Use cases

A clipboard manager built for how developers actually work on macOS

Stop losing snippets between IDE, browser, and terminal. Deck keeps unlimited history, finds code and JSON by keyword, regex, or meaning, and supports queue paste and scripting so your clipboard matches terminal-heavy workflows.

Pain points without a dedicated tool

You copy stack traces, config JSON, and curl examples into Notes or Slack threads—and never find them again when the bug comes back.
Basic clipboard history shows plain text only, so you cannot quickly filter “only URLs” or “only from Terminal” when debugging.
Pasting API keys and tokens into a cloud-synced manager feels wrong, but the system clipboard offers no protection or audit trail.
You need the same five values in order (host, port, token, header, body) and manually tab between windows for each paste.
Searching old clips by substring fails when you remember what the snippet did, not the exact variable names inside it.
After a long debugging session, history fills with noise—log spam and throwaway URLs bury the one command or stack trace you still need before you ship.

How Deck helps

  • Keep every snippet, diff, and JSON blob in one local-first history with rich previews—no more scattered scratch files.
  • Combine keyword search, regex, type filters, and semantic recall so you can jump to the right clip by pattern or intent.
  • Use Touch ID, app exclusions, and sensitive-content detection when you must handle secrets next to everyday text.
  • Turn on queue paste (Cmd+Shift+V) to drop a sequence of clips into forms, terminals, or docs without re-opening the picker.
  • Automate with the CLI bridge and Smart Rules so copy/paste steps line up with scripts, CI snippets, and repeat commands.

Key features

Regex and type-aware search

Filter history by regular expressions and content type so log lines, JSON keys, and URLs surface instantly—without scrolling hundreds of rows.

Semantic search for “what it meant”

When you recall behavior (“that OAuth redirect fix”) more than exact text, semantic search helps you retrieve the right snippet by meaning.

Queue paste for terminal and forms

Paste multiple items in order—ideal for multi-step CLI workflows, filling environment blocks, or structured API test payloads.

CLI bridge and automation hooks

Integrate clipboard flows with your shell and scripts so repetitive copy/paste becomes part of a repeatable developer toolchain.

Local-first with optional encrypted sync

Keep credentials and proprietary code on-disk by default; add encrypted LAN sharing or optional iCloud when teams need it.

Smart Rules and plugins

Tag, transform, or route clips by source app or pattern—pair with JavaScript or AppleScript for project-specific shortcuts.

Typical workflow

Copy from documentation, Stack Overflow, or your terminal as you work—Deck captures each change automatically. When you need an old fix, open Deck, search by regex or meaning, and paste into Xcode, VS Code, or iTerm in one step. For deploy checklists or API smoke tests, load clips into the queue and walk through terminals or Postman without revisiting history. Wire the CLI into scripts for CI tokens or staging URLs, and rely on Touch ID when a clip contains production secrets.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Deck is designed for high-volume, mixed-content copy/paste: code, JSON, URLs, and logs. Regex search, semantic recall, queue paste, and a CLI bridge address workflows that generic clipboard tools do not cover.

Deck is local-first by default, so secrets are not uploaded for sync unless you opt in. You can add Touch ID protection, exclude sensitive apps, and use sensitive-content detection to reduce accidental exposure.

Yes. Deck runs as a menu bar app and captures clipboard changes system-wide. Queue paste is great for ordered pastes into terminal sessions or multi-line shell blocks. The CLI Bridge adds a local-only HTTP service on your Mac (loopback) so shells and scripts can list recent clips, fetch one by ID, copy data in, or delete entries—useful when you want terminal and automation workflows tied to the same history.

Keyword search needs exact tokens; semantic search helps when you remember the problem (for example, “CORS preflight”) more than the precise line of code, so you can retrieve the right snippet faster during incidents.

No. Deck complements your editor and version control by centralizing cross-app clipboard history. It does not replace Git operations; it reduces friction when moving text between browsers, docs, terminals, and IDEs.

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Requires macOS 14.0 or later