Poplet

A modern clipboard manager for Linux Wayland desktops, with setup paths for GNOME and Hyprland. Press Super+V to open a popup with clipboard history, an emoji picker, and a GIF browser. Press Super+Shift+S to snip part of the screen. Selecting any item copies it to your clipboard and pastes it directly into the focused app.

Built with Tauri 2, React, and Rust.

Clipboard history — text and image entries

Emoji picker — full Unicode set, grouped by category

GIF browser — Giphy-powered with infinite scroll

Features

Clipboard history — text and images, persisted across sessions in SQLite
Image support — copy a screenshot, see it as a thumbnail in history, click to paste
Snip tool — capture a screen area, annotate it in a full-page editor, then copy it into history
Emoji picker — full Unicode emoji set, grouped by category, search by name
GIF browser — Giphy-powered, infinite scroll, search and trending
Universal paste injection — works in native Wayland apps (Zed, Firefox, GNOME Text Editor) and XWayland apps (Discord, Electron). Uses /dev/uinput so the compositor can't reject it
Keyboard navigation — arrow keys, Enter, Tab between tabs
Lives in the system tray — single resident process, hides on focus loss
Single instance via Unix socket — pressing Super+V many times only ever talks to the running process

Requirements

Debian / Ubuntu, Arch Linux, or compatible Linux distribution
A Wayland session, tested primarily on GNOME and Hyprland
Rust + Cargo
Node.js 18+ and npm
Runtime packages:
- xdotool, wtype (paste fallbacks)
- Noto Color Emoji (fonts-noto-color-emoji on Debian/Ubuntu, noto-fonts-emoji on Arch) so emojis render in color, not as text

On Debian/Ubuntu, setup-poplet.sh installs the runtime packages. On Arch, makepkg -si installs the package dependencies through pacman.

Install

From a prebuilt release (no Rust/Node toolchain needed)

⚠️ The GIF tab does not work in prebuilt releases. The GIF browser uses Giphy's API and needs a free API key, which can't be safely embedded in a public binary. Clipboard history and the emoji picker work normally — only the GIF tab is affected, and it shows a clear error pointing here. If you need GIFs, build from source after putting your own key in .env.

Both .deb (Debian/Ubuntu) and .AppImage (any modern Linux) are attached to every release on the Releases page.

.deb:

sudo dpkg -i Poplet_*_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f          # pulls any missing system deps

.AppImage:

chmod +x Poplet_*_amd64.AppImage
./Poplet_*_amd64.AppImage        # runs directly, no install

Then run the one-time system setup (registers Super+V, uinput perms, autostart):

git clone https://github.com/raid-teyar/poplet.git
cd poplet
bash setup-poplet.sh

From source

git clone https://github.com/raid-teyar/poplet.git
cd poplet

# Provide a Giphy API key (free, takes ~2 minutes)
# https://developers.giphy.com/dashboard
cp .env.example .env
$EDITOR .env

# Build the production binary
npm install
npm run tauri build

# One-time system setup: udev rule, shortcuts, autostart
bash setup-poplet.sh

If setup-poplet.sh adds you to the input group, it'll tell you to reboot. After rebooting, re-run the script and it'll skip what's already done and start Poplet.

That's it. Press Super+V from any app.

Arch Linux with `makepkg`

Build and install the package from the Arch packaging directory:

git clone https://github.com/raid-teyar/poplet.git
cd poplet

# Optional: enables the GIF tab in this local build
cp .env.example .env
$EDITOR .env

cd packaging/arch
makepkg -si

The Arch package installs:

/usr/bin/poplet
a desktop entry and hicolor icon
a systemd user service at /usr/lib/systemd/user/poplet.service
udev and modules-load rules for /dev/uinput

After the first install, finish the shared system setup:

sudo usermod -aG input "$USER"
sudo modprobe uinput
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger --subsystem-match=misc --sysname-match=uinput

If you were just added to the input group, log out and back in. Then enable the user service:

systemctl --user enable --now poplet.service

Verify the setup:

id -nG                         # should include: input
ls -l /dev/uinput              # should be group-owned by: input
systemctl --user status poplet.service

If id -nG does not include input, log out and back in before testing paste injection.

Then register keyboard shortcuts for your compositor.

