instantOS

Clipboard history (ins clip) ​

screenshot

ins clip is the instantOS clipboard-history picker. It picks a capture backend based on your session:

  • Wayland uses cliphist
  • X11 uses clipmenu

Only one backend is enabled at a time.

Open clipboard history ​

bash
# Open in the current terminal
ins clip

# Open in a dedicated terminal window (useful for a desktop shortcut)
ins clip --gui

Type to filter the history. The preview understands more than plain text: images are rendered directly in Kitty-compatible terminals, PDFs and videos get a visual thumbnail when the relevant system tools are available, and audio, archives, and unknown binary data show metadata instead of raw bytes. chafa is used as an optional image fallback in other terminals.

Recognizable code and structured text are syntax-highlighted when the optional bat command is installed. Clipboard snippets have no filename, so detection is conservative: ambiguous content is shown as plain text.

Press Enter to restore the selected entry to the clipboard, or Escape to close without changing it.

The header shows the entry count and capture state. Extra rows let you enable capture, open settings, or close without changing the clipboard, even when history is empty or capture is stopped.

In instantWM, super+v opens the graphical picker and super+shift+v opens the quick menu.

Settings ​

Select Settings in the history picker or open it directly:

bash
ins clip settings

The settings menu shows the active backend, installation and login-start state, and lets you start or stop background capture. Stopping capture preserves existing entries.

Clearing history first shows a review screen with the number of entries and some examples, then asks for confirmation. The clear action is disabled when history is empty.

Capture service ​

Clipboard capture runs as a user service. ins clip enable installs and starts cliphist.service on Wayland or clipmenud.service on X11:

bash
# Install the backend if needed, then start it now and on future logins
ins clip enable

# Inspect backend, service, and history state
ins clip status

# Stop capture and prevent it from starting on login
ins clip disable

Disabling capture does not erase existing history.

Scripting and maintenance ​

Every history entry has an ID shown by ins clip list. Commands that accept an ID also accept an unambiguous prefix. IDs are backend-owned and may change when an entry is restored, so scripts should read a fresh list before acting.

bash
# Print IDs and one-line summaries, newest first
ins clip list

# Restore or delete one entry
ins clip copy 6ddd8602
ins clip delete 6ddd8602

# Confirm interactively before clearing everything
ins clip clear

# Clear without prompting (for scripts)
ins clip clear --yes

Global instantCLI output options work here too:

bash
ins --output json clip list
ins --output json clip status

JSON list output includes each entry's ID, summary, and complete content, so scripts work the same regardless of the active backend.

Compatibility ​

The instantclipmenu executable remains as a compatibility shim for existing shortcuts. New integrations should call ins clip --gui. instantclipmenu delete maps to ins clip clear.