Clippy 📎

Homebrew Release Go Version License

Copy files from your terminal that actually paste into GUI apps. No more switching to Finder.

macOS only - built specifically for the Mac clipboard system.

Why Clippy?

pbcopy copies file contents, but GUI apps need file references. When you pbcopy < image.png, you can't paste it into Slack or email - those apps expect files, not raw bytes.

Clippy bridges this gap by detecting what you want and using the right clipboard format:

# Copy files as references (paste into any GUI app) clippy report.pdf # ⌘V into Slack/email - uploads the file clippy *.jpg # Multiple files at once # Pipe data as files curl -sL https://picsum.photos/300 | clippy # Download → clipboard as file # Copy your most recent download (immediate) clippy -r # Grabs the file you just downloaded clippy -r 3 # Copy 3 most recent downloads # Interactive picker for recent files clippy -i # Choose from list of recent downloads clippy -i 5m # Show picker for last 5 minutes only

Stay in your terminal. Copy anything. Paste anywhere.

Installation:

brew install clippy

The Terminal-First Clipboard Suite: Clippy copies files to clipboard, includes an MCP server for AI assistants, Pasty pastes intelligently, and Draggy (optional GUI) bridges drag-and-drop workflows. Use as a Go library for custom integrations. All designed to minimize context switching from your terminal.

Related MCP server: MacOS Clipboard MCP Server

Core Features

1. Smart File Copying

clippy document.pdf # Copies as file reference (paste into any app) clippy notes.txt # Also copies as file reference clippy -t notes.txt # Use -t flag to copy text content instead clippy *.jpg # Multiple files at once

2. Recent Downloads

# Immediate copy (no UI) clippy -r # Copy your most recent download clippy -r 3 # Copy 3 most recent downloads clippy -r 5m # Copy all downloads from last 5 minutes # Interactive picker clippy -i # Choose from list of recent downloads clippy -i 3 # Show picker with 3 most recent files clippy -i 5m # Show picker for last 5 minutes only # Copy and paste in one step clippy -r --paste # Copy most recent and paste here clippy -i --paste # Pick file, copy it, and paste here

3. Find Files with Spotlight

clippy -f invoice # Search for files matching "invoice" clippy -f screenshot # Find screenshots clippy -f .pdf # Find all PDF files (by extension) clippy -f report.xlsx # Find specific file "report.xlsx" # Shows interactive picker with results

No more switching to Finder to search for files - find and copy them directly from your terminal.

4. Pipe Data as Files

curl -sL https://example.com/image.jpg | clippy cat archive.tar.gz | clippy

5. Copy and Paste Together

clippy ~/Downloads/report.pdf --paste # Copy to clipboard AND paste here clippy -r --paste # Copy recent download and paste here clippy -i --paste # Pick file, copy it, and paste here

6. Clear Clipboard

clippy --clear # Empty the clipboard echo -n | clippy # Also clears the clipboard

7. Content Type Detection

A nice bonus: clippy auto-detects content types (JSON, HTML, XML) so receiving apps handle them properly - something pbcopy can't do. This means when you paste into apps that support rich content, they'll handle it correctly - JSON viewers will syntax highlight, HTML will render, etc.

echo '{"key": "value"}' | clippy # Recognized as JSON clippy -t page.html # Recognized as HTML clippy -t file.txt --mime application/json # Manual override when needed

8. Helpful Flags

clippy -v file.txt # Show what happened clippy --debug file.txt # Technical details for debugging

Why "Clippy"?

Because it's a helpful clipboard assistant that knows what you want to do! 📎

MCP Server

Clippy includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI assistants copy generated content directly to your clipboard.

Ask Claude to generate any text - code, emails, documents - and have it instantly available to paste anywhere:

"Write a Python script to process CSV files and copy it to my clipboard"
"Draft an email about the meeting and put it on my clipboard"
"Generate that regex and copy it so I can paste into my editor"

No more manual selecting and copying from the chat interface.

Setup

Claude Code:

# Install for all your projects (recommended) claude mcp add --scope user clippy $(which clippy) mcp-server # Or for current project only claude mcp add clippy $(which clippy) mcp-server

Note: $(which clippy) finds the clippy binary on your system. On Apple Silicon Macs this is typically /opt/homebrew/bin/clippy, on Intel Macs it's /usr/local/bin/clippy.

Claude Desktop:

Add to your config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{ "mcpServers": { "clippy": { "command": "clippy", "args": ["mcp-server"] } } }

Available Tools

System Clipboard Tools

clipboard_copy - Copy text or files to system clipboard
clipboard_paste - Paste clipboard content to files/directories
get_recent_downloads - List recently downloaded files

Agent Buffer Tools

buffer_copy - Copy file bytes (with optional line ranges) to agent's private buffer
buffer_cut - Cut lines from file to buffer (copy and delete from source)
buffer_paste - Paste bytes to file with append/insert/replace modes
buffer_list - Show buffer metadata (lines, source file, range)

Why buffer tools? Solves the LLM "remember and re-emit" problem. The MCP server reads/writes file bytes directly - agents never generate tokens for copied content. Enables surgical refactoring (copy lines 17-32, paste to replace lines 5-8) with byte-for-byte accuracy, without touching your system clipboard.

Pasty - Intelligent Clipboard Pasting

When you copy a file in Finder and press ⌘V in terminal, you just get the filename as text. Pasty actually copies the file itself to your current directory.