GNOME shortcuts

GNOME users can register Super+V for Poplet and Super+Shift+S for the snip tool with gsettings:

KEYPATH="/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/poplet/"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:"$KEYPATH" name 'Poplet'
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:"$KEYPATH" command '/usr/bin/poplet --toggle'
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:"$KEYPATH" binding '<Super>v'
SNIP_KEYPATH="/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/poplet-snip/"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:"$SNIP_KEYPATH" name 'Poplet Snip'
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:"$SNIP_KEYPATH" command '/usr/bin/poplet --snip'
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:"$SNIP_KEYPATH" binding '<Super><Shift>s'
CURRENT_BINDINGS=$(gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings)
if [[ "$CURRENT_BINDINGS" != *"$KEYPATH"* ]]; then
  if [ "$CURRENT_BINDINGS" = "@as []" ] || [ "$CURRENT_BINDINGS" = "[]" ]; then
    gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings "['$KEYPATH']"
  else
    gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings "${CURRENT_BINDINGS%]*}, '$KEYPATH']"
  fi
fi
CURRENT_BINDINGS=$(gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings)
if [[ "$CURRENT_BINDINGS" != *"$SNIP_KEYPATH"* ]]; then
  gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings "${CURRENT_BINDINGS%]*}, '$SNIP_KEYPATH']"
fi

Then press Super+V or Super+Shift+S from any app.

Hyprland shortcuts

Hyprland does not use GNOME gsettings. Add this to ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:

exec-once = systemctl --user start poplet.service
bind = SUPER, V, exec, poplet --toggle
bind = SUPER SHIFT, S, exec, poplet --snip
bind = CTRL SHIFT, F, fullscreen, 0

Reload Hyprland:

hyprctl reload

Then press Super+V, Super+Shift+S, or Ctrl+Shift+F from any app.

Poplet pastes through /dev/uinput first, so it can work on Hyprland once the uinput module is loaded and your user is in the input group. The wtype fallback is also installed by the Arch package and may work for text input on wlroots compositors, but /dev/uinput is the intended path because it also reaches XWayland apps.

Configuration

Giphy API key (required for GIF tab)

The GIF tab uses Giphy's API. Tenor stopped accepting new API clients in January 2026, so Giphy is the practical option. Set VITE_GIPHY_API_KEY in .env before building. Without a key, the GIF tab shows a friendly error linking you to where to get one.

Custom shortcuts

Poplet's settings tab lets you edit the open, snip, and fullscreen shortcuts. On GNOME it applies the Poplet shortcuts through gsettings. On Hyprland it updates the live compositor binds with hyprctl; add the same values to ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf if you want them to survive a Hyprland reload.

On Debian/Ubuntu GNOME installs, setup-poplet.sh registers <Super>v and <Super><Shift>s. To change them manually, edit:

/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/poplet/binding
/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/poplet-snip/binding

via dconf-editor or gsettings.

On Hyprland, change the bind lines in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:

bind = SUPER, V, exec, poplet --toggle
bind = SUPER SHIFT, S, exec, poplet --snip
bind = CTRL SHIFT, F, fullscreen, 0

How paste injection works

Method	When used	Apps it reaches
`/dev/uinput` (kernel-level evdev)	Primary, always tried first	All apps: native Wayland + XWayland
`wtype`	Fallback when uinput unavailable	wlroots compositors (not GNOME)
`xdotool`	Last fallback	XWayland apps only (Discord, Electron)

Poplet works in all apps (native Wayland and XWayland) because it injects keystrokes through /dev/uinput at the kernel level, bypassing compositor restrictions entirely. wtype and xdotool are kept as fallbacks only in case /dev/uinput isn't available. The trade-off: the user must be in the input group (setup-poplet.sh handles this).

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ React UI (src/)                                              │
│   App.tsx               history list, search, tab routing    │
│   components/           EmojiPicker, GifPicker               │
└────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
             │ tauri::invoke / event listen
┌────────────▼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Rust core (src-tauri/src/lib.rs)                             │
│   - Clipboard polling thread (text + image, SHA-256 dedup)   │
│   - perform_paste command                                    │
│   - set_clipboard_image, clear_image_cache commands          │
│   - UnixListener on $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/poplet.sock for         │
│     `poplet --toggle` to ask the running primary to toggle   │
│   - Tray icon, hide-on-blur                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Single-instance via Unix socket

The GNOME shortcut runs poplet --toggle. The new process tries to connect to $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/poplet.sock; if it succeeds it sends "toggle\n" to the running primary and exits before Tauri/WebKit even loads. That's what prevents gsd-media-keys from spawning a fresh ~300 MB process on every keypress.

Image storage

Clipboard images are deduplicated by SHA-256 of (width, height, RGBA bytes) and stored as PNGs at $XDG_DATA_HOME/com.poplet.app/images/<hash>.png. The history table keeps only the path; selecting an image row reads the file, sets it as the system clipboard, then pastes. Clearing history wipes both the rows and the cached PNGs.

