📖 Edict: AI-Powered Console Dictionary

Edict is a lightweight English-Chinese dictionary utility for the Linux console. Originally created in 2008 as a web crawler, it was modernized in 2023 with Generative AI to help users generate study materials like cloze tests. It is specifically designed for Traditional Chinese native speakers who use the Linux console or WSL.

• Instant Lookup: Crawls Yahoo Dictionary for KK/DJ/IPA phonetics and Traditional Chinese definitions.
• Smart History: Automatically tracks how many times you have consulted a specific word.
• Favorites System: "Mark" words to create a curated list for further study.
• AI Study Assistant: Uses OpenAI to generate custom Cloze Tests (fill-in-the-blank) based on your marked vocabulary.

• Python 3.x and Pip.
• A Linux environment (WSL/Ubuntu recommended).

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <your-repository-link>
cd edict

2. Run the installer: The script creates a virtual environment, installs dependencies (beautifulsoup4, openai), and sets up a hidden .edict folder in your home directory.

# For a full installation including database reset
./install.sh --full

# To update code while preserving your database
./install.sh

To use the generative study features, you need an OpenAI API key:

1. Obtain a key from OpenAI.
2. Save it to your config folder:

echo "your_open_ai_key" > .oaikey
mv .oaikey ~/.edict

Note: You do not need an OpenAI key to use basic dictionary features.

Query a word directly from the console:

edict incantation

Outputs: Phonetics, definitions from Yahoo/PyDict, and your consultation count.

• View History (-s): Displays a table of all consulted words and their counts.
• Mark Last Word (-m): Adds the most recently searched word to your favorites list.
• List Marked (-l): Dumps the list of all words you have marked.
• Flush Database (-f): Clears all history and marks.

Generate a cloze test from your marked words:

edict -a

Example Output:

1. The witch spoke a mysterious ________ that summoned a powerful spell.
2. The magician amazed the audience with his incredible ________ tricks.

Check out the usage guide video: Watch on YouTube.

• More generic AI features.
• Enhanced document reading support.