A local-first macOS clipboard manager that understands developer content.
PastePilot recognizes commands, JSON, code, errors, colors, screenshots, and files, then suggests the next useful action from your menu bar. No plugins, no telemetry, no cloud sync. Everything stays on your Mac.
Most clipboard managers remember what you copied. PastePilot understands what you copied and turns it into useful developer actions.
- Clean commands before they hit your terminal. Strip
$,%,❯, virtualenv prompts, and terminal transcript noise. - Work with structured data faster. Pretty-print JSON, minify it, or generate TypeScript interfaces from API responses.
- Find screenshots by text. OCR copied images locally with macOS Vision, then search clipboard history by visible text.
- Keep clipboard data local. No plugins, no telemetry, and no cloud sync.
| Tool | Main focus | Where PastePilot differs |
|---|---|---|
| PastePilot | Developer clipboard history with smart local actions | Recognizes commands, JSON, code, errors, colors, Markdown, rich text, images, and files; includes OCR search and sensitive-content masking |
| Maccy | Fast, minimal clipboard history | PastePilot adds content-aware transforms and developer workflows on top of clipboard history |
| Raycast Clipboard | Clipboard history inside a broader launcher | PastePilot is a standalone menu bar app focused on copied developer content and local-first behavior |
| Paste / cloud clipboard apps | Polished history, organization, and sync workflows | PastePilot prioritizes open source code, local storage, no telemetry, and no cloud dependency |
PastePilot automatically identifies 11 content types and tailors actions to each:
| Type | Examples | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Command | $ npm install, git status, sudo apt install |
Strip prompt ($ / % / ❯), extract from terminal output, wrap in code block |
| JSON | API responses, config files | Format (pretty-print), minify, generate TypeScript interfaces |
| URL | https://... |
Open in browser, copy |
| Code | Functions, snippets | Escape for string embedding, wrap in Markdown code block |
| Error | Stack traces, crash logs | Clean up for issues/chat, extract embedded commands |
| Color | #FF5733, rgb(...), hsl(...) |
Normalize hex format |
| Markdown | Headings, lists, links | Name conversion, string escape |
| Rich Text | Formatted text from web/editors | Preserve formatting, copy as plain text, copy HTML source |
| Image | Screenshots, copied images | Copy as image data, source URL, or file; copy Markdown with URL/path fallback; Quick Look, Show in Finder, OCR text search |
| File | Files from Finder | Copy, Quick Look, Show in Finder |
| Plain Text | Everything else | Convert to camelCase / snake_case, escape as string |
Built for the pain of copying $ npm install from a README and having to delete the $ yourself:
- Recognizes 100+ command-line tools (
git,docker,kubectl,terraform,aws,brew, ...) - Strips prompt prefixes (
$,%,❯,➜,user@host$,(venv) $) - Extracts runnable commands from terminal transcripts mixed with output
- Handles multi-line commands with
\continuation - Parses commands inside fenced code blocks (
```sh,```bash,```console)
Copied images are automatically scanned for text using the macOS Vision framework. Recognized text is searchable in history — find a screenshot by typing any word visible in it. Supports Chinese (simplified/traditional), English, Japanese, and Korean.
Press the configurable global shortcut (default: ⌥⇧⌘V) to paste the current
clipboard text without fonts, colors, links, or other rich-text formatting.
PastePilot restores the original clipboard contents immediately afterward, so
images, files, and rich text remain available for normal pasting.
Both global shortcuts are managed together in General settings. Opening
PastePilot does not require Accessibility permission; pasting as plain text
does, because it sends a paste keystroke to the active app. Click Request
Permission to authorize it. Ad-hoc signed builds may need permission again
after an update, so close old DMGs and keep only the installed copy in
/Applications.
- Detects and masks API keys, tokens, passwords, and private keys
- Sensitive content hidden by default with optional reveal
- Sensitive content can be saved as original text, saved redacted, or skipped entirely from history
- Clipboard data stays local and no telemetry is collected
- Network access is limited to checking and downloading updates from GitHub Releases
- History is stored in SQLite at
~/Library/Application Support/PastePilot/history.sqlite - Existing
history.jsonandhistory.backup.jsonfiles are retained for migration and downgrade compatibility - Copied images are stored as PNG files under
~/Library/Application Support/PastePilot/images/ - Rich text, OCR results, source app metadata, and detected sensitive content may be persisted in history
- The storage limit setting removes the oldest unpinned items when retained history exceeds the chosen local data size
- Sensitive-content masking only hides values in the UI; use the redacted or skipped storage policy if values should not be written to disk
- Clear history from PastePilot or delete its Application Support folder to remove stored clipboard data
- Hover preview — pause on any item to see full content, source app, and metadata
- Keyboard-driven — search, navigation, previews, item actions, pinning, deletion, and cleanup all have keyboard paths
- Search — filter history by content, type, or OCR text
- Pin — pinned items stay at the top and survive cleanup
- Drag & drop — drop files or images directly into the popover
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
↑ / ↓ |
Move the selected history item |
↩ |
Copy the selected item |
␣ |
Open or close the selected item's preview |
⌘1–⌘9 |
Copy the corresponding visible history item |
⌥1–⌥9 |
Run an action for the selected item, matching the preview action list |
⌘P |
Pin or unpin the selected item |
⌘⌫ |
Delete the selected item |
⌘⇧⌫ |
Clear unpinned history after confirmation |
⌘F / ⌘K |
Focus search |
Esc |
Close preview, clear search, then close the popover |
- Launch at login
- Configurable shortcuts for opening PastePilot and pasting as plain text
- History limit (50 / 100 / 200 / 500 items)
- Auto-delete timeout (never / 1 hour / 24 hours / 7 days / 30 days)
- Total local storage limit
- Image size limit
- Sensitive-content storage policy
- OCR mode, language mode, and manual re-run for existing images
- Menu bar icon style (PastePilot / Clipboard / Paperplane)
- Theme mode (follow system / light / dark)
- Hover preview toggle
- Per-app ignore list with visual app picker
- Automatic update checks with a manual Check for Updates… action
- Reset to defaults
English and Simplified Chinese. Follows system language automatically.
- macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
- Apple Silicon (
arm64) or Intel (x86_64) Mac - Accessibility permission (for pasting as plain text into other apps)
git clone https://github.com/BeaCox/PastePilot.git
cd PastePilot
make runThe app appears in the menu bar. Copy anything to get started.
PastePilot uses Swift Package Manager and ships architecture-specific builds
for Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x86_64). The Makefile wraps all build
steps:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
make build |
Compile the debug executable with SwiftPM |
make run |
Build and launch PastePilot |
make app |
Build a release .app bundle into dist/ |
make dmg |
Build a compressed DMG with an Applications shortcut |
make test |
Run the standard SwiftPM test suite |
Use make test instead of calling swift test directly. The Makefile passes
the Swift Testing flags and framework/runtime search paths needed by local
Xcode and Command Line Tools setups.
make dmg uses pinned dmgbuild tooling, installed into .build/, to create
the branded Finder layout without depending on the build machine's Finder
preferences.
make app
open "dist/PastePilot-$(uname -m).app"make dmg
# Output: dist/PastePilot-<version>-<arch>.dmg| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
ARCH |
Host architecture | Target architecture (arm64 or x86_64) |
VERSION |
VERSION file |
CFBundleShortVersionString |
BUILD_NUMBER |
1 |
CFBundleVersion |
SIGN_IDENTITY |
- (ad-hoc) |
Code signing identity |
NOTARY_PROFILE |
(empty) | Keychain profile for notarization |
The default local build uses ad-hoc signing and is intended for development.
Set SIGN_IDENTITY to use a Developer ID Application certificate, and set
NOTARY_PROFILE to a stored notarytool profile to notarize and staple the DMG.
To produce a signed release DMG:
SIGN_IDENTITY="Developer ID Application: Your Name (TEAMID)" \
BUILD_NUMBER=1 make dmgTo also notarize and staple:
# Save credentials once
xcrun notarytool store-credentials "PastePilot-notary"
# Build, sign, notarize, and staple
SIGN_IDENTITY="Developer ID Application: Your Name (TEAMID)" \
NOTARY_PROFILE="PastePilot-notary" \
BUILD_NUMBER=1 make dmgTagged GitHub releases can sign and notarize automatically when these secrets are configured:
| Secret | Description |
|---|---|
DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_BASE64 |
Base64-encoded .p12 Developer ID Application certificate |
DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD |
Password for the .p12 certificate |
DEVELOPER_ID_SIGN_IDENTITY |
Full codesign identity, for example Developer ID Application: Name (TEAMID) |
KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD |
Optional temporary CI keychain password |
APPLE_ID |
Apple ID used for notarization |
APPLE_TEAM_ID |
Developer Team ID |
APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD |
App-specific password for notarytool |
SPARKLE_PRIVATE_KEY |
Sparkle Ed25519 appcast signing key |
Sparkle checks the architecture-specific appcast attached to the latest GitHub
Release. Update archives and appcasts are signed with a dedicated Ed25519 key;
the private key is stored in the maintainer's keychain and the
SPARKLE_PRIVATE_KEY GitHub Actions secret.
Push a semver tag to trigger CI, which builds both architectures, generates
signed appcasts, and publishes a GitHub Release with DMGs and SHA-256
checksums. The release also includes pastepilot.rb, a generated Homebrew Cask
file that can be copied into a tap after the release assets are published.
git tag "v$(cat VERSION)"
git push origin "v$(cat VERSION)"make testTests use Swift Testing through a standard SwiftPM test target. The suite covers content analysis and transforms, action generation, settings persistence, history format compatibility and backup recovery, image cleanup, expiry, storage limits, OCR refresh, and history limits.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, project structure, and pull request guidelines.
See CHANGELOG.md for release history.