Your clipboard's cooler, bearded cousin who syncs across all your devices.
Self-hosted clipboard manager for people who copy things on one machine and desperately need them on another. Text, images, synced in real-time. No cloud accounts, no subscriptions, no telemetry. Just your server, your data, your clipboard.
+----------------+ +--------------------+ +----------------+
| MacBook | | Clipster Server | | Windows PC |
| |----push------->| |<-----push------| |
| Cmd+C "hi" | | SQLite + Web UI | | Ctrl+C img |
| |<---poll--------| :8743 |------poll----->| |
| sees img | | | | sees "hi" |
+----------------+ +--------------------+ +----------------+
|
browser
+---------+
| Web UI |
+---------+
Because you're tired of emailing yourself links. Because Slack DMs to yourself feel wrong. Because AirDrop only works when it feels like it. Because you have a homelab and you're going to use it, dammit.
- Clipboard sync — text and images, real-time, macOS / Linux / Windows
- Native desktop apps — system tray on all platforms,
Cmd+Shift+V/Ctrl+Shift+Vhotkey, embedded sync agent - Web UI — dark theme, search, filters, favorites, click-to-copy, zero-config auth (just works)
- Self-hosted — runs on a Raspberry Pi, a NAS, your homelab, or literally anything
- Built-in TLS — auto-generates self-signed certs. No nginx required. We're not animals
- API key auth — timing-safe validation, because we read the OWASP top 10
- macOS signed + notarized — no Gatekeeper warnings, no
xattr -cr, just double-click - Windows MSI + NSIS installer — proper install/uninstall, no loose EXEs
- Linux AppImage + .deb — works on any distro
- Daemon support —
install/uninstall/statuson every platform (launchd / systemd / schtasks) - Tiny binaries — 3.3 MB server, 2 MB DMG. Smaller than your average node_modules
- One command setup —
clipster-server setupgenerates everything, prints client config - TypeScript web UI — strict types, 64 unit + integration tests, esbuild bundled
- CI/CD pipeline — builds all platforms, signs macOS, notarizes with Apple, publishes releases
Grab the latest from Releases:
| Platform | Desktop App | Server + CLI |
|---|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | Clipster_macOS_aarch64.dmg |
included in DMG |
| macOS (Intel) | Clipster_macOS_x86_64.dmg |
included in DMG |
| Linux (x86_64) | Clipster_linux_x86_64.AppImage / .deb |
clipster-linux-x64.tar.gz |
| Windows (x86_64) | Clipster_windows_x86_64.msi / _setup.exe |
clipster-windows-x64.tar.gz |
macOS DMGs are signed and notarized with a Developer ID certificate — no security warnings.
git clone https://github.com/calibrae/clipster.git
cd clipster
cd web && npm ci && npm run build && cd .. # build web UI
cargo build --release --workspace # build everything
cd clipster-app && cargo tauri build # build desktop appclipster-server setup --tlsIt generates your config, creates an API key, and tells you exactly what to do next:
=== Clipster Server Setup Complete ===
Config: /etc/clipster/server.toml
Bind: 0.0.0.0:8743
TLS: true
--- Client Configuration ---
server_url = "https://10.10.0.2:8743"
api_key = "clp_2iogpBAyxAuPLjjTCkf..."
insecure = true
Running as root? It creates a clipster system user, writes to /etc/clipster/, stores data in /var/lib/clipster/, and sets proper permissions. Running as a normal user? It uses your config directory instead.
clipster-server # just run it
clipster-server install # install as daemon (launchd / systemd / schtasks)
clipster-server status # is it vibing?
clipster-server uninstall # break up with itDesktop app — open from the DMG (macOS), MSI (Windows), or AppImage (Linux). Click the tray icon, open Settings, paste your server URL + API key. Done. Clipboard syncs automatically in the background.
The app lives in the system tray — no dock icon, no Cmd+Tab entry, no taskbar button. Click the tray icon to toggle the clip panel. Click outside to dismiss. Cmd+Shift+V / Ctrl+Shift+V to toggle from anywhere.
Web UI — open http://your-server:8743 in a browser. No login needed — the embedded web UI is automatically trusted. External API clients need the Bearer token.
Headless machines (Linux / Windows servers without a GUI):
clipster-agent --server https://10.10.0.2:8743 -kCLI (for the terminal purists):
clipster-cli list # what's been copied lately?
clipster-cli search "password" # oh no
clipster-cli copy <clip-id> # yoink it to your clipboardclipster/
clipster-common/ Shared types, models, config
clipster-server/ REST API + embedded web UI + SQLite
clipster-agent/ Headless sync daemon (for machines without a GUI)
clipster-cli/ CLI tool
clipster-app/ Tauri v2 desktop app (tray + embedded sync agent)
web/ TypeScript source + esbuild bundle
deploy/ systemd service, Dockerfile, install script
Server: single binary. API, web UI, SQLite, TLS — all baked in. No nginx, no Postgres, no Docker required (Dockerfile included for those who can't help themselves).
Client app: also a single binary. System tray, clipboard watcher, sync agent, settings panel — one .app / .exe / AppImage to rule them all. The Tauri app proxies all API calls through Rust, so self-signed TLS works transparently.
All endpoints under /api/v1. External clients auth via Authorization: Bearer <key>. The embedded web UI skips auth automatically.
| Method | Path | What it does |
|---|---|---|
POST |
/clips |
Create a clip (JSON for text, multipart for images) |
GET |
/clips |
List / search (?limit=&offset=&type=&search=&device=) |
GET |
/clips/:id |
Get clip metadata |
GET |
/clips/:id/content |
Get the actual content |
DELETE |
/clips/:id |
Soft-delete (we don't do hard deletes, we're not monsters) |
DELETE |
/clips |
Wipe everything (?keep_favorites=true to spare starred clips) |
PATCH |
/clips/:id/favorite |
Star it for later |
GET |
/health |
Is the server alive? (no auth needed) |
docker compose up -dsudo clipster-server setup
sudo clipster-server installclipster-server setup
clipster-server installclipster-server installclipster-server install # creates a scheduled task- API key auth with constant-time comparison (
subtlecrate) - Built-in TLS with auto-generated self-signed certificates
- Request body limits (50 MB max)
- Security headers (X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy)
- Hardened systemd unit (ProtectSystem=strict, NoNewPrivileges, PrivateTmp)
- macOS hardened runtime + notarization
- Web UI auto-auth — same-origin requests skip API key (no credentials in the browser)
- Error sanitization — internal errors logged server-side, generic messages to clients
cargo test --workspace --exclude clipster-app # 29 Rust tests
cd web && npm test # 35 TypeScript tests64 tests total: models, hashing, serde, database CRUD, API endpoints, time formatting, API path construction, browser client integration, Tauri proxy integration.
| File | Who uses it | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
server.toml |
Server | bind, db_path, api_key, tls, retention_days |
app.toml |
Desktop app | server_url, api_key, insecure, sync_enabled |
client.toml |
Agent / CLI | server_url, api_key, device_name |
Lives in ~/.config/clipster/ (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/com.clipster.clipster/ (macOS), or %APPDATA%\clipster\ (Windows). Root installs use /etc/clipster/.
Rust, TypeScript, axum, SQLite, Tauri v2, arboard, reqwest, tokio, rustls, esbuild, vitest, clap. Zero JavaScript frameworks were harmed in the making of this project.
MIT — copy it, fork it, paste it. That's kind of our whole thing.