OpenPasteMac

A lightweight, open-source clipboard manager for macOS. Native Swift, fast, minimal, keyboard-first.

What it does

A fast, lightweight clipboard manager for macOS. Access your clipboard history instantly with a global shortcut, browse items in a shelf-style interface, and paste without switching apps.

Clipboard History

• Menu bar app with a global shortcut (⌘⇧V) to open the clipboard shelf
• Auto-paste selected items back into the previously active app
• Supports text, URLs, images, and files on the clipboard
• Link previews for saved URLs with metadata fetching
• Persistence — clipboard history is restored across launches via Application Support

Organization

• Pinboard — pin important items for quick access
• Search — filter clipboard history in real time
• Quick select — paste items 1–9 directly with ⌘1–⌘9

Install

Method	Command / Steps
Homebrew	brew install --cask openpastemac
Download	Go to Releases, download the latest .dmg, open it, and drag OpenPasteMac to Applications
Build from source	git clone https://github.com/xfajarr/openpastemac.git && cd openpastemac && make install

Permissions

OpenPasteMac requires Accessibility access to automatically paste items into other apps.

On first launch, macOS should prompt you. If not:

System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility

Without this permission, OpenPasteMac still copies items to the clipboard — you just need to paste manually with ⌘V.

Usage

1. Launch OpenPasteMac — it appears in your menu bar (top right)
2. Press ⌘⇧V to open the clipboard shelf
3. Browse recent items with ← / →
4. Press Enter to paste the selected item
5. Press Esc or click outside to dismiss

Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘⇧V	Toggle clipboard shelf
← / →	Navigate items
Enter	Paste selected item
⌘1–⌘9	Paste item 1–9 directly
Esc	Close shelf

Development

Requirements

• macOS 13+
• Xcode Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

Build and run

make run

Make commands

Command	What it does
make build	Debug build
make run	Build and launch
make app	Build the .app bundle
make dmg	Create distributable DMG
make install	Install to /Applications
make uninstall	Remove from /Applications
make clean	Remove build artifacts

Architecture

Native Swift / SwiftUI. No external dependencies.

Framework	Used for
AppKit	Menu bar integration, global hotkeys, pasteboard access
SwiftUI	Shelf UI, card views, overlays, editing sheets
LinkPresentation	URL metadata and link previews
ServiceManagement	Launch at Login support

Project structure

Sources/
├── main.swift                  # App entry point
├── AppDelegate.swift           # Menu bar, shelf panel, hotkeys, paste behavior
├── ClipboardItem.swift         # Clipboard item model and content types
├── ClipboardMonitor.swift      # Pasteboard change watcher
├── ClipboardStore.swift        # In-memory state, filtering, pinboards, persistence
├── LinkPreviewService.swift    # Async URL metadata fetching
├── Pinboard.swift              # Pinboard data model
├── ShortcutManager.swift       # Global shortcut configuration
├── SourceApp.swift             # Source application tracking
└── Views/
    ├── ClipboardCardView.swift
    ├── ClipboardShelfView.swift
    ├── EditItemSheet.swift
    ├── ItemPreviewOverlay.swift
    ├── PinboardTabBar.swift
    └── VisualEffectView.swift

scripts/
├── build-app.sh               # Builds the .app bundle
└── create-dmg.sh              # Creates distributable DMG

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, project structure, and coding guidelines.

1. Open an issue to discuss a bug or feature idea
2. Fork the repository
3. Create a focused branch
4. Submit a pull request with a clear description

Keep pull requests small, scoped, and easy to review.

License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.