Transee

Translate without breaking your flow.

A compact translation bar for macOS and Windows.
One shortcut. Your words. A world of meaning.

Download · Features · Keyboard shortcuts · Build from source · Report an issue

_{Captured from the running macOS app · English → Italian · Dictionary cards}

Why Transee?

Look up a word, check a meaning, or translate a sentence without leaving your desktop workflow. Transee lives in your menu bar or system tray and brings Google Translate into a focused, keyboard-friendly window.

• Always a shortcut away. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to bring up the bar; customize the shortcut in Preferences.
• More than a translation. Explore alternative translations, definitions, synonyms, and usage examples in dictionary cards, when Google provides them.
• Hear the words. Play pronunciation audio for the original text and its translation in supported languages.
• Your languages, within reach. Keep favorite language choices handy and swap the translation direction from the keyboard.
• Light or dark. Switch Dark mode in Preferences to update every window instantly. Your choice is remembered across launches.
• At home on your desktop. The bar opens on the display under your pointer and follows the active macOS Space. Hide it when you're done; it stays ready in the tray.
• A small, open-source stack. Built with Tauri 2, Rust, React, and TypeScript, using the system webview rather than bundling Chromium.

Dictionary cards load independently, so the main translation does not wait for them. Their availability depends on the query and language pair.

Download

Browse GitHub Releases for available installers and release notes.

[!NOTE] The main branch contains the Tauri-based v3 rewrite. Older published releases, including v2.1.0, use Electron and do not include the new features described here. Build from source to try v3 until its installers are published.

The v3 release workflow builds a universal macOS .dmg for Apple Silicon and Intel, and a Windows x64 .exe installer.

[!IMPORTANT] The current v3 workflow produces unsigned installers, and macOS builds are not notarized. Gatekeeper or Windows SmartScreen may display a warning.

Once installed, launch Transee, press Ctrl+Alt+T, choose your languages, and start typing. Open the tray menu for Preferences or the Welcome Guide. Translation and dictionary lookups require an internet connection; queries are sent to Google Translate.

Keyboard shortcuts

These shortcuts use Control on both platforms, including macOS.

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 24 is recommended and matches the release workflow.
• Rust stable.
• macOS: Xcode command line tools. Windows: MSVC build tools and WebView2.

git clone https://github.com/alessioforte/transee.git
cd transee
npm ci
npm start

npm start launches the full Tauri app with the Vite dev server. npm run dev starts only the frontend, without the native desktop integration.

npm run typecheck  # Strict TypeScript checks
npm test           # Offline frontend tests
npm run build      # Production frontend build

cargo check --locked --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
cargo test --locked --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml

Packaging

npm run package  # Build for the host architecture

For a universal macOS build, install both Rust targets first:

rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin x86_64-apple-darwin
npm run package -- --target universal-apple-darwin

Host bundles land in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/; universal macOS bundles land in src-tauri/target/universal-apple-darwin/release/bundle/.

Automated releases

The release workflow runs on pushed v* tags. It validates version consistency, runs typechecking and offline tests, and builds both platforms. A release is published only after both builds succeed, with generated release notes and both installers attached.

node .github/scripts/check-release-version.mjs v3.0.0
git tag -a v3.0.0 -m "Release v3.0.0"
git push origin v3.0.0

Project structure

src/
  app/          App bootstrap and window selection
  features/     Translation bar, dictionary cards, settings, and onboarding
  shared/       Reusable UI, hooks, and styles
  platform/     Boundary for Tauri APIs and native commands
  services/     Google Translate clients, parsers, and audio
  stores/       Persisted settings and transient translation state
  types/        Shared TypeScript types
src-tauri/      Rust shell: tray, shortcuts, windows, settings, and HTTP
fixtures/      Recorded Google responses for offline tests
baseline/      Pre-migration UI reference screenshots
.github/       Release workflow and version-validation scripts

Settings and upgrades

Preferences are stored locally:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/com.alessioforte.transee/settings.json.
• Windows: %APPDATA%\com.alessioforte.transee\settings.json.

Settings from the previous Electron app (.../Transee/config.json) are imported automatically on first launch.

Contributing

Found a bug, a missing language, or an idea worth exploring? Open an issue or send a pull request. Include your OS, app version, and reproduction steps for bug reports, and run the relevant checks before submitting code changes.

License

MIT · Created by Alessio Forte.

Transee is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Translation and dictionary data are provided by Google Translate.