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c-clipboard — Claude Code skill: system clipboard access

Lets the agent read and write your system clipboard: copy text, paste it into a file, run a transform on it.

Install into Claude Code · Skills CLI (Vercel) All methods and platforms ↓
npx skills add daxaur/openpaw --skill c-clipboard -a claude-code
Open on GitHub

What c-clipboard does

The skill spells out how an agent should touch the system clipboard using pbcopy and pbpaste. Both ship with macOS, so there is nothing to install. The agent reaches for them when you say to copy something or ask what is currently on the clipboard.

It carries a set of ready commands: pbpaste to read, echo "text" | pbcopy to write, pbpaste > /path/to/output.txt to drop the buffer into a file, and pbpaste | sort | pbcopy to sort lines in place. Piping command output works too — ls -la | pbcopy — and printf "%s" strips the trailing newline when you need exact text.

On Linux none of this runs as written. You need xclip or xsel instead, and the skill shows the xclip -selection clipboard form. One more thing worth knowing: the skill tells the agent not to print clipboard contents unless you ask, since passwords and tokens often sit there. Sensible, but keep an eye on what the agent pushes into a shared buffer.

What it helps with

  • pipe command output straight to the clipboard
  • write clipboard contents into a file
  • sort lines without leaving the clipboard
  • check what is currently on the clipboard
  • save the buffer with no trailing newline

Example prompts for the agent

  • Copy the output of ls -la to my clipboard
  • What's in my clipboard right now?
  • Take the clipboard text, uppercase it, and put it back

How to install c-clipboard

1Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add daxaur/openpaw --skill c-clipboard -a claude-code

2Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/c-clipboard/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/c-clipboard/

Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways

Questions about c-clipboard

How do I install c-clipboard in Claude Code?

Run npx skills add daxaur/openpaw --skill c-clipboard -a claude-code. The skill lands at ~/.claude/skills/c-clipboard/SKILL.md.

What does c-clipboard do?

It teaches the agent to work with the system clipboard: read it with pbpaste, write with pbcopy, and transform the contents without leaving the terminal.

Does the skill work on Linux?

pbcopy and pbpaste exist only on macOS. For Linux the skill points to xclip -selection clipboard.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT
---
name: c-clipboard
description: System clipboard — copy, paste, transform content between clipboard and files.
tags: [clipboard, copy, paste, pbcopy, pbpaste]
---

# Clipboard — Copy & Paste

Read from and write to the system clipboard. Built into macOS, no install needed.

## Commands

```bash
# Read clipboard contents
pbpaste

# Copy text to clipboard
echo "hello world" | pbcopy

# Copy file contents to clipboard
pbcopy < /path/to/file.txt

# Save clipboard to file
pbpaste > /path/to/output.txt

# Copy command output to clipboard
ls -la | pbcopy
date | pbcopy

# Transform clipboard content
pbpaste | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' | pbcopy    # uppercase
pbpaste | sort | pbcopy                            # sort lines
pbpaste | wc -w                                    # word count

# Copy with no trailing newline
printf "%s" "exact text" | pbcopy
```

## Linux Equivalents

```bash
# If on Linux, use xclip or xsel
xclip -selection clipboard           # copy (pipe into)
xclip -selection clipboard -o        # paste
```

## Guidelines

- When the user says "copy this" or "put this in my clipboard", use `pbcopy`
- When the user says "what's in my clipboard?" or "paste", use `pbpaste`
- For transformations, pipe `pbpaste` through the transform and back to `pbcopy`
- Always confirm what was copied with a brief summary
- Never display clipboard contents unless asked — they may contain sensitive data

© daxaur · MIT · daxaur/openpaw

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