io.github.cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server
Read, write, and inspect the system clipboard on macOS, Linux (X11/Wayland), and Windows via MCP.
Open source Open in the app JSON README (API)
About
Read, write, and inspect the system clipboard on macOS, Linux (X11/Wayland), and Windows via MCP.
Details
- Kind
- MCP servers
- Topic
- No topic detected
- Publisher
- cyanheads
- Origin
- official
- Category
- ferramentas
- Transport
- local
- Version
- 0.1.8
- Stars
- 2
- Last push
- 2026-08-31T02:33:22Z
- Repository state
- ativo
- Language
- TypeScript
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Added
- 2026-08-29 03:02:38
- Updated
- 2026-08-31 03:00:08
- Origin id
io.github.cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server
README
<div align="center">
<h1>@cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server</h1>
<p><b>Read, write, and inspect the system clipboard across macOS, Linux (X11/Wayland), and Windows via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP.</b>
<div>3 Tools</div>
</p>
</div>
<div align="center">
[](./CHANGELOG.md) [](./LICENSE) [](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server) [](https://www.typescriptlang.org/) [](https://bun.sh/)
</div>
<div align="center">
[](https://github.com/cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server/releases/latest/download/clipboard-mcp-server.mcpb) [](https://cursor.com/en/install-mcp?name=clipboard-mcp-server&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjeWFuaGVhZHMvY2xpcGJvYXJkLW1jcC1zZXJ2ZXIiXX0=) [](https://vscode.dev/redirect?url=vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22clipboard-mcp-server%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cyanheads%2Fclipboard-mcp-server%22%5D%7D)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core)
</div>
---
## Tools
3 tools for reading, writing, and inspecting the system clipboard:
| Tool | Description |
|:---|:---|
| `clipboard_read` | Read clipboard contents in a specified format (text, HTML, RTF, image, or auto-select richest) |
| `clipboard_write` | Write plain text or HTML to the clipboard, replacing current contents |
| `clipboard_inspect` | List available clipboard formats and byte sizes without reading full content |
### `clipboard_read`
Read the current clipboard contents in a requested format.
- `auto` mode returns the richest format explicitly present — priority: image > html > rtf > text
- `image` returns base64-encoded PNG data with pixel dimensions
- `html` returns raw HTML source as copied from a browser
- `rtf` returns raw RTF markup
- `text` returns plain text
- Size limits: 512 KB for text/HTML/RTF, 5 MB for images (raw bytes before base64 expansion)
- Returns a typed `format_unavailable` error when the requested format is not on the clipboard — use `clipboard_inspect` first to check availability
---
### `clipboard_write`
Write content to the clipboard, replacing current contents.
- `text` writes plain text
- `html` writes HTML; macOS and Windows also publish an auto-generated, tag-stripped plain-text fallback, while Linux X11 and Wayland publish only `text/html`
- Size limit: 1 MB
- `destructiveHint: true` — replaces whatever is currently on the clipboard
---
### `clipboard_inspect`
List the formats and byte sizes of what is currently on the clipboard without reading the full content.
