.
  • Anthropic connection tests now validate against the current model catalog instead of reporting false authentication failures.
  • Claude OAuth model restrictions now show actionable guidance instead of a generic AI error.
  • Claude’s curated actions now use working shortcuts for new and incognito chats and omit unsupported controls.
  • ChatGPT Classic actions now follow its current native menus and shortcuts.
  • Codex search now opens its combined chat and command search instead of typing into the active chat.
  • Cloud provider model pickers now immediately show the newly selected model.
  • Fixed break reminder delayed preview.
  • Accepting native workspace terms now opens the extension immediately instead of dismissing the palette.
  • Native workspaces now present requested Store permissions above the palette instead of failing to open behind a hidden prompt.
  • Store Extension Data now asks for permission before native widgets receive persistent storage.
  • Custom Dock widgets now expand inline smoothly without snapping at the start or shrinking text and icons mid-transition.
  • Weather Dock widgets now keep a clear Allow Location action and reliably open Location Settings when access is disabled or restricted.
  • Dock Widgets now provide clear VoiceOver titles for compact controls and expanded panels.
  • Pasting screenshots or images into Notes now inserts a Markdown image that renders in Preview.
  • Notes now reliably accepts typing immediately after opening or switching notes.
  • Recently Used Apps now refreshes from actual app activity and shows the latest apps first.
  • App action input prompts now place the cursor after the prompt so you can type immediately.
  • Moving a maximized window beneath the notch no longer triggers the file-drop interface.
  • QuickGlass no longer triggers invalid key sounds while annotating screenshots in CleanShot X.
8.2 July 22, 2026 Vehla 8.2

New

  • Docker Apps. Discover local containers and images, browse a curated app catalog, and search Docker Hub directly from Vehla.
  • Dedicated app workspaces. Installed apps such as n8n, Grafana, Open WebUI, Uptime Kuma, Gitea, and Stirling PDF open in dedicated palette workspaces.

Improved

  • Vehla-managed apps appear beside Docker in the Command Palette footer and respond to commands such as d n8n.
  • New containers bind web ports to localhost by default and continue running when Vehla quits.

Fixed

  • Fixed a crash when opening a Docker app.
  • Fixed Vehla stealing focus from the active app.
8.1 July 19, 2026 Vehla 8.1

Improved

  • Notch and Island drop feedback. Dragging files, images, URLs, or text toward Notch or Island now gives a compact nudge, then expands the bucket after a successful drop.

Fixed

  • Newly installed apps now appear in Command Palette search immediately without restarting Vehla or waiting for the app index to refresh.
  • Folder Dock refreshes immediately after folders or linked items are removed and keeps shifted item icons in sync.
  • Dragging items from Folder Dock, Shelf, Notch, or Island now removes them only after a successful external drop; cancelled and internal drags keep the originals.
  • Notch stays anchored to the built-in MacBook display when an external monitor is connected.
  • Command Palette no longer crashes when searching for system commands.
  • Left and right arrow keys now move the Command Palette input cursor, while up and down continue navigating results.
  • Notch and Island now collapse when you click outside, while scrolling inside them no longer closes them.
8.0 July 18, 2026 Vehla 8.0

New

  • QuickGlass. A configurable selection action bar now appears over selected text for copy, Read Aloud, Magic Rewrite, translation, summaries, explanations, and custom actions.
  • Magic Rewrite. Rewrite focused text in place with default tones, per-run tone selection, custom tone prompts, and dedicated shortcuts.
  • Flow dictation. Hold Fn, speak, and release to transcribe and paste with private speech models including Parakeet, Nemotron, Apple Speech, Apple Speech Analyzer, and Whisper.
  • Read Aloud. Speak selected text with on-device Kokoro English voices or ElevenLabs voices from your own account.
  • Store extensions. Install command extensions with palette discovery, command previews, enable/disable controls, permissions, Keychain secrets, updates, search, and signed publisher trust.
  • Extension SDKs. TypeScript/JavaScript and Swift SDKs now support typed handlers, forms, rich results, secure secrets, private storage, notifications, brokered actions, and native Swift packaging through vehla-swift.
  • Clipboard upgrades. Search tabs for text, URLs, images, pinned clips, and all history; local image analysis; multi-select; named stacks; rich URL clips; privacy controls; and AwesomeCopy sync.
  • Notch and Island upgrades. Added Voice Notes, System Activity, Recent Links, a more compact top-attached Notch, and per-tab Settings toggles.