Project structure

.
├── src/                       React frontend
│   ├── App.tsx                Main app — history, tabs, keyboard nav, clear
│   └── components/
│       ├── EmojiPicker.tsx    Emoji tab, fed by `unicode-emoji-json`
│       └── GifPicker.tsx      Giphy-backed GIF tab with infinite scroll
├── src-tauri/
│   ├── src/lib.rs             Rust backend — clipboard monitor, paste,
│   │                          tray, socket-based single-instance
│   ├── Cargo.toml             Rust dependencies
│   ├── tauri.conf.json        Window config, asset-protocol scope, bundle
│   └── capabilities/          Tauri permission grants
├── setup-poplet.sh            One-time system setup
├── .env.example               Copy to .env, fill in Giphy key
└── package.json               Frontend dependencies + scripts

Development

# Hot-reload UI; Rust auto-rebuilds on save
sg input -c "npm run tauri dev"

The sg input -c activates the input group for that shell so paste injection works without a reboot. If you've already rebooted since being added to input, you can drop the sg input -c wrapper.

Build commands

Command	What it does	When to use
`npm run tauri dev`	Vite + cargo run, hot reload	Day-to-day development
`npm run build:fast`	Production binary, no `.deb` packaging	Iterating on production builds
`npm run tauri build`	Production binary + `.deb`	When you want a redistributable

Autostart

Poplet uses a systemd user service rather than a .desktop autostart entry — the .desktop approach raced GDM/Wayland startup and could prevent login from completing.

systemctl --user status poplet      # check status
systemctl --user stop poplet        # stop
systemctl --user disable poplet     # disable autostart
systemctl --user enable poplet      # re-enable autostart

Troubleshooting

`[poplet] virtual keyboard error: Permission denied`

You're not in the input group, or the udev rule for /dev/uinput isn't applied. Fix:

sudo usermod -aG input "$USER"
sudo chmod 660 /dev/uinput && sudo chgrp input /dev/uinput
# log out and back in

`[poplet] virtual keyboard error: ... is uinput module loaded?`

sudo modprobe uinput
echo uinput | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/uinput.conf

Emojis still render as black-and-white

Color emoji font isn't installed. setup-poplet.sh should have done this; otherwise:

sudo apt-get install fonts-noto-color-emoji
fc-cache -f

Super+V doesn't open Poplet

Check the service is running:

systemctl --user status poplet.service
pgrep -af poplet

On GNOME, verify the shortcut points at the right binary:

gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/poplet/ command

On Hyprland, verify ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf contains:

bind = SUPER, V, exec, poplet --toggle
bind = SUPER SHIFT, S, exec, poplet --snip
bind = CTRL SHIFT, F, fullscreen, 0

Then reload Hyprland:

hyprctl reload

Contributing

PRs welcome. Areas that would help:

KDE / Sway / wlroots compositor support (currently optimised for GNOME)
Image clipboard on X11 (semantics differ from Wayland)
Caching of Giphy responses (right now we hit the API on every search)
Pinned/favourite clipboard items
Configurable history limit / TTL

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 12 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docs		docs
packaging/arch		packaging/arch
public		public
src-tauri		src-tauri
src		src
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
index.html		index.html
package-lock.json		package-lock.json
package.json		package.json
setup-poplet.sh		setup-poplet.sh
tsconfig.json		tsconfig.json
tsconfig.node.json		tsconfig.node.json
vite.config.ts		vite.config.ts

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Repository files navigation

Poplet

Features

Requirements

Install

From a prebuilt release (no Rust/Node toolchain needed)

From source

Arch Linux with `makepkg`

GNOME shortcuts

Hyprland shortcuts

Configuration

Giphy API key (required for GIF tab)

Custom shortcuts

How paste injection works

Architecture

Single-instance via Unix socket

Image storage

Project structure

Development

Build commands

Autostart

Troubleshooting

`[poplet] virtual keyboard error: Permission denied`

`[poplet] virtual keyboard error: ... is uinput module loaded?`

Emojis still render as black-and-white

Super+V doesn't open Poplet

Contributing

License

About

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Releases 1

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Repository files navigation

Poplet

Features

Requirements

Install

From a prebuilt release (no Rust/Node toolchain needed)

From source

Arch Linux with makepkg

GNOME shortcuts

Hyprland shortcuts

Configuration

Giphy API key (required for GIF tab)

Custom shortcuts

How paste injection works

Architecture

Single-instance via Unix socket

Image storage

Project structure

Development

Build commands

Autostart

Troubleshooting

[poplet] virtual keyboard error: Permission denied

[poplet] virtual keyboard error: ... is uinput module loaded?

Emojis still render as black-and-white

Super+V doesn't open Poplet

Contributing

License

About

Topics

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Releases 1

Packages 0

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