Raycast Easydict: a dictionary and translator extension for Raycast

What Raycast Easydict actually solves

The problem is not translation itself. It is the context switch. You are reading a page or a document, you hit an unfamiliar word or a sentence in a language you only half-read, and you leave the keyboard to open a browser tab, paste the text, read the result, and come back. Raycast Easydict collapses that loop into the launcher you already have open.

The extension registers four commands, listed in package.json: easydict (titled Search Word), manage-providers, ocr (titled OCR Translate), and favorites. The Search Word command takes an optional queryText argument, so you can bind it, pass text through, or leave it empty and type in the view. The README states that it automatically detects the input language and queries your preferred target language, and that it automatically queries selected text, enabled by default. That last behaviour is the whole point: select a word anywhere, trigger the command, get a result.

The audience is narrow and specific. You need Raycast installed. The README is explicit that this is an extension of Raycast and that you must install Raycast first. If you do not use a launcher, this project has nothing for you, and the README points elsewhere: a separate standalone Easydict macOS app maintained in a different repository, tisfeng/Easydict.

How the provider model works

The architecture is a fan-out over providers. A query goes to every enabled provider, and each one returns a result block that the extension renders. The README describes the output as rich query information: basic translations, pronunciations, exam coverage, parts of speech, tenses, and web phrases. That is the dictionary path. On the translation path, the README lists macOS System Translation, DeepL, Google Translate, Bing Translator, Baidu Translate, Tencent Translate, Volcano Engine Translation, Youdao Translate, and Caiyun Translate. Newer releases add LLMs from Raycast AI or custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints, which is what version 3.2.0 is named for.

The manage-providers command is where this is controlled. Its description in package.json is "Order built-in providers and configure AI providers," and the README lists manually sorting query results as a feature. So the practical model is: you decide which providers run and in what order, and the view stacks their answers.

Two details matter for how it feels. First, the README states that system proxies are supported, which is what makes the Chinese providers reachable from networks that would otherwise fail. Second, pronunciation is handled two ways: automatic audio playback of word pronunciations, with Cmd + S to play manually, and Youdao Text-to-Speech. The Cmd + S binding is the kind of thing you only learn by reading the feature list, because there is no menu to discover it in.

Installing Raycast Easydict and running a first query

The README offers two paths. The first is the Raycast Store, reached through the install button in the README, which points at https://www.raycast.com/isfeng/easydict#install. That is the path most users want, because it handles updates through Raycast itself.

The second path is manual. The README gives it as two commands, and you need Node.js and npm available before running them:

git clone https://github.com/tisfeng/Raycast-Easydict.git && cd Raycast-Easydict

npm install && npm run dev

The clone command puts the repository in a local directory and changes into it. The second line installs dependencies and starts Raycast's development mode, which loads the extension into Raycast from your working copy. What you should see is the extension appearing in Raycast's extension list, sourced locally rather than from the Store. This is the path for people who want to modify the extension or run a branch; for normal use, the Store install is less work.

Once it is loaded, open Raycast and run the Search Word command. Type a word or paste a sentence. The README states that the input language is detected automatically and that the result is queried in your preferred target language, so the first thing to check is whether the language pair matches what you expect. If you selected text before invoking the command, the README says that text is queried automatically. If results come back empty, the likely cause is that the provider you expect is not enabled or not reachable; go to the Manage Providers command and look at the order and the enabled set.

OCR translation and the macOS dependency

The ocr command is described in package.json as "Screenshot OCR, and query text from image," with mode set to no-view. That mode is the interesting part: it means the command does not open a persistent view. You trigger it, take a screenshot region, and the text from the image goes through the same query pipeline. For anyone reading scanned documents, screenshots of subtitles, or text inside images, this removes a manual transcription step.

The macOS dependency is where the extension shows its seams. macOS System Translation is listed as a supported provider, but the README does not treat it as a one-click toggle: it links a separate document, "How to use macOS system translation in Easydict?", which implies setup steps outside the extension. The Eudic Dictionary integration is also conditional, described as opening Eudic for quick lookups "if installed on your Mac." Neither of these is a flaw exactly, but both mean that a fresh install does not give you every provider on the feature list. You get what your machine and your accounts allow.

Version 3.0.0 is titled "Windows Support and More," and the README qualifies it: support for Raycast for Windows, with most features adapted. The phrase "most features" is doing real work there. If you are on Windows, do not assume the macOS-specific integrations carry over.

