🔐 SaneClip

The Only Clipboard Manager That Takes Privacy Seriously

Privacy-first clipboard history · On-device by default · No personal-content upload · Pro adds Touch ID + AES-256 encryption

⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful! · ⬇️ Download Free · 💰 Upgrade to Pro for $14.99 once

What's New • Features • Security • Automation •

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🚨 The Problem

Most clipboard managers are security nightmares:

• ❌ Store your passwords, API keys, and credit cards in plaintext
• ❌ Send your clipboard data to the cloud
• ❌ Track everything you copy with analytics
• ❌ Let any app access your clipboard history without permission

You deserve better.

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✅ The Solution

SaneClip is the first clipboard manager built with security as the foundation:

Security Feature	What It Does
🔒 AES-256-GCM Encryption (Pro)	Encrypts your clipboard history at rest. Even if malware accesses your disk, it can't read your clips.
🔐 Touch ID History Lock (Pro)	Locks history behind biometrics. 30-second grace period means no repeated prompts.
🛡️ Keychain Integration	All secrets (webhook keys, encryption keys) stored in macOS Keychain — never in JSON files.
🚫 HTTPS Enforcement	Webhooks must use HTTPS (localhost exempt for testing). No accidental plaintext transmission.
⚠️ URL Scheme Confirmation	Destructive commands (copy, paste, clear) require user approval. No silent data loss.
📵 App Exclusions	Block 1Password, banking apps, or any sensitive app from clipboard capture entirely.
🕵️ Sensitive Data Detection	Automatically flags credit cards, SSNs, API keys, passwords, private keys.

On-device by default. Optional iCloud sync between your devices. No clipboard-content upload to SaneApps. A few simple anonymous app counts help us improve the app.

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🆕 Current macOS Direct Download: v2.2.15

Current direct-download release (Apr 2026)

• ✅ Makes pinning free on Mac so Basic matches the App Store promise and the iPhone companion
• ✅ Clarifies Pro upgrade messaging around organization tools while keeping the advanced workflow layer in Pro
• ✅ Keeps the clipboard history popover pinned under the menu bar icon more reliably
• ✅ Improves the upgrade popup so license entry and dismissal behave cleanly

The prior 2.2.13 mobile follow-up restored the color-coded source indicators on iPhone and iPad and improved recovery for older Mac updater installs.

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🧾 Free vs Pro (Current)

Free includes

• Clipboard history (last 50 items)
• Standard paste with original formatting
• Search and source-aware filtering
• Pin and unpin important clips
• Capture Screenshot into history
• Excluded apps and auto-delete controls
• Optional "open at mouse cursor" launch mode
• Free iPhone/iPad companion app with optional private iCloud sync
• On-device privacy defaults

Pro adds

• Unlimited history
• Touch ID history lock
• History encryption (AES-256-GCM)
• OCR Capture for text grabs and searchable screenshot sidecars
• Smart paste + plain text paste
• Text transforms
• Paste stack (FIFO/LIFO)
• Snippets with placeholders
• Titles, tags, collections, and item notes
• Clipboard rules
• Export and import

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⚡️ Features

Keyboard-First Design

• ⌘⇧V — Open clipboard history
• ⌘⌃1-9 — Paste items 1-9 instantly
• ⌘⇧⌥V — Paste as plain text
• ⌘⌃V — Paste from stack (oldest or newest first — configurable in Settings)
• ↑↓ or j/k — Navigate through history

Smart Snippets

Create reusable text templates with dynamic placeholders:

Hello {{name}},

Thank you for your {{reason}}.
Today's date is {{date}}.

Best regards,
{{clipboard}}

Built-in placeholders:

• {{name}} — Prompts for input when pasting
• {{date}} — Auto-fills current date
• {{time}} — Auto-fills current time
• {{clipboard}} — Current clipboard content

Text Transforms

Right-click any text item and choose "Paste As..." to transform before pasting:

Transform	Description
UPPERCASE	Convert to all caps
lowercase	Convert to all lowercase
Title Case	Capitalize each word
Trimmed	Remove leading/trailing whitespace
Reverse Lines	Reverse order of lines
JSON Pretty Print	Format JSON with indentation
Strip HTML	Remove HTML tags, keep text
Markdown to Plain	Strip markdown formatting

Clipboard Rules

Automatic processing applied to every copy:

• Strip URL Tracking — Removes utm_*, fbclid, gclid, etc.
• Auto-Trim Whitespace — Remove leading/trailing whitespace
• Lowercase URLs — Convert URLs to lowercase
• Normalize Line Endings — Convert to consistent line breaks
• Remove Duplicate Spaces — Collapse multiple spaces

Organization

• 📌 Pin Favorites — Keep frequently-used text always accessible
• 🔍 Instant Search — Filter by content, source app, or date
• 🎨 Source-Aware Colors — Every clip is color-coded by source app (Messages green, Safari blue, Mail red, and more)
• 📱 App Source Attribution — See which app each clip came from
• 🔄 Duplicate Detection — Identical clips automatically consolidate
• 📊 Paste Count Badges — Track how many times you've used each item
• ⏱️ Auto-Expire — Delete old items after 1h, 24h, 7d, or 30d
• 🖼️ Image Capture — Copies images too, not just text

macOS Widgets

Add SaneClip widgets to your desktop or Notification Center:

