ClipDrop - Your Clipboard, Instantly Saved ✨

Stop the copy-paste-save dance. One command turns your clipboard into any file.

pip install clipdrop

🚀 Get Started in 30 Seconds

1. Copy anything - text, code, images, audio 2. Save it - clipdrop myfile 3. That's it! ClipDrop detects the format and saves it perfectly.

# Just copied some code? Save it:
clipdrop script.py

# Screenshot in clipboard? Save it:
clipdrop design.png

# Building a journal? Append to it:
clipdrop journal.md -a

💡 Why ClipDrop?

The Problem: Saving clipboard content on macOS is tedious: Copy → Open app → Paste → Navigate → Name → Choose format → Save 😫

The Solution: Just clipdrop filename and you're done! 🎉

Perfect for:

• 👨‍💻 Developers - Save code snippets and API responses instantly
• 📊 PMs - Capture screenshots and meeting notes in one command
• ✍️ Writers - Build documents by appending content throughout the day
• 🎓 Students - Organize research without switching apps

🎯 Killer Features

1. 🧠 Smart Format Detection

ClipDrop knows what you copied and saves it correctly:

clipdrop data        # JSON detected → data.json
clipdrop readme      # Markdown → readme.md
clipdrop screenshot  # Image → screenshot.png

2. 📝 Append Mode - Build Documents Over Time

Never lose a thought. Keep adding to files:

clipdrop journal.md -a   # Morning thoughts
clipdrop journal.md -a   # Afternoon notes
clipdrop journal.md -a   # Evening reflection

3. 🎵 Audio Transcription (macOS 26.0+)

Turn recordings into text using Apple Intelligence:

# Copy an audio file, then:
clipdrop              # → transcript_20240323_143022.srt
clipdrop meeting.txt  # → meeting notes as plain text

4. 🤖 On-Device Summaries (macOS 26.0+)

Get an executive-ready recap before the raw transcript:

# Save article + structured summary at the top
clipdrop research-notes.md --summarize

# Works for YouTube transcripts and audio, too
clipdrop -yt briefing.md --summarize
clipdrop --audio meeting.txt --summarize

Summaries include:

• Overall headline sentence
• Sections for Key Takeaways, Action Items, and Questions
• Handles transcripts of any length - automatically uses hierarchical processing for long content
• Local fallback when Apple Intelligence is busy, so you always get something useful

5. 🎥 YouTube Transcripts

Research videos efficiently:

# Copy YouTube URL, then:
clipdrop -yt                    # Download transcript
clipdrop -yt lecture.md --lang es  # Spanish transcript
clipdrop -yt notes.md --summarize  # Transcript + structured summary

If YouTube blocks the request ("Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" — common on VPNs, cloud servers, and flagged networks), authenticate with your browser's cookies:

clipdrop -yt --cookies-from-browser chrome   # or firefox, safari, edge, brave

Advanced overrides (environment variables):

• CLIPDROP_YT_COOKIES_FROM_BROWSER — browser to read cookies from
• CLIPDROP_YT_COOKIES — path to a Netscape-format cookies file
• CLIPDROP_YT_PLAYER_CLIENT — pin a yt-dlp player client (e.g. mweb)

Keeping yt-dlp current matters — YouTube changes frequently and old releases stop working: pip install -U yt-dlp

6. 🔒 Secret Scanner

Never accidentally save credentials:

clipdrop config.env -s           # Scan before saving
clipdrop api-keys.txt --scan-mode redact  # Auto-redact secrets

7. 🏷️ Auto-Name (macOS 26.0+)

Stop inventing filenames. Let the on-device model read the content and propose one:

clipdrop --auto-name             # → quarterly-revenue-growth.md
clipdrop --auto-name notes.txt   # Honors the extension you give it
clipdrop --ocr --auto-name       # Name a screenshot from its recognized text

• A short Title-Case suggestion is slugified into a tidy, filesystem-safe name
• The positional filename is optional; a provided extension is kept, otherwise format detection picks it
• Falls back to a content-based slug when Apple Intelligence isn't available

8. 📋 Format Bridge - Your Clipboard Speaks Markdown, Rich Text & Plain Text

AI tools write Markdown; rich editors want HTML; email wants plain text. Convert between all three in one command, entirely on-device:

# Copy some markdown, then:
clipdrop --rich                  # → rich text: paste formatted into Confluence/Docs/Gmail
clipdrop --plain                 # → clean plain text: paste into email/LinkedIn/chat
clipdrop --md                    # ← rich clipboard (web/Docs) → Markdown for LLMs & notes
clipdrop -r -p                   # Preview any conversion first (-P/-M work too)
clipdrop -r page                 # Also save the output → page.html (.txt/.md for -P/-M)

• --rich: headings, lists, tables, links, and code blocks survive the paste; plain-text targets (and "Paste and Match Style") still get your original markdown; code fence languages mapped to what Confluence recognizes (js → javascript)
• --plain: syntax stripped but structure kept — bullets, paragraph breaks, verbatim code, link URLs in parentheses, tables as tab-separated rows (paste into Sheets!)
• --md: turns anything copied from a web page or rich editor into clean GFM Markdown
• All three compose with secret scanning (-s/--scan-mode)

9. 🕘 Clipboard History - Never Lose a Clip Again

Copied over the thing you needed? A lightweight, local, secret-aware history for terminal people — no menubar app required:

clipdrop --history-daemon        # Start capturing (foreground; nohup for background)
clipdrop --history               # Browse recent clips
clipdrop --last 2                # Restore the 2nd most recent clip to the clipboard
clipdrop --last 1 snippet        # ...or save it to a file (format auto-detected)
clipdrop --pick                  # Interactive picker
clipdrop --history-clear         # Wipe it

