What is wox.plugin.youdao?

wox-launcher/wox.plugin.youdao — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-16 · repo last pushed 2017-12-19

★ 32C#Audience · generalComplexity · 2/5DormantSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Translates Chinese to English
      Translates English to Chinese
      Works inside Wox launcher
      Quick popup translation
    Tech stack
      CSharp
      Wox Plugin API
      Youdao Translation Service
    Use cases
      Bilingual workflow lookups
      Student paper reading
      Professional market work
    Audience
      Bilingual workers
      Students
      Quick lookup users

mindmap root((repo)) What it does Translates Chinese to English Translates English to Chinese Works inside Wox launcher Quick popup translation Tech stack CSharp Wox Plugin API Youdao Translation Service Use cases Bilingual workflow lookups Student paper reading Professional market work Audience Bilingual workers Students Quick lookup users

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Translate a Chinese word or phrase into English instantly from the Wox launcher bar.

USE CASE 2

Look up English vocabulary while reading papers and get Chinese translations without opening a browser.

USE CASE 3

Quickly switch between Chinese and English terms during bilingual work without breaking your workflow.

What is it built with?

C#Wox Plugin APIYoudao API

How does it compare?

	wox-launcher/wox.plugin.youdao	fcsvorfeed/aces-1.3-reference-gamut-compression-for-unity-6-urp	anosu/abyssmod
Stars	32	30	36
Language	C#	C#	C#
Last pushed	2017-12-19	—	—
Maintenance	Dormant	—	—
Setup difficulty	moderate	moderate	easy
Complexity	2/5	3/5	2/5
Audience	general	developer	general

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 5min

Requires the Wox launcher app to be installed and possibly a Youdao API key, though the README does not detail exact setup steps.

The README does not specify a license, so usage rights are unknown.

So what is it?

Wox.Plugin.Youdao is a translation plugin that lets you translate text between Chinese and English using Youdao's translation service, right from a quick-launch tool called Wox. Wox is a desktop search and launcher app (similar to Spotlight on Mac or Alfred) that pops up a search bar when you press a keyboard shortcut. With this plugin installed, you can type a word or phrase into that bar and get a translation back immediately, without opening a browser or navigating to a translation website. This would be useful for anyone in a bilingual Chinese-English workflow, students reading English-language papers, professionals working across Chinese and English markets, or anyone who frequently needs quick lookups between the two languages. Rather than breaking your flow to open a separate app or tab, you stay where you are and get the translation in the same launcher you're already using for other tasks. The README doesn't go into detail on installation steps, supported language pairs beyond Chinese-English, or whether it handles full sentences versus single words. The screenshot suggests it returns results in a clean list format within the launcher window. The project is written in C# and has a small but real following, indicating it works well enough for the people who use it.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Help me install the Wox.Plugin.Youdao plugin into my Wox launcher and configure the Youdao API key for Chinese-English translation.

Prompt 2

Write a Wox plugin in C# similar to wox.plugin.youdao that calls a translation API and returns results as a list in the launcher window.

Prompt 3

Modify this Wox Youdao translation plugin to also support translating full sentences, not just single words, and return the result formatted in the launcher list.

Frequently asked questions