Widget	Sizes	Description
Recent Clips	Small, Medium	Shows your 3-5 most recent clipboard items
Pinned Clips	Small, Medium	Quick access to your pinned favorites

Data Management

• 📤 Export History — Export to JSON with timestamps and metadata
• 📥 Import History — Import previously exported history
• ⚙️ Settings Sync — Backup or transfer settings to another Mac
• 📊 Storage Stats — View detailed statistics about your clipboard

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🤖 Automation

URL Scheme

Control SaneClip programmatically via saneclip:// URLs:

URL	Action
saneclip://paste?index=0	Paste item at index
saneclip://search?q=keyword	Open search with query
saneclip://snippet?name=MySnippet	Paste snippet by name
saneclip://copy?text=Hello	Copy text to clipboard
saneclip://history	Show history window
saneclip://clear	Clear history (with confirmation)

Siri Shortcuts

SaneClip integrates with Shortcuts.app via App Intents:

• Get Clipboard History — Returns recent text items
• Paste Clipboard Item — Pastes item at specified index
• Search Clipboard — Search history and return matches
• Copy to SaneClip — Copy text to clipboard
• Clear Clipboard History — Clear all non-pinned items
• Paste Snippet — Paste a saved snippet by name
• List Snippets — Returns all snippet names

Webhooks

Send HTTP notifications when clipboard events occur with HMAC-SHA256 signatures and retry logic.

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🔒 Security

SaneClip is privacy-first:

• ✅ 100% On-Device by Default — Your clipboard history stays on your Mac
• ✅ Optional iCloud Sync — Syncs only between your own devices if you turn it on
• ✅ No Personal-Content Upload — Clipboard contents are not sent to SaneApps servers
• ✅ 100% Transparent Code — Verify yourself at github.com/sane-apps/SaneClip
• ✅ PolyForm Shield License — Community-auditable, source-available

Sensitive Data Detection:

• Credit cards (Luhn algorithm validation)
• Social Security Numbers
• API keys (OpenAI, AWS, GitHub, Slack, Stripe, Google, etc.)
• Passwords and private keys (SSH, PGP/GPG)
• Email addresses

Auto-Purge Rules: Configure automatic deletion of sensitive items after 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 1 hour.

See PRIVACY.md and SECURITY.md for full details.

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📦 Installation

SaneClip Basic is $0. Clipboard history, search, pinning, screenshots, private defaults, and the free iPhone/iPad companion app are included.

Mac Pro is a one-time unlock. The iPhone/iPad companion remains a separate free App Store download that uses your iCloud account for sync.

Want more? Upgrade to Pro ($14.99 once) for OCR capture, unlimited history, Touch ID lock, encryption-at-rest, smarter paste, snippets, and advanced rules.

Install

# Homebrew (optional)
brew install --cask sane-apps/tap/saneclip

# Already use Homebrew and want it to manage an existing install:
brew install --cask --adopt sane-apps/tap/saneclip

Or download directly · or build from source

The direct download is the canonical Mac release channel and updates itself automatically via Sparkle. brew upgrade works too if you choose the Homebrew cask.

Requirements

macOS App:

• macOS 15.0 (Sequoia) or later
• Apple Silicon Mac (M1+)

iOS Companion App:

• iOS 18.0 or later
• iPhone or iPad

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🛠️ Development

Cloning without starring? For real? ⭐ Star it first. Help others discover quality software.

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/sane-apps/SaneClip.git
cd SaneClip

# Build + test (preferred)
./scripts/SaneMaster.rb verify

# Launch
./scripts/SaneMaster.rb launch

SaneMaster runs XcodeGen when needed; only run xcodegen generate manually if you add files and want to refresh immediately.

See DEVELOPMENT.md for detailed setup and CONTRIBUTING.md for coding standards.

🤝 Contributing

Before opening a PR:

1. ⭐ Star the repo (if you haven't already)
2. Read CONTRIBUTING.md
3. Open an issue first to discuss major changes

Building from source? Consider buying the app to support continued development.

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📚 Documentation

Document	Purpose
README.md	Product overview and doc map
ARCHITECTURE.md	System design and major data flows
CONTRIBUTING.md	How to contribute
DEVELOPMENT.md	Development setup and guidelines
SECURITY.md	Security policy
PRIVACY.md	Privacy practices
docs/	Public website and guide pages

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💬 Support

• 🐛 Report a Bug
• 💡 Request a Feature
• ❤️ Sponsor on GitHub

Crypto Donations

Currency	Address
BTC	3Go9nJu3dj2qaa4EAYXrTsTf5AnhcrPQke
SOL	FBvU83GUmwEYk3HMwZh3GBorGvrVVWSPb8VLCKeLiWZZ
ZEC	t1PaQ7LSoRDVvXLaQTWmy5tKUAiKxuE9hBN

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🌟 Why Choose SaneClip?

