Better Phrase
100% local · zero API calls · zero telemetry

English polish, baked into Claude Code.

Catches grammar and idiom issues in your English. Gives idiomatic English when you write Chinese.
For code, commands, and everything else — silent.

$ curl -fsSL https://betterphrase.roseduan.cn/install.sh | bash
View on GitHub

Requires Python 3.9+ · Claude Code installed · one command registers the hook

Demo

What it looks like in Claude Code

writing English
# you type:
how are you todya, tell me a joke

✦ Better Phrase · English tip

· "todya" → "today" — typo, letters out of order.

· comma splice — two independent clauses need a period.

✍️ Better phrase: "Hey, how's it going today? Also, tell me a joke."

writing Chinese
# you type:
我想约客户下周二开会讨论合同细节

✦ Better Phrase · English

"I'd like to schedule a meeting with the client next Tuesday to go over the contract details."

Code, commands, or Chinese without translation needed — nothing. Zero tokens, zero noise.

Why not CLAUDE.md

Boolean decisions belong in code, not the LLM

"Polish my English" as a CLAUDE.md rule looks the same, but charges you on every single prompt.

Rules in CLAUDE.md Better Phrase
Token cost Every prompt loads ~400 tokens of rules Only when actually triggered
Trigger reliability LLM judges (might forget or false-positive) Deterministic, 100% consistent
Pure Chinese / code prompts Still cost tokens Zero cost, completely silent

5–10× less token spend over a working day, with more reliable triggering.

Features

Small, focused, does one thing well

✏️

English polish

Grammar, word choice, and idiom fixes — plus a native-style rewrite.

🌐

Chinese → English

Idiomatic English version of what you said. Toggleable.

🎯

Zero noise

Code, commands, and irrelevant inputs trigger nothing.

🇨🇳

Chinese explanations

Tips explained in Chinese, focused on 中式英语 patterns.

🚀

Imperceptible overhead

The hook is faster than Claude's own response latency.

🔒

100% local

No API calls, no telemetry, no data leaves your machine.

Install

Set up in 30 seconds

Option A · one-liner
$ curl -fsSL https://betterphrase.roseduan.cn/install.sh | bash
Option B · clone first (audit the script)
$ git clone https://github.com/roseduan/better-phrase.git ~/.claude/skills/better-phrase
$ cd ~/.claude/skills/better-phrase
$ ./install.sh

What the installer does

  1. Verifies ~/.claude/ exists and python3 / git are available
  2. Timestamps a backup of your existing ~/.claude/settings.json
  3. Adds an entry to hooks.UserPromptSubmit
  4. Cleans up any older Better Phrase hook entries
Restart Claude Code, then type any English prompt — you'll see a ✦ Better Phrase · English tip block appear.