Show HN: ContextKey – Use a hotkey to query LLM using any text or file (github.com)

ContextKey is a new macOS menu-bar app that lets you select text, images, or files anywhere on your Mac and press a hotkey (default Cmd+Shift+K for context-aware, Cmd+Option+K for no-context) to query an LLM without leaving your workflow. It supports local models via Ollama (brew install ollama; ollama serve; ollama pull llama3.2) and any cloud API (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, xAI or arbitrary custom endpoints). Features include a quick popup and full window, per-query control over what context is sent (initial context, conversation history, neither), persistent local conversation history, and file attachments for richer prompts. Technically flexible, ContextKey uses configurable request templates with a {{input}} placeholder and JSON "response path" dot-notation to extract model output, letting you wire in chat/completion endpoints from different vendors. API keys and all data are stored locally (no telemetry), the code is open source under MIT for auditing, and configurations let you fetch local Ollama models or craft custom POST requests for cloud models. For AI/ML practitioners, this is a practical tool for fast, in-context exploration, debugging, and annotation workflows while maintaining local control over data and keys.