Clipboard history¶

Store and search what you've copied recently: text, images and files. Type cb <text> to find a clipboard entry and paste it back into the app you were using. Entries are stored newest first, and duplicates are merged (copying the same text, picture or files again moves the existing entry to the top).

This feature is opt-in; nothing is watched or stored unless you turn it on.

Turn it on¶

Open Settings (tray or sevak --settings), go to Clipboard & paste, switch on Keep a clipboard history and press Save. (The Clipboard history switch under Plugins must stay on too; it is on by default.)
Or manually edit config.toml and set [clipboard] enabled = true, then reload.

The first time you enable it, Sevak starts watching the clipboard. Everything copied after that moment is remembered; what was on the clipboard before is not.

How to use it¶

Type cb followed by at least one character of the text you want to find:

Type	Shown	Press `Enter`
`cb test`	Clipboard entries containing "test" (or copied files named so), newest first	Pastes the selected entry into the app you were in
`cb image`	Copied images, as a grid of thumbnails when only images match	Pastes the selected image
`cb clear`	A "Clear clipboard history" row	Permanently deletes all clipboard history

When you press Enter, Sevak hides, brings back the app that was in focus before you opened Sevak, and pastes the text (unless pasting is unavailable).

Example¶

sequenceDiagram
    participant app as App
    participant sevak as Sevak
    participant cb as Clipboard

    app->>cb: You copy "hello"
    cb->>sevak: Clipboard changed
    sevak->>sevak: Store "hello" + timestamp + source app

    note over app,sevak: Later...
    app->>sevak: You press Ctrl+Alt+Space or type
    sevak->>sevak: Show 8 most recent entries

    rect rgb(100, 200, 100)
    app->>sevak: You select "hello" and press Enter
    sevak->>app: Restore app window
    sevak->>cb: Paste "hello"
    end

Actions¶

What a row shows and what its keys do depends on what you copied:

You copy	The row shows	`Enter`	Other actions
Text	The first line, with its length in lines	Pastes the text	`Ctrl`+`C` copies it without pasting; `Ctrl`+`T` opens a long entry in the Text View
An image (a screenshot, "Copy image" in a browser)	A thumbnail, `Image 1920 × 1080` and the file size	Pastes the image	`Ctrl`+`Enter` copies it without pasting; `Shift`+`Enter` Save image as… writes a PNG to the Desktop (else Downloads) as `Clipboard image <date> <time>.png`, never over an existing file, and shows it in the file manager
Files or folders (a file manager's copy)	The file names and how many	Pastes the files, as a file manager's paste would	`Ctrl`+`Enter` shows the first one in the file manager; `Shift`+`Enter` copies the files without pasting; `Ctrl`+`C` copies their paths as text

Files are only recorded by their path: if one has been moved or deleted by the time you paste, the rest are pasted, and if none is left Sevak says so. Ctrl+K lists every action of the selected entry, and the preview pane (tap Shift or Ctrl+Y) shows the full text, the full image, or the copied file.

Options¶

Setting	Default	What it does	Config section
Enabled	`false`	Turn clipboard history on or off	`[clipboard] enabled`
Max items	`200`	Keep this many entries; oldest are dropped (1–5000)	`[clipboard] max_items`
Max item size	`64 KB`	Longer text is not recorded (1 B–4 MB)	`[clipboard] max_item_bytes`
Images	`true`	Also record copied images (as PNG files)	`[clipboard] images`
Files	`true`	Also record copied files and folders (their paths)	`[clipboard] files`
Max image size	`10 MB`	An image whose PNG is larger is not recorded (1 B–64 MB)	`[clipboard] max_image_bytes`
Ignore apps	(empty)	Never record copies made in these apps (case-insensitive names), e.g. `["Signal", "Messages"]`	`[clipboard] ignore_apps`
Skip password managers	`true`	Also never record copies from the built-in list of password managers and credential prompts	`[clipboard] default_ignore_apps`
Encrypt	`true`	Encrypt the history file and the images for your Windows account (macOS and Linux: plain files, readable by you only)	`[clipboard] encrypt`
Restore clipboard	`false`	Put back the clipboard's previous text after pasting	`[paste] restore_clipboard`