• Secrets are never stored — every clip runs through the secret scanner before persisting; credentials never touch disk
• Plain local storage (~/.clipdrop/history.jsonl, owner-only permissions), capped at 50 entries, oversized clips skipped
• Run the daemon in the background: nohup clipdrop --history-daemon >/dev/null 2>&1 & (or wrap it in a launchd agent for start-at-login)

10. ✍️ Transform (macOS 26.0+) - Writing Tools for the Terminal

Reshape copied text on the way to a file, entirely on-device:

clipdrop email.txt --rewrite formal                    # restyle (concise/friendly/…)
clipdrop notes.md  --prompt "extract the action items" # any freeform instruction
clipdrop data.md   --to-table                          # messy text → Markdown table
clipdrop data.csv  --to-table                          # …or CSV when the name ends in .csv

• Stacks with everything else, e.g. clipdrop --ocr --to-table table.csv or clipdrop draft.md --rewrite concise --auto-name
• Transforms run after content/OCR is resolved and before naming/summarizing

📖 Common Workflows

# Start your day
echo "Morning thoughts..." | pbcopy
clipdrop journal.md -a

# Add throughout the day
clipdrop journal.md -a

# Review before saving
clipdrop journal.md -a -p

# Save useful code snippets
clipdrop snippets.py -a

# Preview before adding
clipdrop snippets.py -a -p

# Force overwrite when needed
clipdrop snippets.py -f

# Save web content as PDF
clipdrop article.pdf

# Download YouTube lectures
clipdrop -yt lecture.md
clipdrop -yt lecture.md --summarize

# Build research document
clipdrop research.md -a

# Append AI summary (macOS 26.0+)
clipdrop research.md --summarize

# Quick save
clipdrop screenshot.png

# Preview dimensions first
clipdrop mockup.png -p

# Save only the image (ignore text)
clipdrop design.png --image-only

🛠️ Installation

Quick Install

pip install clipdrop

With YouTube Support

pip install clipdrop[youtube]

Other Methods

# Using uv (fast)
uv add clipdrop

# Using pipx (isolated)
pipx install clipdrop

# From source
git clone https://github.com/prateekjain24/clipdrop.git
cd clipdrop && pip install -e .

⚡ Command Reference

Core Commands

clipdrop <filename>      # Save clipboard to file
clipdrop -a <filename>   # Append to existing file
clipdrop -p <filename>   # Preview before saving
clipdrop -f <filename>   # Force overwrite

Input Sources

clipdrop -yt            # YouTube transcript mode
clipdrop --audio        # Force audio transcription
clipdrop --rich         # Markdown → rich text, back to the clipboard
clipdrop --plain        # Markdown → clean plain text, back to the clipboard
clipdrop --md           # Rich clipboard (HTML) → Markdown, back to the clipboard
clipdrop --history      # Browse captured clipboard history
clipdrop --last N       # Restore the Nth most recent clip

Filters & Options

clipdrop --text-only    # Ignore images
clipdrop --image-only   # Ignore text
clipdrop --ocr          # Extract text from a clipboard image (macOS, on-device)
clipdrop --auto-name    # Let ClipDrop name the file from its content
clipdrop -s             # Scan for secrets
clipdrop --lang es      # Set language
clipdrop --fetch-remote-images  # Allow HTML→PDF to fetch remote images (off by default)

🛡️ Privacy default: when saving HTML as a PDF, ClipDrop no longer fetches remote images automatically — embedded data: images are always included, but http(s) images require --fetch-remote-images. Remote fetches are SSRF-guarded (private/loopback/link-local addresses are blocked).

🏷️ Auto-name asks the on-device model for a short title and turns it into a tidy slug (clipdrop --auto-name → q3-roadmap-plan.md). No filename needed; a provided extension is kept. Falls back to a content-based slug when Apple Intelligence isn't available.

🔎 OCR turns a copied screenshot into text using Apple's on-device Vision framework — no data leaves your Mac. It composes with other flags, e.g. clipdrop slide.md --ocr --summarize.

✨ Transform clipboard text (macOS, on-device)

"Writing Tools for the terminal" — reshape what you copied on the way to a file:

clipdrop email.txt --rewrite formal          # rewrite in a style (concise/friendly/…)
clipdrop notes.md  --prompt "extract the action items"   # any freeform instruction
clipdrop data.md   --to-table                # messy text → Markdown table
clipdrop data.csv  --to-table                # …or CSV when the name ends in .csv

These run entirely on-device via Apple Intelligence and compose with everything else, e.g. clipdrop --ocr --to-table table.csv or clipdrop draft.md --rewrite concise --auto-name.

📚 Full Command Documentation →

🎯 Pro Tips

1. Shell Aliases - Add to your .zshrc:

   alias cda='clipdrop -a'  # Quick append
   alias cdp='clipdrop -p'  # Preview first
   

2. Auto-transcribe - Copy audio → clipdrop → instant transcript

3. Mixed content - Copy text + image → clipdrop doc.pdf → perfect PDF

4. Safe secrets - Always use -s for sensitive content

🤝 Contributing

We love contributions! Check out CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

📄 License

MIT © Prateek Jain

🔗 Links

• 📖 Full Documentation
• 🐛 Report Issues
• ⭐ Star on GitHub

Stop copying and pasting. Start ClipDropping.
_{Made with ❤️ for the clipboard warriors}