Favorite Words, stroke order, and what the saved data gives you

Version 3.1.0 added Favorite Words, and version 3.2.0 added Chinese stroke order. The README describes Favorite Words as saving completed results for offline browsing and management, with a dedicated favorites command to browse and manage them. Offline browsing is the meaningful part: once a result is saved, you are not dependent on a provider being reachable to read it again.

Stroke order is narrower. The README says the extension supports viewing stroke-order diagrams for Chinese characters from live and saved translation results. That is a feature for people learning Chinese characters, and it works from both fresh and saved results, which is a sensible pairing with Favorite Words.

The trade-off to notice is that Favorite Words is a local store, not a synced one. The README does not describe any synchronization between machines, so if you use Raycast on more than one computer, treat the favorites as belonging to that machine until you confirm otherwise. The repository does not document an export path either.

Where Raycast Easydict is the wrong tool

The biggest limitation is structural: without Raycast, there is nothing to run. This is not a library you import, a CLI you script, or a service you call from another program. It is a Raycast extension with four commands, and its value is entirely inside the launcher's UI. If your workflow is a terminal session, a CI job, or an editor plugin, this project does not fit, and the README does not pretend otherwise.

The second limitation is platform. The README describes the standalone app as macOS only, and the extension's Windows support is described as adapting most features. Android and iOS are not mentioned anywhere in the repository documentation. Anyone searching for a mobile version will not find one here.

The third is provider fragility. Almost every translation backend in the list is a third-party service with its own availability, rate limits, and account requirements. The README names the services but does not document fallback behaviour when one fails, and it does not document what happens when credentials expire. System proxy support helps with reachability, not with a provider that has changed its API. You should expect to maintain credentials, not set them once.

How it compares to the standalone Easydict app

The README itself points to the alternative: tisfeng/Easydict, described as a concise and easy-to-use translation dictionary macOS App, maintained in a separate repository. The difference in approach is where the interface lives. The standalone app owns its window, its global hotkeys, and its own update cycle. Raycast Easydict borrows Raycast's command palette, argument passing, and Fallback Commands support, which the README lists as a feature.

That difference cuts both ways. In Raycast's favour: if Raycast is already your launcher, you get the dictionary without installing a second application, and you get integration with arguments and fallback commands that a standalone app cannot offer. In the standalone app's favour: it does not require Raycast at all, and it is not subject to Raycast's extension model or the Store's review and update cadence. The README also notes the standalone app supports OCR screenshot translate and auto select translate, so the feature sets overlap substantially rather than one being a subset.

The practical question is what you already run. If Raycast is your launcher, the extension is the lower-friction choice. If it is not, installing Raycast to get a dictionary is a large dependency for a small task, and the standalone app is the more direct route.

Maintenance, licensing, and upgrade cost

The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-09-11. Releases have been frequent through 2026: 3.0.0 on 2026-08-11, 3.1.0 on 2026-08-12, and 3.2.0 on 2026-09-10. The README notes that the project was originally developed by tisfeng and is currently maintained by maxchang3, and package.json lists contributors ViGeng, maxchang3, and litomore. A change of maintainer is worth knowing about when you are judging how a project will respond to a provider breaking, but the release cadence does not show a stall.

Upgrade cost depends on your install path. Store installs update through Raycast. A manual clone is your responsibility: you pull, run npm install again if dependencies changed, and restart the dev process. Because the extension is a thin client over external APIs, the more common maintenance task is not upgrading the extension but rotating provider credentials and adjusting which providers are enabled when one becomes unreliable.

The licence is MIT, declared in package.json and present as a LICENSE file at the repository root. MIT is permissive, which means you can reuse and modify the code with few conditions, typically preserving the copyright notice and licence text. That is a description of the licence, not legal advice; read the LICENSE file and the terms of each translation provider you enable, since the provider services carry their own conditions that the MIT licence does not cover.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Raycast Easydict if you already live in Raycast on macOS or Windows and want automatic language detection, dictionary detail from Linguee or Youdao, and a single place to order multiple translation providers. Skip it if you need a standalone translator, an Android or iOS app, or a tool that works without Raycast installed at all. Before committing, open the Manage Providers command and confirm which providers you can actually reach: macOS System Translation needs the separate setup guide linked from the README, and every cloud provider needs its own credentials. The repository's last push was on 2026-09-11, so the extension is not frozen, but check the CHANGELOG.md for the release you install rather than assuming a feature you read about is in your build.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. License: MIT
2. Project website
3. README
4. Releases
5. tisfeng/Raycast-Easydict on GitHub