Max Narditdata & ai systems
v0.1.0mcprustMIT

Clipboard MCP

Give your AI assistant access to your clipboard

Copy an error. Ask Claude to fix it. The fix lands in your clipboard. No manual paste into chat, no manual copy from response. Three MCP tools, one Rust binary, zero configuration.

crates.ioGitHubDownload Binary

Pre-built binaries for Windows, macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Linux (x64 + ARM)

shell
cargo install clipboard-mcp
Claude Code
> Copy this error and fix it

get_clipboard()
→ "TypeError: Cannot read property 'map' of undefined
  at UserList (UserList.tsx:12)"

// Claude analyzes the error, writes the fix...

set_clipboard("const users = data?.users ?? []")
→ Copied to clipboard (35 chars): "const users = data?.users ?? []"

> Now Ctrl+V in your editor. Done.

Works with any MCP client via stdio transport

Claude DesktopClaude CodeCursorWindsurfCline

01

Three tools. That's it.

  • get_clipboard

    Read whatever is on the clipboard right now. AI sees what you copied without you pasting into chat. Content over 100 KB is safely truncated at UTF-8 boundaries.

  • set_clipboard

    Write text to the clipboard. AI puts its result where you need it — ready for Ctrl+V. 1 MB limit. Returns confirmation with character count and preview.

  • watch_clipboard

    Wait for the clipboard to change. "Watch for 60 seconds, translate whatever I copy." Polls every 500ms, default 30s timeout, configurable up to 5 minutes.

02

The problem

AI assistants run in a sandbox. They can't access your system clipboard. So you end up manually copy-pasting between your apps and the chat window — over and over. Error from terminal → paste into chat → copy the fix → paste into editor. Every round trip breaks your flow.

Clipboard MCP bridges this gap. Your AI reads what you copied and writes its output straight to the clipboard. No middle step.

03

What you can do with it

  • Round-trip fix

    Copy an error from your terminal. Ask Claude "fix what's on my clipboard." The fix lands in your clipboard. Ctrl+V into your editor. Zero manual copy-paste into the chat window.

  • Watch and transform

    "Watch my clipboard for 60 seconds. When I copy text, translate it to German and put it back." Copy a paragraph — translation is instantly in your clipboard.

  • Agent output log

    Tell an agent to write each step to the clipboard. Your clipboard manager (Beetroot, CopyQ, Paste, Klipper) captures every step as a separate entry. You get a chronological log of the agent's work — searchable, scrollable, persistent.

  • Quick cleanup

    Copied messy JSON from an API response? "Format what's on my clipboard and put it back." Copied text with junk from a web page? "Clean up my clipboard, keep only the facts." Ready to paste.

  • Data transform

    Copy CSV from a spreadsheet. "Convert my clipboard to JSON." Paste formatted JSON into your code. Works with any format — CSV to JSON, XML to YAML, markdown to HTML.

  • Code review from clipboard

    Copy a code snippet from a browser, Stack Overflow, or a PR. "Review what's on my clipboard." Claude reads it directly — no pasting a wall of code into the chat.

  • Template filling

    Copy a template (email draft, PR description, commit message). "Fill in the template on my clipboard with context from this project." The filled template lands back on your clipboard.

04

Quick Start

Option 1: Cargo
cargo install clipboard-mcp

Option 2: Binary

Download from GitHub Releases

Windows x64 · macOS Intel · macOS Apple Silicon · Linux x64 · Linux ARM

claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Desktop
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clipboard": {
      "command": "clipboard-mcp"
    }
  }
}
Claude Code
# Project-level
claude mcp add clipboard clipboard-mcp

# Global (all projects)
claude mcp add --scope user clipboard clipboard-mcp

05

Clipboard MCP features

  • Cross-Platform

    Windows, macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), Linux (X11 + Wayland). One binary per platform. Native clipboard access via arboard by 1Password.

  • Single Binary, Zero Deps

    ~250 lines of Rust. No runtime, no interpreter, no node_modules. Drop the binary, add one line of config, done. Linux needs X11 libs or Wayland with wl-data-control.

  • Safety Limits

    100 KB read limit with safe UTF-8 truncation. 1 MB write limit. Watch timeout capped at 5 minutes. Non-text content detected and reported, not crashed on.

  • MCP Standard

    Built on rmcp (official Rust MCP SDK). Stdio transport — no network, no ports. Works with any MCP-compatible client out of the box.

  • Local Only

    No network connections. No telemetry. The server reads and writes your local clipboard — nothing leaves your machine.

  • Open Source

    MIT license. ~250 lines of auditable Rust. Published on crates.io and the MCP Registry.

06

Built with

Rustrmcp 1.3 (official MCP SDK)arboard (1Password)tokioschemarsMCP stdio transport