PowerPaste

Open-source clipboard manager for macOS & Windows — with encrypted cross-device sync, full-text search, and zero cloud accounts required.

Built with Tauri v2 (Rust) + React 19 (TypeScript)

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Why PowerPaste?

Most clipboard managers either lack sync, charge a subscription for it, or route your data through someone else's cloud. PowerPaste takes a different approach: encrypted folder-based sync that works with any provider you already use (iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Google Drive, or a plain folder). Your data never leaves your machines unencrypted.

Comparison

Feature	PowerPaste	Maccy	Paste	CopyClip	Flycut
Price	Free	Free / $10	$3.99/mo	Free / $10	Free
Open source	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌	❌	✅ Yes
Text	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Images & files	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Full-text search	✅ FTS5	✅	✅	❌	❌
Cross-device sync	✅ Encrypted folder	❌	✅ iCloud only	❌	❌
No cloud account	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅
Pinboards	✅ Custom w/ icons	❌	✅	❌	❌
Source app tracking	✅	❌	✅	❌	❌
Windows support	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
Themes	Light / Dark / System	System	Dark	System	System

Features

• Clipboard history — text, images, and files with automatic content-type detection
• Full-text search — SQLite FTS5 with query caching
• Encrypted sync — ChaCha20-Poly1305 + Argon2 key derivation; passphrase stored in OS keychain
• Folder-based sync — works with iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Google Drive, or any synced folder
• Pinboards — organize clips into custom boards with 16 built-in icons
• Global hotkey — configurable shortcut (⌘⇧V on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows) with conflict detection
• Source app tracking — see which app copied each item
• Pinned items & trash — pin important clips; soft-delete with configurable retention
• Two UI modes — floating overlay near cursor or fixed bottom strip
• Native macOS integration — menu bar app, NSPanel overlay, Touch Bar support
• Native Windows integration — frameless floating window, DWM rounded corners, taskbar-hidden popup
• Light / Dark / System themes — respects system accent color
• Launch at startup — via tauri-plugin-autostart

Platform support

Platform	Status
macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel)	✅ Fully supported
Windows (x64 & ARM64)	✅ Fully supported
Linux	❌ Not supported

Install

Download the latest release from the Releases page.

Platform	Format
macOS	.dmg
Windows	.msi or .exe

macOS Gatekeeper notice

The DMG is not notarized by Apple. macOS will block it by default. To open:

1. Right-click the app → Open → click Open in the dialog
2. Or run: xattr -cr /Applications/PowerPaste.app

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Rust toolchain (stable)
• Tauri prerequisites

Quick start

npm install
npm run tauri dev

Build

npm run tauri build

Recommended IDE

VS Code with Tauri + rust-analyzer

Architecture — platform abstraction

All OS-specific code lives in src-tauri/src/platform/:

platform/
  mod.rs        # Re-exports from the active platform via #[cfg]
  macos.rs      # macOS: NSPanel, osascript, NSPasteboard
  windows.rs    # Windows: Win32 SendInput, CF_HDROP, DWM, GetForegroundWindow

Each file exports the same function signatures (e.g. perform_paste, query_frontmost_app_info, check_permissions). The rest of the codebase calls platform::* without any #[cfg] blocks.

Tests

Unit tests

npm test            # run once
npm run test:watch  # watch mode

Runs UI unit tests (Vitest + JSDOM). These do not execute the native Tauri runtime.

E2E tests

PowerPaste uses a dual-layer E2E strategy:

• Appium + WebdriverIO — native UI testing (window behavior, hotkeys, permissions)
• Playwright — WebView content testing (React components, interactions)

Setup

# Build the app
npm run tauri build -- --debug

# macOS Appium driver
npm install -g appium && appium driver install mac2

# Windows Appium driver
npm install -g appium && appium driver install windows && appium driver run windows install-wad

# Playwright
npx playwright install chromium

Run

npm run test:e2e                   # all E2E tests
npm run test:e2e:mac               # macOS native
npm run test:e2e:windows           # Windows native
npm run test:playwright            # WebView tests
npm run test:e2e:mac:permissions   # macOS permission dialog flow

Environment variables

Variable	Description	Default
POWERPASTE_TEST_WORKERS	Parallel worker count	2 in CI, CPU−1 locally
POWERPASTE_TEST_TIMEOUT	Test timeout (ms)	90 s in CI, 60 s locally
POWERPASTE_TEST_RETRIES	Retry count	3 in CI, 1 locally
POWERPASTE_TEST_DB_PATH	Isolated test DB path	Auto per worker
POWERPASTE_DEVTOOLS_PORT	Playwright WebView port	Disabled

Sync model

1. Local clipboard history is stored in SQLite (WAL mode) under the app data directory.
2. When folder sync is enabled, PowerPaste periodically exports an encrypted powerpaste.sync.json into the chosen folder.
3. On other devices the file is imported and merged.
4. Encryption uses ChaCha20-Poly1305 with an Argon2-derived key; the passphrase lives in the OS keychain (macOS Keychain / Windows Credential Manager).

Logo & branding

See docs/LOGO.md for logo usage and icon regeneration.

License

MIT