Setting up the Ask AI panel in Write by Zaweba

Write by Zaweba works perfectly well with no AI at all. It is an offline word processor with spell check, styles and real pages, and nothing about AI is built in or switched on when you install it. If you would like help from an AI model with your writing, you can connect an account of your own, and an AI menu and an Ask AI panel become available.

Off until you choose

Nothing happens with AI until you connect an account. There is no built-in service, no trial that starts by itself and no account with Zaweba to make. Many people will never connect one, and that is fine; every other part of Write works the same either way.

That design keeps the choice where it belongs. You decide whether to use AI, which provider to use and when to send anything.

Choosing a provider

You bring your own account. The supported options cover the big names, including Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Azure, Mistral, Grok and DeepSeek, along with others. You can also use a local model through a program such as Ollama, which runs on your own computer.

There is a further option for people who don't want to connect an account directly: a chat website by copy and paste. Write prepares the request, you paste it into the chat site you already use, and paste the reply back.

Which to choose depends on what you already have. If you pay for an AI service at work or at home, connect that. If you want everything to stay on your machine, a local model is the way, though it needs a reasonably capable computer. If you want to try AI help without setting anything up, copy and paste is the gentlest start.

Opening the panel

Once an account is connected, press Ctrl+Alt+A to open the Ask AI panel, or use the AI menu. The panel is where you can ask for help with the text in front of you. The menu offers ready-made actions such as continuing a passage, rewriting in a different tone, proofreading in UK English, summarising and translating.

Replies can replace the selected text, go in at the cursor or below, open in a new document, or simply be copied. Each insertion is a single undo step, so if a suggestion doesn't work, one undo removes it.

Knowing what is sent

Write sends text only when you ask. It sends the selected text, or the whole document's text if nothing is selected, trimmed to 24,000 characters, plus Write's own instructions for the job. The Context sent view shows exactly what went, so there is no guessing. Your keys are stored encrypted with Windows DPAPI.

Using it well

Treat AI as a helper, not an author. It can suggest a clearer sentence, catch a slip or turn notes into a first draft, but it can also get facts wrong and flatten your voice. Read every suggestion before keeping it.

Select only what the task needs. If you want one paragraph rewritten, select that paragraph, so you send less and get a more focused reply.

Keep your own judgement on tone. A covering letter, a condolence note or a personal statement should sound like you. Use AI for a nudge, then make the words your own.

Connected or not, Write remains a full word processor. AI is an optional extra you can switch on for the jobs where it helps, and ignore the rest of the time.