Clipboard is a free, open-source command-line utility that copies, cuts, and pastes text, files, and directories in the terminal with history and named clipboards.
Clipboard is a free, open-source command-line clipboard manager that brings cut, copy, and paste to the terminal. Running as the short command cb, it handles text, files, directories, and binary content using the same actions a graphical desktop provides, including multiple named clipboards and persistent storage. Users invoke it from Bash, Zsh, PowerShell, or any shell, and pipe data in or out with ordinary shell syntax. It ships on Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD systems, and connects to the native graphical clipboard on supported desktops. The project targets developers and system administrators who move files and text between terminals and remote sessions.
The tool stores entries locally, supports unlimited history, and lets users select a specific clipboard by appending a number to any action, such as cb copy69. Persistent clipboards, marked with an underscore, survive reboots and follow the XDG specification for their storage location. A remote feature shares copied text across SSH sessions using OSC 52, provided the terminal supports it. Because it is a small compiled binary, the utility carries no runtime dependencies and starts instantly. Administrators managing cloud file workflows might also use Autodesk Desktop Connector for CAD assets, though this tool targets shell users rather than design teams.
This utility makes file and text transfer in the terminal as simple as a single cb copy or cb paste, which removes the temporary directories and manual path memorization that normally clutter shell workflows. Because it works the same way on Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD, scripts and notes do not need platform-specific clipboard commands such as xclip, pbcopy, or clip. Unlimited history and named clipboards let users keep several items available at once and paste any of them by appending a number, while persistent clipboards survive reboots for anything that needs to stay available. The remote sharing feature moves copied text across SSH sessions, which is useful when working on a server where the local clipboard is out of reach. Search, edit, note, and regex-based removal actions extend the tool beyond simple copy and paste, and native GUI integration means the terminal and desktop share the same data. The binary is tiny and dependency-free.
Key capabilities and highlights.
The utility implements the three core clipboard actions as shell commands: cb copy, cb cut, and cb paste. Files, directories, and text all work through the same syntax, so a script can move a document or a folder with a single command. This removes the need to remember platform-specific utilities for each action.
Appending a number to any action selects a specific clipboard, so cb copy69 stores an item separately from the default clipboard 0. Persistent clipboards use an underscore prefix and survive reboots by writing to a long-term storage directory. This lets users keep several unrelated items available without overwriting each other.
The utility retains a history of entries that can be listed, searched, and pasted individually. The history range is configurable from one entry up to a very large number, or by age and total size using suffixes such as 6m for six months or 100gb for a data cap. Users can rewrite a history entry by copying new content into it.
Standard shell pipes work in both directions: command output can be piped into the utility, and stored contents can be piped out to another command or redirected to a file. This makes it straightforward to store the output of one program and feed it into the next without intermediate files.
The utility can share copied text across SSH sessions using the OSC 52 terminal escape sequence, so a local clipboard can reach a remote system with only the binary installed there. Terminals such as Kitty and Alacritty support the feature, and remote reading must be enabled in the terminal settings for content to flow.
A search action queries one clipboard or all of them with one or more terms, then sorts results by clipboard and entry number for quick selection. An edit action opens text content directly in a chosen editor through the CLIPBOARD_EDITOR variable, avoiding a copy-out and copy-back cycle.
A regular expression pattern can be registered so matching content is silently ignored when copied, which is useful for secrets or binary data that should never be stored. The remove action uses the same regex approach to delete specific entries, replacing manual cleanup of stored items.
The utility connects with native graphical clipboards on supported desktops, so content copied in the terminal is available to GUI applications and vice versa. The integration can be disabled with the CLIPBOARD_NOGUI environment variable when a pure terminal workflow is preferred or when running in a headless environment.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
No old versions have been added yet.
Common questions about Clipboard.
It is a clipboard manager invoked as cb. It copies, cuts, and pastes text, files, and directories from the terminal with commands such as cb copy and cb paste, and supports multiple named clipboards, history, and shell pipe integration.
Yes. It is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license, and the source code is available on GitHub. It can be installed from many package managers, including Homebrew, Scoop, Winget, Flathub, Snap, AUR, and Conda-forge.
It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD systems, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFlyBSD, and OpenIndiana. It requires a compiler with C++20 support when building from source, and prebuilt packages exist for most platforms.
Append a number to the action. For example, cb copy69 stores files in clipboard 69, and cb paste69 retrieves them. Prefixing with an underscore, such as _420, selects a persistent clipboard that survives reboots and is stored in the user's state directory.
Yes. It can share copied text across SSH sessions using the OSC 52 terminal escape sequence. Only the remote system needs the binary installed, and the terminal must support OSC 52 for remote content to be read or written. The CLIPBOARD_NOREMOTE variable disables the feature.
Persistent clipboards follow the XDG specification and are stored under $HOME/.local/state/clipboard on Linux and macOS, with an equivalent location on Windows. The CLIPBOARD_PERSISTDIR variable overrides the default location. Temporary content lives in a directory controlled by CLIPBOARD_TMPDIR.
Yes. The ignore action registers a regular expression pattern, and the utility silently refuses to copy any content that matches. Running cb ignore "H.*2" before copying a value such as Hunter2 causes that copy to fail. The pattern persists and can be removed later.
Clipboard is a free, open-source command-line utility that copies, cuts, and pastes text, files, and directories in the terminal with history and named clipboards.
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