Improved

  • Onboarding now includes visual previews and setup for SnapWheel, QuickGlass, Break Reminders, BarKeep, Shelf, Folder Dock, Folder Peek, Canvas, Notes, Kanban, Flow, Read Aloud, and Magic Rewrite.
  • Break Reminders now support work hours, workdays, a full-screen blur style, smoother transitions, and Escape-to-dismiss.
  • Command Palette search now includes optional fuzzy and acronym matching across apps, files, actions, shortcuts, and Store commands.
  • Ask your Memory / Recall now matches short prefixes and partial codes inside clipboard clips and notes.
  • Themes now apply across the palette, Settings, onboarding, License Gate, and What's New, with a new Vintage theme.
  • SnapWheel adds an optional Command-middle-click bypass so the current app can receive its normal middle-click action.
  • Store catalog installs now verify HTTPS URLs, archive sizes, checksums, manifest identity, secure extraction, immutable packages, native signatures, and publisher provenance.

Fixed

  • Fixed QuickGlass placement issues in Outlook, Cursor, and other selection-heavy apps.
  • Fixed Magic Rewrite replacement failures in Cursor, Outlook, Electron apps, and web editors.
  • Fixed Shelf, Notch, Voice Notes, Settings, Liquid Glass, onboarding, and Store permission display issues.
  • Fixed extension notification authorization, stale catalog responses, JSON-RPC broken-pipe crashes, and signed package labeling.
7.4 July 13, 2026 Vehla 7.4

Improved

  • Snap Wheel shortcut. Open the radial window-layout picker directly from a configurable shortcut.
  • Purge in palette search. Start app cleanup directly from the command palette.
  • Local-model offload. Release model memory after inactivity and reload it when needed.

Changed

  • Reduced idle animation work when Vehla windows are hidden.
  • Tightened search-index memory limits and reduced unnecessary rebuild churn.
  • Local AI no longer warm-starts by default; users who prefer a faster first response can opt in from Settings.
  • Optional Messages integration now respects its saved preference at startup.
7.3 July 13, 2026 Vehla 7.3

New

  • Added first-class Lekh AI Pro integration for using its local MLX and GGUF models directly in Vehla.
  • Added configurable Lekh AI Pro server endpoint and model selection with built-in connection testing.
  • Added Continue in Lekh for sending selected text, clipboard content, Finder files, screenshots, Shelf items, and notes into a new Lekh chat.
  • Added read-only discovery of compatible MLX models managed by Lekh AI Pro, including custom model storage locations.
  • Added portable persona import and export for moving custom personas between Vehla and Lekh AI Pro without sharing app databases.
  • Added macOS App Intents for opening Vehla, activating personas, and continuing text in Lekh AI Pro.
  • Added Deep Research to Shelf with persistent progress, cancellation, reconnection, model selection, and automatic delivery of reports and source files.
  • Added Vehla's standalone MCP client for direct HTTP/SSE and local stdio server connections, independent of Lekh AI Pro.
  • Added a persistent .mcp workspace with agent tasks, live tool progress, one-time approvals, server management, manual invocation, and audit history.
  • Added Keychain-backed MCP credentials plus per-server and per-tool Allow, Ask, and Deny controls.
  • Added durable MCP agent-run history with transcript review and cleanup controls.
  • Added a full SnapWheel layout editor with radial drag reordering, accessible list controls, customizable AI and app arcs, safe draft Apply/Cancel, and Focus-aware color profiles.
  • Added Break Reminders with a customizable airplane banner flyover, configurable intervals, and a preview from Settings.
  • Added a comprehensive Kanban workspace with folders, tags, board search, customizable columns, WIP limits, card priorities, due dates, labels, checklists, archives, and Markdown export.
  • Added drag-and-drop card movement and reordering across Kanban statuses, plus draggable column reordering.
  • Added kanban and board palette commands, including optional board-name matching for quickly opening a specific board.
  • Added Kanban storage controls with iCloud Drive folder support and Recall indexing with actionable board citations.
  • Upgraded Ask Memory into Recall: it now searches Shelf items, snippets, canvases, Deep Research reports, and user-selected folders alongside notes and clipboard - all indexed locally.
  • Added actionable Recall citations: open the source, reveal it in Finder, stage it on a Shelf, or copy its full content from any cited chip.
  • Added Recall source controls in Settings → Memory, including per-source toggles and read-only indexed folder management.

