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Let Claude and Cursor search your clipboard, safely

You copied an order number, an error message or a snippet of code an hour ago, and now you want your AI app to use it. Maclip can hand it over, but only after you say yes, one request at a time.

Updated

How it works

Maclip speaks the Model Context Protocol (MCP), the standard AI apps use to talk to tools. It runs on your Mac only, with no server of ours in between. When an AI app asks for clips, Maclip shows a prompt with exactly what it wants. Choose Allow Once, Allow for 1 Hour for that app, or Deny. A prompt you don't answer is declined after 60 seconds.

Turn it on

  1. Open the dashboard and choose AI Tools under Tools.
  2. Switch on Let AI apps ask to search your clipboard.
  3. Pick your app below and follow its steps.

Claude (desktop app)

  1. In AI Tools, choose Claude and click Add to Claude. Maclip adds itself to Claude's settings and keeps a backup of the old file.
  2. Quit and reopen Claude. Maclip appears in its tools.
  3. Ask something like “find the invoice number I copied yesterday”.

Claude Code

Run this once in Terminal. AI Tools → Claude Code shows the same command with the right path for your Mac.

claude mcp add maclip --scope user -- "/Applications/Maclip.app/Contents/MacOS/Maclip" --mcp

Cursor

  1. In AI Tools, choose Cursor and click Add to Cursor.
  2. Reopen Cursor, then turn Maclip on under Settings → MCP.

Any other MCP app

Add a server that runs Maclip with --mcp. In most apps' JSON settings it looks like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maclip": {
      "command": "/Applications/Maclip.app/Contents/MacOS/Maclip",
      "args": ["--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

What AI apps can and can't do

  • Search your clips by words or meaning, filtered by app, type or time.
  • List your most recent clips, and read one clip in full.
  • Save a new clip, pin one, put one on a board, or move one to Trash. Each change needs your approval on its own, even during an hour you allowed, and Trash can be undone.
  • Clips detected as passwords, API keys, tokens or private keys are never returned, even if you allow the request.
  • Clips in the trash are never returned.

Questions

Does Maclip need to be open?

No. If it isn't running when an AI app asks, Maclip starts in the background and shows the approval prompt.

Can I stop an app I allowed for an hour?

Yes. AI Tools lists active permissions with a Revoke button. Turning off access denies every request at once.

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