- Returns `primaryFormat` — the richest format present (image > html > rtf > text), or `empty`
- Returns `availableFormats` — all semantic formats present, for deciding which format to pass to `clipboard_read`
- Returns `rawTypes` — all raw platform type identifiers with byte sizes (UTIs on macOS, TARGETS on X11/Wayland, format names on Windows)
- Use this before `clipboard_read` to avoid `format_unavailable` errors and to check content size before reading
---
## Features
Built on [`@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core`](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core):
- Declarative tool definitions — single file per tool, framework handles registration and validation
- Unified error handling across all tools
- Pluggable auth (`none`, `jwt`, `oauth`)
- Structured logging with optional OpenTelemetry tracing
- Runs locally via stdio or HTTP from the same codebase
Clipboard-specific:
- Cross-platform backend detection at startup — macOS (pbcopy/pbpaste + osascript), Linux X11 (xclip), Linux Wayland (wl-clipboard), Windows (PowerShell 5.1+)
- Semantic format mapping — platform-native type identifiers (UTIs, TARGETS, Windows format names) mapped to `text`, `html`, `rtf`, `image` across all backends
- Size-guarded reads and writes — typed `ContentTooLargeError` with byte/limit metadata before content returns
- Platform-aware HTML writes — macOS and Windows publish HTML plus a stripped plain-text fallback; Linux X11 and Wayland publish `text/html`
- Image support — macOS and Windows backends decode PNG bytes and return width/height alongside base64 content
---
## Getting started
Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"clipboard-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "bunx",
"args": ["@cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with npx (no Bun required):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"clipboard-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE": "stdio",
"MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
}
}
}
}
```
Or with Docker:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"clipboard-mcp-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run", "-i", "--rm",
"-e", "MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=stdio",
"ghcr.io/cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server:latest"
]
}
}
}
```
For Streamable HTTP, set the transport and start the server:
```sh
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE=http MCP_HTTP_PORT=3010 bun run start:http
# Server listens at http://localhost:3010/mcp
```
### Prerequisites
**macOS:** No additional tools required — `pbcopy`, `pbpaste`, and `osascript` are built in.
**Linux X11:** `xclip` must be installed.
```sh
apt install xclip # Debian/Ubuntu
pacman -S xclip # Arch
```
**Linux Wayland:** `wl-clipboard` must be installed.
```sh
apt install wl-clipboard # Debian/Ubuntu
pacman -S wl-clipboard # Arch
```
**Windows:** PowerShell 5.1+ (built-in on Windows 10 and later).
---
## Configuration
| Variable | Description | Default |
|:---------|:------------|:--------|
| `MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE` | Transport: `stdio` or `http`. | `stdio` |
| `MCP_HTTP_PORT` | Port for HTTP server. | `3010` |
| `MCP_HTTP_HOST` | Hostname for HTTP server. | `127.0.0.1` |
| `MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATH` | Endpoint path for the HTTP server. | `/mcp` |
| `MCP_AUTH_MODE` | Auth mode: `none`, `jwt`, or `oauth`. | `none` |
| `MCP_LOG_LEVEL` | Log level (`debug`, `info`, `notice`, `warning`, `error`). | `info` |
| `OTEL_ENABLED` | Enable [OpenTelemetry instrumentation](https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/tree/main/docs/telemetry). | `false` |
See [`.env.example`](./.env.example) for the full list of optional overrides.
---
## Running the server
### Local development
```sh
# One-time build
bun run rebuild
# Run the built server
bun run start:stdio
# or
bun run start:http
```
### Checks and tests
```sh
bun run devcheck # Lint, format, typecheck, security
bun run test # Vitest test suite
```
### Docker
```sh
docker build -t clipboard-mcp-server .
docker run -p 3010:3010 clipboard-mcp-server
```
---
## Project structure
| Path | Purpose |
|:-----|:--------|
| `src/index.ts` | Entry point — registers tools via `createApp()` |
| `src/mcp-server/tools/definitions/` | Tool definitions: `clipboard_read`, `clipboard_write`, `clipboard_inspect` |
| `src/services/clipboard/` | Platform backends (macOS, Linux X11, Wayland, Windows) and service facade |
| `tests/` | Vitest tests for tools and backends |
| `skills/` | Agent workflow skills (add-tool, field-test, polish-docs-meta, etc.) |
---
## Development guide
See [`CLAUDE.md`](./CLAUDE.md) for the full developer protocol — tool patterns, service patterns, error handling, logging conventions, and the checklist for shipping changes.
---
## Contributing
Issues and pull requests welcome at [github.com/cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server](https://github.com/cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server).
---
## License
Apache 2.0 — see [`LICENSE`](./LICENSE).