This is a feature I've been wanting to add for a while, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out: Substage now has Instant Actions.

For hundreds of the most common operations, Substage now skips the AI entirely and just does the thing. Yes, bypassing the AI is a feature! It makes the app feel incredibly snappy for the stuff you do all the time.

Type jpg and your file converts. Type zip and it's zipped. No waiting for a model to think about it. Just instant.

Here's a real-time demo: no editing, no speedup:

Here's a taste of what works:

• File conversion: jpg, png, mp4, plain text, word doc, make an animated gif
• File info: word count, lines of code, file size, resolution, codec, aspect ratio, fps
• File management: zip, unzip, trash, duplicate
• Selection: select all pdfs, select first jpg, select last word doc
• Quick actions: open in terminal (or just term)

The thing is, before this update, typing zip into Substage could feel a little silly. Was it really faster than right-clicking and selecting Compress? Well now I'd argue it genuinely can be—and there's something satisfying about it too.

I've also shaved almost a full second off prompt processing times more generally, so even when you do need AI, everything feels snappier—especially with lightweight models like GPT 4.1 Mini or Claude 4.5 Haiku.

If there are commands you think should get the Instant Action treatment, let me know! You can reach me on Discord, Featurebase, or via email.