Menu bar utility for macOS and Windows

Lightweight, local-first clipboard history

mclip lives in the menu bar or system tray. Open it when you need a previous text snippet, image, or file, then return to work without a large window taking over.

Download mclip View on GitHub

Current version 0.1.0. Downloads are served from GitHub Releases.

mclip main window and history preview
Main window, grouped preview, and item detail stay separate.

Keep copy history close without adding noise

The page mirrors the product flow: open the tray window, search, preview, copy, then get back to the task you were doing.

Tray-first

Click the menu bar or system tray icon, or press CommandOrControl+Shift+V. The window appears when needed and gets out of the way after.

Text, images, and files

mclip keeps the everyday things you copy: text snippets, screenshots, and files from Finder or File Explorer. Selecting file history restores a system file list, not just path text.

Separate preview windows

The latest 10 items stay compact and older history stays grouped. Long file names are middle-ellipsized in lists, while details show the full absolute path.

Search and keyboard flow

Type to filter, use arrow keys to move, press Enter to copy, and hit Escape to hide the window.

Local-first privacy

Clipboard history, settings, and image assets stay on your computer. mclip does not upload clipboard contents.

Bilingual and cross-platform

mclip supports macOS and Windows, with Chinese and English UI selected from the system language on first launch.

For developers and AI agents

AI Agent and CLI

mclip-cli gives Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, and Cline a read-only terminal entry into local clipboard history. Agents can fetch recent context without asking you to paste the same error or snippet again.

Give agents local context

mclip-cli list --limit 5 --json exposes recent history as structured JSON for Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, and Cline.

Read-only and quiet

The first CLI phase only reads the local history.json file. It does not open the desktop UI or modify clipboard history.

Built for errors, code, and prompts

Text, JSON, raw, and Markdown output make copied errors, code snippets, and recent context easier to pass into an AI Agent.

Install mclip-cli

curl -fsSL https://www.mclip.cn/install.sh | sh

Common commands

mclip-cli list --limit 5 --json
mclip-cli context --last 3 --format markdown

The current installer builds mclip-cli from source, so Rust/Cargo and Git are required for now.

Your clipboard history stays on your computer.

mclip is a desktop utility, not a cloud service. History files, settings, and image assets live in the local app configuration directory.

Start with GitHub Releases

The first public site stays honest: download is direct, and the current macOS notarization and Windows signing limitations are visible before install.

macOS

Download the DMG from GitHub Releases and drag mclip.app into Applications. The current build is not notarized, so macOS may quarantine it after browser download.

Windows

Download the MSI or EXE installer and follow the setup wizard. The current installer is unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may show an unknown-publisher warning.

Developers

The source code is open on GitHub. The app uses Tauri 2, React 19, TypeScript, and Rust, and runs locally with npm run tauri:dev.

Common questions before installing

Signing, notarization, WebView2, and the local data boundary are visible before anyone downloads the app.

Does mclip upload my clipboard contents?

No. History, settings, and generated image assets stay on your computer in the local app configuration directory. The Windows installer may only access the network to install WebView2 when it is missing.

What if macOS says the app is damaged?

The current macOS build uses ad-hoc signing and is not notarized with an Apple Developer ID. After dragging mclip.app into Applications, you can run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/mclip.app if you trust the release.

Is the Windows SmartScreen warning expected?

Yes for now. The Windows package is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn about an unknown publisher. Install only GitHub Releases you trust.

How many items can mclip keep?

You can adjust the maximum history count in Preferences, and you can choose whether mclip saves text, images, files, or only some of them.