What is and isn't recorded¶

Recorded (up to max_items entries of all kinds together): - Plain text copies - Images (unless images = false), as PNG files with a small thumbnail - Copied files and folders (unless files = false), by their paths only - The timestamp (seconds since the Unix epoch) - The name of the app where it was copied from (where available)

Never recorded: - Content marked secret by the app (password managers set a marker on Windows and macOS; on Linux, KeePassXC and other managers set the x-kde-passwordManagerHint marker, which Sevak reads on X11 and, when wl-clipboard is installed, on Wayland; see Linux) - Copies made while one of the ignore_apps, or one of the built-in password managers, had focus - Copies made while Sevak cannot tell which app has focus (a protected or elevated process on Windows, a window without a class on X11), on systems that can normally tell: the ignore list cannot be checked, so the copy is not kept - Text longer than max_item_bytes - Images whose PNG is larger than max_image_bytes (10 MB by default), and a copy of more than 1000 files - Empty or whitespace-only text - Copies Sevak itself made (pastes, or copies from its own actions), including the copy Universal Actions makes to read your selection - Rich text and HTML (the plain text of such a copy is recorded)

Images together are also kept under about 500 MB: the oldest go first.

The clipboard you started with: - When you enable clipboard history, it does not record what was already on the clipboard—only what you copy after enabling it.

Storage and privacy¶

Location: clipboard-history.json in Sevak's local data folder holds the text and the paths of copied files; each image is a PNG file (plus a small thumbnail) in the clipboard folder next to it (see Files and data for the path by platform). On Windows that is %LOCALAPPDATA%\sevak\, which stays on this computer; earlier versions kept the history in %APPDATA%\sevak\ (the roaming profile, which domain setups, folder redirection and backup tools copy elsewhere). The first start after the update moves the history and deletes the old files. Everything is stored only while the history is on.
Encryption: On Windows the history file and the image files are encrypted for your Windows account (DPAPI) when encrypt = true, the default. Another Windows user, another computer or a copy of the files in a backup cannot read them; software running as you can, as it can read your clipboard directly. A history written before is encrypted the next time Sevak starts. If the saved history cannot be decrypted (the files came from another account or computer, or the account was reset), Sevak starts with an empty history, keeps nothing of the old one, and the first row of cb says so.
Permissions: On Linux and macOS there is no encryption: the files are plain, readable only by your user (mode 0600, the folder 0700). On Windows the files also inherit the NTFS permissions of the local profile folder.
Clearing: Press Clear history… (then Delete everything) in Settings → Clipboard & paste, or type cb clear (any start of "clear clipboard history", at least 3 letters) to show a Clear clipboard history row, then press Enter on it to delete the entire history, image files included. There is no further prompt, and it cannot be undone. Trimming the history (max_items) deletes the image files of the entries it drops too.
On uninstall: The clipboard-history.json file and the clipboard folder stay behind. Delete them manually if you want to remove the history.

Password managers and other apps skipped by default¶

Unless you set default_ignore_apps = false, copies made while one of these apps has focus are never recorded, in addition to your own ignore_apps. Names are compared like ignore_apps (case-insensitive, .exe and .app ignored) with the program name on Windows, the app name or bundle id on macOS and the window class or program name on Linux:

Password managers: KeePass, KeePassXC, 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, Dashlane, Enpass, NordPass, RoboForm, Keeper, Proton Pass, Authy Desktop, WinAuth, GNOME Secrets, Seahorse, KWalletManager
System credential prompts: the Windows credential and consent prompts (CredentialUIBroker, consent, LogonUI), macOS Keychain Access, Passwords and the security agent, gcr-prompter
Passphrase prompts of ssh, gpg and their agents: ssh-askpass and its variants (x11-ssh-askpass, gnome-ssh-askpass, ksshaskpass, lxqt-openssh-askpass), pinentry and its variants, pageant, puttygen

This is a best-effort list: an app that is not on it, or that reports another name, is not covered, and the macOS and Linux names have not all been checked against every release. Add anything else to ignore_apps. The same name appears in the subtitle of a recorded entry ("Copied from ..."), so you can check what Sevak sees.

