Clipport

Clipport enhances the functionality of iTerm2 by allowing users to effectively paste local text and images into remote shell sessions seamlessly. This utility detects the active iTerm session and intelligently manages the paste behavior based on whether the session is local or remote.

Key Features

• Universal Pasting: Single shortcut for pasting text and images across local and SSH sessions.
• Intuitive Behavior: Automatically identifies the clipboard content type:
  • Local: Pastes text or images directly into the terminal.
  • Remote: Handles plain text and uploads images to a temporary path on the remote server.

How It Works

Clipport uses the command clipctl paste to determine the paste behavior depending on the session:

clipctl paste

The expected outcomes are as follows:

• For local sessions: Text and images paste as usual without terminal output.
• For remote sessions:
  • Pasting text sends the exact clipboard content.
  • Pasting an image results in a path like:

    /tmp/clipport/yourname/clipboard-20260428-132708.241851.png
    

Use Cases

Clipport is particularly useful in scenarios where local clipboard content needs to be accessed remotely, including but not limited to:

• Pasting image paths into virtual machines.
• Providing local images to remote commands without transferring files separately.
• Simplifying the paste process across different sessions by consolidating shortcuts.

Requirements

To use Clipport, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

• macOS operating system.
• iTerm2 terminal.
• Homebrew installed.
• Passwordless SSH access to remote machines.
• Writable /tmp directory on remote machines.

Getting Started

Set up your Clipport environment by onboarding your SSH hosts, configuring the pasting shortcut, and checking system compatibility with:

clipctl onboard

To verify installation, run:

clipctl doctor

Once set up, initiate an SSH session, copy any content on your Mac, and simply use the Clipport paste shortcut to transfer it to the remote shell.

Configuration and Management

Clipport includes a menu bar app for managing the daemon and provides commands to:

• Start/Stop the service:

  clipctl start
  clipctl stop
  

• Check status and view recent transfers:

  clipctl status
  

• Test remote uploads without altering your clipboard:

  clipctl test-paste --host <machine>
  

Troubleshooting

For issues or diagnostic purposes, use:

clipctl doctor

This command helps identify common connection or configuration problems.

Clipport streamlines the process of working with local and remote clipboard data, making it an invaluable tool for developers and system administrators who work extensively with SSH connections.