Improved

  • Lekh AI Pro is treated as a local provider so private memory remains available without enabling cloud memory sharing.
  • Simplified local provider settings by replacing the OMLX configuration with Lekh AI Pro.
  • Available provider models now appear in discovered model dropdowns instead of requiring manual model IDs.
  • Vehla now discovers Lekh research models through a secure shared catalog without requiring Lekh's local server.
  • Lekh actions now appear only when Lekh AI Pro is installed and advertises the required integration capability.
  • Added a setting to choose whether the menu bar icon opens Vehla's settings menu or command palette.
  • Improved Folder Peek and Folder Dock glass rendering with cleaner rounded edges.
  • Improved app responsiveness by keeping search indexing, large-model cleanup, and Deep Research coordination off the main thread.
  • Kanban file reads, writes, JSON processing, exports, external-change monitoring, and debounced persistence now run off the main thread.
  • MCP protocol, policy, transport, persistence, and agent orchestration run in isolated actors with bounded steps, cancellation, reconnect, output limits, and clean shutdown.
  • Improved MCP support for local MLX models with relevant-tool ranking, compact schema prompts, malformed-output recovery, and Gemma padding safeguards.
  • Enhanced SnapWheel with faster flick selection, more forgiving drag release, stable submenu traversal, reduced-animation controls, and optional automatic outer-arc closing.
  • The command palette can now open around the mouse cursor on the monitor currently in use, with a setting to restore main-display positioning.
  • Added an optional application-first search mode so installed apps can stay above matching commands and actions.
  • Added a clipboard-management toggle for stopping clipboard monitoring while preserving existing history until it is cleared.

Fixed

  • Fixed MCP authentication headers appearing to save while their placeholder names were discarded.
  • Fixed MCP agent transcripts persisting into newly opened workspaces.
  • Fixed local Gemma MCP sessions producing repeated padding tokens when large server catalogs were connected.
  • Fixed SnapWheel briefly highlighting an opposite segment because two hover systems competed for selection.
  • Fixed automatic SnapWheel outer-arc closing making distant child actions difficult to reach.
  • Fixed exact action matches such as Speedtest hiding an installed application with the same name.
  • Fixed the command palette intermittently opening on the MacBook display while the pointer was on an external monitor.
  • Fixed Deep Research jobs remaining visibly queued while Lekh AI Pro processed recovered work.
  • Fixed missed Deep Research notifications by adding automatic background job recovery.
  • Fixed Continue in Lekh launching a second or outdated Lekh AI Pro installation when a Debug build was already running.
  • Fixed Continue in Lekh requiring two selections and showing an unregistered URL-handler alert.
  • Fixed portable persona exports failing when a custom avatar exceeded the transfer size limit.
  • Fixed dark translucent edge artifacts around Folder Peek and Folder Dock surfaces.
  • Fixed Folder Dock remaining visible and causing a white screen during full-screen video playback.
  • Fixed Kanban cards not starting drag sessions when moving them to another status.
  • Fixed a Swift compiler optimizer crash that could prevent Release archives from completing.
  • Existing OMLX selections now migrate automatically to the Lekh AI Pro provider.
  • General bug fixes and stability improvements.
6.1 June 29, 2026 Vehla 6.1