Core Use Cases

1. Copy file in Finder → Paste actual file in terminal

# 1. Copy any file in Finder (⌘C) # 2. Switch to terminal and run: pasty # File gets copied to your current directory (not just the filename!)

2. Smart text file handling

# Copy a text file in Finder (⌘C), then: pasty # Outputs the file's text content to stdout pasty notes.txt # Saves the file's text content to notes.txt

3. Save browser images

# Right-click "Copy Image" in any browser, then: pasty photo.png # Saves the image (auto-converts TIFF to PNG) pasty --preserve-format # Keep original format if needed

Also handles rich text with embedded images (.rtfd bundles from TextEdit/Notes).

4. Debugging and plain text extraction

pasty --inspect # Show what's on clipboard and what pasty will use pasty --plain notes.txt # Force plain text, strip all formatting

Draggy - Visual Clipboard Companion

Draggy is a menu bar app that brings visual functionality to your clipboard workflow. While clippy handles copying from the terminal, Draggy provides a visual interface for dragging files to applications and viewing recent downloads.

Important: Draggy is a separate, optional tool. It's not automatically installed with clippy.

Features

Core Functionality

Drag & Drop Bridge - Makes clipboard files draggable to web browsers, Slack, and other apps
Recent Downloads Viewer - Toggle between clipboard and recent downloads with one click
File Thumbnails - Visual previews for images and PDFs right in the file list
Quick Preview - Hold ⌥ Option while hovering to see larger previews
Zero Background Activity - No polling or battery drain, only activates on demand

User Experience

Double-Click to Open - Quick access to files without leaving the menu
Keyboard Shortcuts - ESC to close, Space to refresh

Design Philosophy

Not a clipboard manager - No history, no database, no complexity
Terminal-first workflow - Designed to complement terminal usage, not replace it
Minimal but complete - Every feature serves a specific workflow need

Installation

# Separate brew install (not included with clippy) brew install --cask neilberkman/clippy/draggy

⚠️ First Launch: macOS may show a security warning since Draggy isn't code-signed. If you see "Draggy is damaged and can't be opened":

The Homebrew cask automatically removes the quarantine flag during installation
If the warning persists, run: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Draggy.app
Or right-click Draggy.app and select "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper

Usage

# Copy files in terminal: clippy ~/Downloads/*.pdf # Copy PDFs with clippy curl -sL image.jpg | clippy # Pipe downloads to clipboard clippy -r # Copy most recent download # Use Draggy GUI: # 1. Click Draggy icon in menu bar # 2. Drag files to browser upload fields, Slack, etc. # 3. Toggle to Recent Downloads view with clock icon # 4. Hold ⌥ Option to preview files # 5. Double-click to open files

Workflow Examples

Upload screenshots to GitHub:

# Take screenshot (macOS saves to Desktop) # In terminal: clippy ~/Desktop/Screenshot*.png # In Draggy: Drag to GitHub comment box

Quick file sharing:

# Terminal: clippy ~/Downloads/report.pdf # Draggy: Shows thumbnail, drag to Slack or email

Recent downloads workflow:

# Download file in browser # Click Draggy → Click clock icon → See your download # Drag where needed or double-click to open

Philosophy

Draggy is intentionally not a clipboard manager. No history, no search, no database. It's a visual bridge between your terminal clipboard workflow and GUI applications. For terminal users who occasionally need to see what's on their clipboard or drag files somewhere, then get back to work.

Build from Source

# Clone and build git clone https://github.com/neilberkman/clippy.git cd clippy go build -o clippy ./cmd/clippy go build -o pasty ./cmd/pasty sudo mv clippy pasty /usr/local/bin/ # Or use go install go install github.com/neilberkman/clippy/cmd/clippy@latest go install github.com/neilberkman/clippy/cmd/pasty@latest

Library

Clippy can be used as a Go library in your own applications:

go get github.com/neilberkman/clippy

High-Level API

import "github.com/neilberkman/clippy" // Smart copy - automatically detects text vs binary files err := clippy.Copy("document.pdf") // Copy multiple files as references err := clippy.CopyMultiple([]string{"image1.jpg", "image2.png"}) // Copy text content err := clippy.CopyText("Hello, World!") // Copy data from reader (handles text/binary detection) reader := strings.NewReader("Some content") err := clippy.CopyData(reader) // Copy from stdin err := clippy.CopyData(os.Stdin) // Get clipboard content text, ok := clippy.GetText() files := clippy.GetFiles()

Features

Smart Detection: Automatically determines whether to copy as file reference or text content
Multiple Files: Copy multiple files in one operation
Reader Support: Copy from any io.Reader with automatic format detection
Clipboard Access: Read current clipboard content (text or file paths)
Cross-Platform Types: Uses standard Go types, handles platform-specific clipboard internally

License

MIT

clippy

Clippy 📎

Why Clippy?

Core Features

1. Smart File Copying

2. Recent Downloads

3. Find Files with Spotlight

4. Pipe Data as Files

5. Copy and Paste Together

6. Clear Clipboard

7. Content Type Detection

8. Helpful Flags

Why "Clippy"?

MCP Server

Setup

Available Tools

System Clipboard Tools

Agent Buffer Tools

Pasty - Intelligent Clipboard Pasting

Core Use Cases

Draggy - Visual Clipboard Companion

Features

Core Functionality

User Experience

Design Philosophy

Installation

Usage

Workflow Examples

Philosophy

Build from Source

Library

High-Level API

Features

License

Resources

New MCP Servers

Latest Blog Posts

MCP directory API