feat: add pause/resume/toggle to keep daemon alive without clipboard hijack

README.md

@@ -110,10 +110,27 @@ sshshot stop             stop the running daemon
 sshshot status           show running PID + target remote
 sshshot target           show current active target + available targets
 sshshot target <name>    switch active target without restarting the daemon
+sshshot pause            keep daemon alive but stop touching the clipboard
+sshshot resume           resume processing screenshots
+sshshot toggle           flip pause/resume in one command
 sshshot config           add/remove SSH remotes
 sshshot uninstall        stop daemon + remove ~/.config/sshshot
 ```
 
+### Pausing without losing your target
+
+When you want to take a screenshot for Slack/GitHub/iMessage and don't want sshshot replacing your clipboard with the remote path, **don't stop the daemon** — pause it:
+
+```bash
+sshshot pause     # daemon stays alive, target stays selected, clipboard untouched
+# … take your local screenshot, paste it wherever …
+sshshot resume    # back to processing screenshots into the remote
+# or:
+sshshot toggle    # flips between the two
+```
+
+`sshshot status` shows `[paused]` next to the running PID so you know which mode you're in. This is intentionally lighter than `stop`/`start` — no process restart, no re-prompting for which remote, instant flip.
+
 ### Switching targets at runtime
 
 If you have multiple remotes configured and want to change which one screenshots ship to without stopping/starting the daemon, use `sshshot target`:

src/config.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ export interface Config {
   // on its next poll cycle without restarting. Updated via `sshshot target <name>`.
   // Set to "local" to save screenshots locally instead of uploading.
   activeTarget?: string
+  // When true, the daemon stays alive but skips processing screenshots —
+  // clipboard isn't touched, no uploads happen. Toggled via
+  // `sshshot pause` / `sshshot resume` / `sshshot toggle`. Designed for the
+  // common "I want to take a screenshot for Slack/GitHub right now without
+  // sshshot stomping my clipboard" case so the user doesn't have to stop +
+  // restart + re-select target every time.
+  paused?: boolean
 }
 
 // Allowed character set for remote names: alphanumerics plus `.`, `_`, `-`,

src/index.ts

@@ -298,6 +298,9 @@ Commands:
   stop              Stop background process
   status            Show if running
   target [<name>]   Show or change the active target without restarting the daemon
+  pause             Daemon stays alive but stops touching the clipboard
+  resume            Resume processing screenshots
+  toggle            Flip between pause/resume
   config            Modify configuration
   uninstall         Remove config and stop process
   version           Print version and exit
@@ -335,6 +338,39 @@ function setActiveTarget(name: string | undefined): void {
   // and will switch on the next iteration. No restart needed.
 }
 
+// Pause/resume/toggle the running daemon without changing target or
+// restarting the process. The daemon stays alive (so resume is instant);
+// processNewImage early-returns while paused, leaving the user's
+// clipboard untouched. Designed for the common "I want a screenshot for
+// Slack right now, not for Claude Code" case.
+function setPausedState(value: boolean): void {
+  const config = loadConfig()
+  if (!config) {
+    console.log("No configuration found. Run 'sshshot' first to set up remotes.")
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+  if (Boolean(config.paused) === value) {
+    console.log(value ? 'Already paused' : 'Already active')
+    return
+  }
+  saveConfig({ ...config, paused: value })
+  if (value) {
+    console.log('Paused — sshshot will not touch your clipboard until resume')
+    console.log("Resume with: 'sshshot resume' or 'sshshot toggle'")
+  } else {
+    console.log('Resumed — sshshot is processing screenshots again')
+  }
+}
+
+function toggleActive(): void {
+  const config = loadConfig()
+  if (!config) {
+    console.log("No configuration found. Run 'sshshot' first to set up remotes.")
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+  setPausedState(!config.paused)
+}
+
 function uninstall(): void {
   // Stop any running process
   const count = killAllSshshotProcesses()
@@ -369,11 +405,16 @@ function showStatus(): void {
     return
   }
 
+  // Surface the paused state on the same line — otherwise users wonder
+  // why screenshots aren't being processed even though `status` says
+  // "Running".
+  const pauseLabel = loadConfig()?.paused ? ' [paused]' : ''
+
   for (const proc of processes) {
     if (proc.target) {
-      console.log(`Running (PID: ${proc.pid}) -> ${proc.target}`)
+      console.log(`Running (PID: ${proc.pid}) -> ${proc.target}${pauseLabel}`)
     } else {
-      console.log(`Running (PID: ${proc.pid})`)
+      console.log(`Running (PID: ${proc.pid})${pauseLabel}`)
     }
   }
 }
@@ -495,6 +536,21 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     return
   }
 
+  if (command === 'pause') {
+    setPausedState(true)
+    return
+  }
+
+  if (command === 'resume') {
+    setPausedState(false)
+    return
+  }
+
+  if (command === 'toggle') {
+    toggleActive()
+    return
+  }
+
   if (command === 'config') {
     await runConfig()
     return

src/monitor.ts

@@ -409,15 +409,18 @@ export function getImageHash(buffer: Buffer): string {
 }
 
 export function generateFilename(): string {
-  // Include milliseconds + a 4-char random suffix so two screenshots taken
-  // in the same second don't collide on the remote (Cmd+Shift+3 spam,
-  // back-to-back paste from clipboard, etc). The previous one-per-second
-  // resolution silently overwrote earlier images.