Other Clipboard Managers	SaneClip
❌ Plaintext storage	✅ AES-256-GCM encryption
❌ Third-party cloud sync	✅ Optional private iCloud sync between your devices only
❌ Personal-content upload	✅ Your clipboard contents stay on your Mac
❌ Closed source	✅ 100% Transparent Code (PolyForm Shield)
❌ Subscription pricing	✅ $14.99 one-time, free updates
❌ No Touch ID protection	✅ Biometric locks with grace period
❌ No sensitive data detection	✅ Auto-flags credit cards, API keys, SSNs

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💡 Found a Bug? Want a Feature?

⭐ Star the repo first — Then open an issue. Stars help us prioritize which projects get the most attention.

• 🐛 Report a Bug
• 💡 Request a Feature

Cloning without starring? For real bro? Gimme that star!

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📦 Distribution Versions

SaneClip is available in two versions with different capabilities:

Feature	Direct Download	Mac App Store
Clipboard History & Search	✅	✅
AES-256-GCM Encryption	✅ Pro	✅ Pro
Touch ID Protection	✅ Pro	✅ Pro
Sensitive Data Detection	✅	✅
Snippets & Text Transforms	✅	✅
Keyboard Shortcuts	✅	✅
Siri Shortcuts & Widgets	✅	✅
Auto-Paste into apps	✅ One-click paste	❌ Copies to clipboard; press Cmd+V to paste
Automatic Updates	✅ Built-in auto-updater	✅ Via App Store
iCloud Sync	✅	✅

Why the difference? The Mac App Store version runs in Apple's sandbox, which blocks simulated keyboard events (used for auto-paste). Instead, the App Store version copies items to your clipboard and shows a notification — just press Cmd+V to paste. All other features work identically.

Direct download: Free Basic at saneclip.com/download · Upgrade to Pro for $14.99 once — includes Sparkle auto-updates.

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📱 iOS Companion App (Free)

Your clipboard history, on your iPhone and iPad. Free with SaneClip for Mac.

• History Tab — Browse recent clips with source-aware colors, tap-to-copy, and haptic feedback
• Pinned Tab — Quick access to your favorites
• Detail View — Full content preview with selectable text, tappable URLs, and image rendering
• Siri Shortcuts — "Get recent clips", "Search clips", "Copy last clip" via Shortcuts app
• Share Extension — Save text and URLs to SaneClip from any app's share sheet
• iOS Widgets — Recent and Pinned clips for Home Screen and Lock Screen
• iCloud Sync — Keep your clipboard in sync across all your devices via CKSyncEngine

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🏆 Compare SaneClip

Looking at alternatives? Here's how SaneClip stacks up:

Feature	SaneClip	Paste	Maccy	Pastebot	CopyClip
AES-256 Encryption	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Touch ID Protection	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Sensitive Data Detection	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Password Manager Safety	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Clipboard Rules	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Webhooks & URL Schemes	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Siri Shortcuts & Widgets	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
App Exclusions	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Source App Colors	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
Text Transforms	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌
Paste Stack	✅	❌	❌	✅	❌
Snippets & Placeholders	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
iOS Companion App	✅ Free	✅ Paid	❌	❌	❌
iCloud Sync	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
100% Transparent Code	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
100% Private	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅
Price	$14.99	$30/yr	Free	$13	Free

Bottom line: SaneClip combines strong privacy controls, automation, OCR capture, and a free companion app in a way the usual clipboard managers still do not.

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📝 License

PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 — free for any use except building a competing product. See LICENSE for details.

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Made with ❤️ in 🇺🇸 by Mr. Sane

Not fear, but power, love, sound mind — 2 Timothy 1:7

Third-Party Notices

Third-party open-source attributions are documented in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

Become a Contributor (Even if You Don't Code)

Are you tired of waiting on the dev to get around to fixing your problem?
Do you have a great idea that could help everyone in the community, but think you can't do anything about it because you're not a coder?

Good news: you actually can.

Copy and paste this into Claude or Codex, then describe your bug or idea:

I want to contribute to this repo, but I'm not a coder.

Repository:
https://github.com/sane-apps/SaneClip

Bug or idea:
[Describe your bug or idea here in plain English]

Please do this for me:
1) Understand and reproduce the issue (or understand the feature request).
2) Make the smallest safe fix.
3) Open a pull request to https://github.com/sane-apps/SaneClip
4) Give me the pull request link.
5) Open a GitHub issue in https://github.com/sane-apps/SaneClip/issues/new?template=bug_report.md that includes:
   - the pull request link
   - a short summary of what changed and why
6) Also give me the exact issue link.

Important:
- Keep it focused on this one issue/idea.
- Do not make unrelated changes.

If needed, you can also just email the pull request link to hi@saneapps.com.

I review and test every pull request before merge.

If your PR is merged, I will publicly give you credit, and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you helped ship a fix for everyone.