Added

  • QR code generator. Generate QR codes from URLs, text, and supported payloads directly from the palette.
  • Folder Dock. Pin folders for fast opening, reveal, copy, and drag-friendly access.
  • Color palette and symbol picker. Pick colors, copy common color formats, and search SF Symbols, Unicode marks, arrows, and punctuation.
  • Smart Clipboard. Added AI-assisted clipboard cleanup, extraction, summarization, image tools, and clipboard context reuse.
  • Port and process manager. Search processes, inspect listening ports, kill stuck ports, and quit apps with clearer feedback.
  • Layouts. Save and restore common app/window arrangements.
  • Notes and RAG chat. Added Quick Capture, Markdown note editing, and chat across notes, clipboard history, and local context.
  • Notch / Island reminders. Show lightweight reminder prompts in the glanceable Notch / Island surface.
  • Math scratchpad and command reference upgrades. Keep running calculations and browse commands, aliases, hotkeys, and examples in one place.
5.4 June 28, 2026 Vehla 5.4

Added

  • yt-dlp integration. Added a YouTube downloader powered by yt-dlp.
  • File Downloader. Download files from URLs directly from Vehla.
  • Fact Checker. Check claims with AI from the command palette.
  • AI to Reminders and Calendar. Turn natural language into reminders and calendar events.
  • Vehla Packs. Export and import custom snippets, workflows, personas, custom AI actions, custom searches, and aliases.
  • Speedtest. Run a network speed test from inside Vehla.
  • Canvas and Excalidraw. Added Canvas support with Excalidraw integration for visual sketching and diagrams.
  • Notes. Added Notes support for quickly capturing and working with notes.
4.5 June 22, 2026 Vehla 4.5

Added

  • Speed Test. Added a fast network speed test from inside Vehla.
  • Excalidraw integration. Added Excalidraw support for quickly jumping into visual sketches and diagrams.
  • Notch / Island. Added a Notch / Island surface for lightweight glanceable interactions.
  • Shelf upgrades. Improved Shelf for temporarily storing files and moving them back into other apps.
4.0 June 19, 2026 Vehla 4.0

Added

  • Brew Store integration. Search Homebrew packages, install formulae and casks, inspect info, list outdated packages, upgrade, uninstall, run doctor, and clean up from the palette.
  • Model file relocation. Move downloaded local model files to a different storage location from Settings.
  • Model picker upgrades. Switch between local and cloud models from the palette footer; unavailable downloads or missing API keys stay visible but disabled.
  • Native command hotkeys and aliases. Bind global shortcuts to native commands and create short names for common commands, workflows, searches, and custom actions.
  • Clipboard image tools. OCR clipboard images locally, resize clipboard images, and convert clipboard images without opening another app.
  • Shortcuts, screenshots, and windows. Run macOS Shortcuts, copy/open/reveal the latest screenshot, and move focused windows to halves, thirds, corners, center, or maximize.
  • Custom AI actions. Create your own prompt-backed actions and run them from the same palette as built-in AI actions.

Fixed

  • Moved Homebrew package searching off the main thread to avoid beach balls while typing.
  • Improved onboarding hotkey layout, command references, visual polish, and general reliability.
3.0 June 18, 2026 Vehla 3.0

Added

  • Recent apps and shortcuts. Added recent apps and shortcuts directly in the command palette for faster repeat actions.

Changed

  • EmojiKit redesign. Redesigned the emoji picker experience for faster browsing, search, and insertion.
  • Clipboard enhancements. Improved clipboard history and reuse flows.

Fixed

  • Shipped bug fixes and reliability improvements across the app.
2.3 June 1, 2026 Snipe Text

Added

  • Snipe Text. Added a fast text capture feature for grabbing text from the screen and sending it into Vehla.

Fixed

  • Shipped bug fixes and reliability improvements across the app.
2.2 May 23, 2026 Keep Display Awake

Added

  • Keep Display Awake. Added a menu bar control for keeping your Mac display awake when you need it.