Linux¶

Password managers on Linux mark a secret copy with the MIME type x-kde-passwordManagerHint (value secret); KDE's and GNOME's clipboard managers honour it, and Sevak does too:

X11: Sevak asks the clipboard owner for its targets (a short request that waits at most about 150 ms for an answer) and skips the copy when the marker is there. An owner that offers the marker but does not answer is treated as secret.
Wayland: only if wl-paste (the wl-clipboard package) is installed; Sevak runs it, without a shell and with a time limit, to list the types and to read the marker. Without wl-clipboard nothing is checked.

This depends on the app that copied the text setting the marker: a password copied from an app that does not set it looks like any other text, so keep default_ignore_apps on and add such apps to ignore_apps. Selection capture for Universal Actions honours the marker too.

Pasting: platform notes¶

WindowsmacOSLinux (X11)Linux (Wayland)

Pasting works in most applications. Exception: applications running with elevated privileges (Admin, UAC elevation) cannot receive simulated keypresses, so Sevak copies the entry instead of pasting and the row says so.

Requires System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → Sevak to paste. Without this permission, Sevak copies instead and the row shows "Copies to clipboard". Keyboard layouts that move the V key (e.g. Dvorak) also prevent pasting; use copy instead.

Pasting works in most applications.

Applications cannot simulate keypresses, so Sevak can only copy the entry. The row shows "Copies to clipboard". If you need pasting on Wayland, set [actions] use_clipboard_fallback = true, copy the entry into the clipboard yourself, and use Universal Actions (Ctrl+Alt+Space) to apply transformations.

Tips and troubleshooting¶

Password managers

The common password managers are skipped by default (see above). If you use one that is not on the list, add its name to [clipboard] ignore_apps to prevent passwords and secret keys from being recorded. Sevak also skips content marked secret by the app (Windows, macOS and, when the app sets the marker, Linux).

The old clipboard is not put back over a newer copy

With restore_clipboard, after a paste Sevak puts your previous clipboard text back. If you (or another app) copied something in the meantime, Sevak notices and leaves the newer copy alone. Pasting also checks that the window you were in is still in front immediately before it presses the paste shortcut, and only copies if another window took the focus.

Restore the clipboard

If you want pasting to restore the clipboard's previous content (so cb <text> does not permanently replace what you had copied), set [paste] restore_clipboard = true. This is useful when the text you're pasting is temporary and you want to keep your existing clipboard.

Limit the history size

Each entry takes a little disk space. If you have many very long entries (near the max_item_bytes limit), the history file can grow. Increase max_items to trim entries more aggressively, or lower max_item_bytes to skip long text.

What encryption does and does not protect

On Windows the history is encrypted for your account, which protects the files if they are copied elsewhere (a backup, a roaming profile, another account). It does not protect against software running as you: anything that can read your clipboard can ask Windows to decrypt the history too. On macOS and Linux the files are not encrypted, only readable by your user, so a stolen disk without disk encryption exposes them. A screenshot of a bank page is as readable in the history as it was on screen. Only enable clipboard history if you are comfortable with this risk, or keep sensitive copies out of it by using ignore_apps or turning images off (images = false).

App names must be exact (or close)

For ignore_apps, Sevak matches the application or window name case-insensitively. For example, KeePassXC and keepassxc both work, but KeePass (without XC) might not. If ignoring is not working, check the actual name of the app in the clipboard entry's subtitle (e.g. "Copied from KeePassXC").