✂️ QuickCut

Copy text and links in two clicks. Keep everything in a searchable history.

No dragging. No Cmd/Ctrl+C. Everything stays on your device.

Why QuickCut?

Selecting text by dragging is clumsy, especially for long passages that need scrolling. Then you still have to press Cmd/Ctrl+C, and the browser only remembers the last thing you copied.

QuickCut fixes all three:

Browser default	QuickCut
Drag across text, miss, try again	Click the start, click the end
Press Cmd/Ctrl+C	Copied automatically
Only the last copy is remembered	Searchable history of everything you cut

✨ Features

• Two-click text capture - mark a start point and an end point; QuickCut selects, copies, and saves the text between them. Works in either direction and across inline elements.
• Link capture - click a link to copy its real URL (even when the visible text says something else) without navigating. Double-click to open it in a new tab.
• Searchable history - newest first, with type badges (text, link, code), source page, and timestamps.
• Always-on or off - one toggle turns QuickCut on or off across all tabs. When off, it does nothing at all.
• Stays out of your way - only Escape is handled. Typing, Cmd/Ctrl+C/V/A, and the site's own Copy buttons keep working normally.
• Sounds and feedback - short, locally generated sounds and an on-page "Saved" confirmation. Mute or adjust volume anytime.
• Right-click "Paste from QuickCut" - re-insert a recent capture into any field.
• Sensible limits - configurable history size, duplicate handling, and best-effort skipping of passwords, card-like numbers, and one-time codes.

📦 Install

From the Chrome Web Store

Coming soon: <link here once published>

From source (Developer mode)

1. Download or clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/quickcut.git

2. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome.
3. Turn on Developer mode (top right).
4. Click Load unpacked and select the quickcut/ folder (the one that contains manifest.json).
5. Pin QuickCut from the puzzle-piece menu so it's one click away.

After editing files, click the reload arrow on the QuickCut card and refresh any open tabs.

🚀 How it works

1. Click the QuickCut icon and switch it ON (or press Alt+Shift+X).
2. Text: double-click a word to set the start, then click where the selection should end. The text is selected, copied, and saved.
3. Links: choose Capture link, then click a link to copy and save its URL. Double-click to open it in a new tab.
4. Open the popup to search, copy again, open, or delete anything you saved.
5. Press Escape to clear a pending start. Press it again to turn QuickCut off.

Keyboard shortcuts

Action	Default
Turn QuickCut on/off	Alt+Shift+X
Open the popup	Alt+Shift+Q
Open the popup with search focused	Alt+Shift+F
Cancel a pending start / exit	Esc

Change any of them at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

🔒 Privacy

• Captures are stored with chrome.storage.local on your device only.
• No servers, no analytics, no telemetry, no remote code.
• QuickCut never monitors your clipboard. It saves only when you capture something.
• Sensitive-content filtering (passwords, card-like numbers, one-time codes) is best-effort. It can miss secrets or reject ordinary text, so don't rely on it for anything that must never be stored.

🔑 Permissions

Permission	Why it's needed
storage	Save your history and settings locally.
activeTab / scripting	Inject the capture script into tabs opened before install.
clipboardWrite	Copy captures and re-copy items from history.
contextMenus	The "Paste from QuickCut" right-click menu.
Site access (http://*/*, https://*/*)	Run the capture script on the pages you use, without reopening the popup every time. It reads page content only when you click to capture.

⚠️ Known limitations

• Doesn't run on chrome:// pages, the Chrome Web Store, or other pages Chrome blocks for extensions.
• Complex editors, canvas-based apps, and sites with custom selection handling may behave differently.
• Content inside cross-origin iframes is not captured.
• Text mode relies on the browser's selection APIs, so very unusual page structures may select slightly differently.

🛠 Development

quickcut/
├── manifest.json
├── background.js        # service worker: storage, messaging, context menu
├── content.js           # two-click selection, link capture, on-page feedback
├── popup.html/css/js    # history UI
├── options.html/css/js  # settings
├── sounds/              # Web Audio sound generator (no audio files)
├── icons/
└── README.md

• Plain JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. No build step, no dependencies for the extension itself.
• Syntax check: node --check <file>.js
• Tests (Playwright, loads the unpacked extension): npm test

Debugging tips

• Extension errors: chrome://extensions → QuickCut → Errors.
• Service worker logs: Inspect views → service worker.
• Content script logs: DevTools console on the page.

🗺 Roadmap

• Export / import history (JSON, CSV, Markdown)
• Per-site "never run here" list
• Light / dark / system theme
• Labels and pinning for saved items
• Firefox and Edge builds

🤝 Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please:

1. Open an issue describing the bug or idea first.
2. Keep changes focused and run node --check on every JS file.
3. Include the page or site where you hit a problem, plus the console error if there is one.