Fixed

  • Shipped bug fixes and general stability improvements.
2.1 May 21, 2026 Bug fixes

Fixed

  • Shipped bug fixes and small reliability improvements after the 2.0 release.
2.0 May 19, 2026 Native Mac command center

Added

  • Native Mac command center. Expanded Vehla beyond AI actions into app launching, file search, clipboard history, contacts, calendar, reminders, system controls, browser data, utilities, web shortcuts, and workflows.
  • File and clipboard workflows. Added Finder-aware file actions, file operation history, clipboard search, pinned clipboard items, and sensitive-app clipboard exclusions.
  • Smarter AI workspace. Added editable AI results, follow-up chat, favorites, vision actions, webpage research, provider/model controls, and DeepSeek support.
  • Personalization and sync. Added iCloud sync for snippets, personas, memory, palette preferences, custom searches, workflows, and command visibility settings.
  • Product polish. Added the Liquid Glass theme, expanded settings, better onboarding, Launch at Login, licensing, and two-device activations.
1.4.1 May 14, 2026 Rewrite shortcut

Fixed

  • Rewrite Selection now uses the correct ⌥⇧R shortcut and runs the focused rewrite flow reliably.
1.4 May 14, 2026 License activation

Fixed

  • License activation now handles Stripe checkout completion more reliably and generates missing license rows when webhook delivery is delayed.
1.3 May 13, 2026 Local-first foundation

Added

  • Local Gemma 4 E2B (4-bit) is the default on-device model, with E4B 4-bit and E4B 8-bit available for higher quality.
  • Snippets with template variables for {selection}, {clipboard}, and {app}.
  • New action: Translate Tone - keeps language, produces three versions (nicer / firmer / legal-safe).
  • New actions for prompt improvement, decision memos, support triage, release notes, SQL help, bug reports, and sensitive-info redaction.
  • Summarize Webpage can now fetch readable text directly from a URL.

Fixed

  • Palette filtering now keeps snippet and action rows in sync with the typed query.
  • Rewrite Selection now captures highlighted text and runs the rewrite action directly.
  • SHA-256 verification checks the downloaded DMG before installation.

Changed

  • Workflows, OCR screenshot, Ask About My Screen, Push to Talk, and clipboard-history shortcuts were removed from the app.
1.2 · Recent beta work Spring 2026 Foundations

Added

  • First-class support for Gemma 4 on Apple Silicon through the MLX-based runtime.
  • Provider controls moved into Settings, with explicit cloud-provider selection and model choice.
  • Memory notes: a tiny persistent context block that's injected at the top of every prompt.
  • Personas: name, tone, vocabulary, and forbidden words.

Fixed

  • Model download progress is shown during local model setup.
  • Downloaded local models can be selected and activated from Settings.
1.1 · Cloud providers Spring 2026 Bring your own key

Added

  • DeepSeek and OpenRouter cloud providers.
  • Cloud provider selection when local AI is turned off.

Fixed

  • The active AI provider/model now appears in the palette footer and Settings sidebar.
  • Provider-specific keys are stored in macOS Keychain.
1.0.3 · Palette polish Spring 2026 Keyboard first

Added

  • Mouse-wheel scrolling while preserving arrow-key navigation.
  • Markdown-rendered results with formatted copy support.
  • Command palette action visibility controls in Settings.

Changed

  • Pasted text becomes action input instead of polluting the query field.

Fixed

  • Removed the intermittent system beep when opening the palette.
1.0.2 · Licensing Spring 2026 Licensing and activation

Added

  • $29.99 lifetime license with two activation slots.
  • Deactivate this Mac from Settings to free an activation slot.
1.0.0 · Initial beta 2026 Hello, menu bar

Initial release

  • Menu-bar app with global hotkey.
  • Universal command palette over selection / clipboard / pasted text.
  • Built-in rewrite, writing, translate, code, terminal, email, social, clipboard, and productivity actions.
  • OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini providers.
  • Streaming markdown output. Auto-copy to clipboard.
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