Paste?

YESA focused first version is a sensible AI-assisted build. Keep the first release narrow and polish the workflow people repeat.

BUILD FIRST

One defined user and a repeatable end-to-end job
A small, clear data model with sign-in only if it is genuinely needed
Loading, empty, error, and success states that make the workflow feel complete

LEAVE FOR LATER

Large integration marketplaces
Multi-region scale and enterprise administration
Every power-user setting from the established product

RESEARCH NOTES

What this tool actually does.

Checked 2026-09-06

Paste (pasteapp.io) is a clipboard manager for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS by developer Wouter van Dongen, ~10 years on the market and praised by Apple as an 'invaluable utility'. It silently records everything copied — text, links, images, files — into an unlimited, searchable history shown as a visual timeline with previews, source app, and timestamp. Core workflows: open via default shortcut Shift-Command-V or menu bar icon; paste by Return, double-click, or drag; ⌘1–9 inserts recent items directly; Paste Stack queues items to paste in sequence; paste-as-plain-text strips formatting; search covers text inside images/screenshots via OCR; filters by app, date, device, and content type. iCloud sync keeps history and Pinboards (shared, permissioned collections) in step across devices; iOS adds a Paste Keyboard and Handoff. Privacy by design: data stays on-device and in private iCloud, never on

SOURCES

RESEARCHED BUILD PROMPT

Give this to your coding agent.

Build a privacy-first clipboard history manager for macOS — a functional replacement for the app 'Paste' (pasteapp.io), not a clone of it. Workflow to replicate: a lightweight background/menu-bar agent captures every copy event (text, links, images, files) into a local, searchable, visual timeline showing previews, source app, and timestamp; a global hotkey (default ⌥⇧V) opens a searchable overlay where the user pastes the selected item into the frontmost app via Enter/double-click/drag; ⌘1–9 pastes the most recent items instantly; a 'stack' mode queues several items to paste in order; 'paste as plain text' strips formatting. Include content-type filters, full-text search, and OCR of text inside images. Include Pinboards: user-named, reorderable collections of saved snippets that never expire, with export/import via JSON and drag-and-drop. Add privacy controls: rules to auto-exclude sensitive apps (e.g., password managers), global capture pause, and a hide-from-screen-recording toggle. Technical requirements: Swift/SwiftUI app with a menu bar extra; capture via NSPasteboard polling (changeCount) or accessibility monitoring; SQLite (GRDB) with FTS5 for search; OCR via Apple Vision; hotkey registration via KeyboardShortcuts; local-only storage. Explicitly do not copy Paste's brand, name, logo, marketing copy, proprietary assets, or its pixel-level UI — design an original interface and name. Deliberately out of scope: iOS/iPadOS apps, MCP/AI tool integration, iCloud/multi-device sync, subscription/billing, multi-user collaboration. Target macOS 13+, sandboxed, distributed as a .dmg and Homebrew cask. Deliver a README covering build/setup, architecture, permissions needed (Accessibility/Input Monitoring), and important limitations (menu-bar app lifecycle caveats, copy-detection edge cases, macOS background-agent restrictions).

Visit the official product page