+  // Include milliseconds + an 8-char random suffix so two screenshots taken
+  // in the same millisecond don't collide on the remote (Cmd+Shift+3 spam,
+  // back-to-back paste from clipboard, etc). 4 random bytes = 4.3B buckets;
+  // collision probability for 100 same-ms calls is ~10⁻⁶ — small enough
+  // for the test loop to be deterministic. (The original 4-char/65K-bucket
+  // version had a ~7% birthday-collision rate at 100 trials and produced
+  // a Node-24-only flake — see PR #22 / commit history.)
   const now = new Date()
   // toISOString() → 2026-05-01T12:34:56.789Z → slice off the trailing 'Z'
   // and dot/colon-replace → 2026-05-01T12-34-56-789
   const timestamp = now.toISOString().replace(/[:.]/g, '-').slice(0, 23)
-  const suffix = crypto.randomBytes(2).toString('hex') // 4 hex chars
+  const suffix = crypto.randomBytes(4).toString('hex') // 8 hex chars
   return `screenshot-${timestamp}-${suffix}.png`
 }
 
@@ -426,7 +429,7 @@ export function generateFilename(): string {
 // today, but if generation ever changes (e.g. accepts user input), this
 // guard keeps the shell-injection surface closed.
 export const SAFE_REMOTE_FILENAME_RE =
-  /^screenshot-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{3}-[0-9a-f]{4}\.png$/
+  /^screenshot-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{3}-[0-9a-f]{8}\.png$/
 
 function getLocalScreenshotDir(): string {
   return path.join(os.homedir(), 'sshshot-screenshots')
@@ -652,11 +655,34 @@ async function copyToClipboard(text: string): Promise<boolean> {
   return copyToClipboardX11(text)
 }
 
+// Module-level pause-state tracker so we log the transition once instead
+// of on every paused screenshot. Updated by checkPaused() at the top of
+// processNewImage. Initialized to false; the first paused poll logs
+// "Paused — skipping…".
+let lastSeenPausedState = false
+
+function checkPaused(): boolean {
+  const paused = Boolean(loadConfig()?.paused)
+  if (paused !== lastSeenPausedState) {
+    log(
+      paused
+        ? 'Paused — clipboard untouched until resume'
+        : 'Resumed — processing screenshots again'
+    )
+    lastSeenPausedState = paused
+  }
+  return paused
+}
+
 async function processNewImage(
   imageBuffer: Buffer,
   remote: string,
   source: 'clipboard' | 'file'
 ): Promise<void> {
+  // Honor `sshshot pause` — daemon stays alive but skips processing so
+  // the user can take non-AI screenshots without `stop`/`start`+re-select.
+  if (checkPaused()) return
+
   const filename = generateFilename()
   const size = Math.round(imageBuffer.length / 1024)
 

test/monitor-helpers.test.ts

@@ -66,9 +66,9 @@ describe('generateFilename', () => {
     }
   })
 
-  it('produces strictly screenshot-<ISO-stamp>-<ms>-<rand4>.png shape', () => {
+  it('produces strictly screenshot-<ISO-stamp>-<ms>-<rand8>.png shape', () => {
     const f = generateFilename()
-    expect(f).toMatch(/^screenshot-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{3}-[0-9a-f]{4}\.png$/)
+    expect(f).toMatch(/^screenshot-\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{3}-[0-9a-f]{8}\.png$/)
   })
 
   it('produces unique filenames for two calls in the same millisecond', () => {
@@ -88,23 +88,26 @@ describe('SAFE_REMOTE_FILENAME_RE', () => {
     const dangerous = [
       'screenshot-$(rm -rf ~).png',
       'screenshot-`whoami`.png',
-      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcd.png; rm -rf ~',
-      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcd.png && curl evil.com',
+      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcdef12.png; rm -rf ~',
+      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcdef12.png && curl evil.com',
       "screenshot-' OR 1=1 --.png",
       '../../../etc/passwd',
       'screenshot.png',
       'screenshot-2026-05-01.png',
-      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-ABCD.png', // upper hex rejected
-      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00.png', // old shape (no ms/suffix) rejected
-      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcd.PNG'
+      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-ABCDEF12.png', // upper hex rejected
+      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcd.png', // old 4-char suffix rejected
+      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00.png', // pre-Round-H shape rejected
+      'screenshot-2026-05-01T12-00-00-000-abcdef12.PNG'
     ]
     for (const f of dangerous) {
       expect(SAFE_REMOTE_FILENAME_RE.test(f), f).toBe(false)
     }
   })
 
   it('accepts the canonical generateFilename output', () => {
-    expect(SAFE_REMOTE_FILENAME_RE.test('screenshot-2026-05-01T12-34-56-789-abcd.png')).toBe(true)
+    expect(SAFE_REMOTE_FILENAME_RE.test('screenshot-2026-05-01T12-34-56-789-abcdef12.png')).toBe(
+      true
+    )
   })
 })