HN Showcase
Back to browse
LibreThinker, free AI assistant for LibreOffice Writer, 10k installs

LibreThinker, free AI assistant for LibreOffice Writer, 10k installs

by mmarian·Apr 22, 2026·2 points·0 comments
Visit ProjectView on HN

AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemSolve My Problem

Sidebar AI for LibreOffice with free no-signup LLM and local Ollama support.

Strengths
  • •Free hosted LLM onboarding removes API key barrier for users immediately.
  • •Self-hosted Ollama support aligns with privacy-focused LibreOffice user base expectations.
  • •10k installs proves demand for AI tooling outside Microsoft Office ecosystem.
Weaknesses
  • •Core functionality is standard API wrapping; no novel AI architecture here.
  • •Limited to Writer, excluding Calc and Impress which could also benefit from AI.
Category
Productivity
Target Audience

LibreOffice users, privacy-focused writers, open-source advocates

Similar To

Microsoft Copilot · GrammarlyGO · Wordtune

Post Description

4 months ago, I released an extension for LibreOfffice Writer that adds an AI copilot to its sidebar. Did a Show HN at the time but got no interest T_T https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46233776 I’ve added several major features since then, so I figured it’s worth doing another one.

Features added:

- The extension connects to a free online LLM by default, with no signup needed. All you need to do is install the extension and you’re ready to go.

- Can connect to a wide range of online models if you bring your API key (Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI, Mistral, Groq, etc)

- Can connect to a self-hosted Ollama instance; I’ve also added the option to override the URL so feel free to test it out with other tools.

- You can rephrase text you’ve selected (initially just added the output at the bottom of the document)

I’ve also amassed over 10k installs in the meantime, which is nice.

There’s still a ton of stuff I could add. But I don’t have much time in the evenings, and I’m not sure what’s the next most important thing to do. Any feedback/suggestions would be much appreciated!

Similar Projects