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Clipboard MCP Server

Cross-platform MCP access to read, write, clear, and inspect clipboard text, HTML, RTF, and images.

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Install Clipboard MCP Server

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clipboard-mcp-server": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": [
        "@cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server@latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

We couldn’t confirm it starts correctly

We ran the install command but it didn't respond within our test window — this can mean a slow first-time install rather than a real problem.

bunx @cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server@latest

Process exited before answering initialize.

This is an experimental automated check and can have false negatives — missing environment variables, a slow cold install, etc. It doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong. Last checked 5d ago.

Overview

clipboard-mcp-server MCP server exposes the system clipboard to MCP clients on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Its three tools read clipboard data, write or clear content, and inspect available formats with byte sizes. It supports stdio and Streamable HTTP transports, with platform-specific helpers for X11, Wayland, macOS, and Windows. Reach for it when an agent needs to transfer, examine, or modify clipboard content while preserving format and size information.

Use cases

  • Read formatted content from the desktop clipboard
  • Write agent-generated text or HTML to the clipboard
  • Inspect clipboard formats before retrieving data
  • Clear the clipboard from an MCP client
  • Read large clipboard values in stable slices

Key features

  • Cross-platform clipboard access
  • Text, HTML, RTF, and image support
  • Format inspection with byte sizes
  • Bounded reads with change detection
  • Clipboard overwrite recovery data
  • stdio and Streamable HTTP transports

Tools3

What Clipboard MCP Server lets your agent do. Expand a tool for its parameters.

Self-reported~77 tokens of context

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 2d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

6/6 checks healthy over the last 40d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 5d ago via OSV.dev · @cyanheads/clipboard-mcp-server@latest (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars2Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads1.3kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit21d agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Install checkInconclusiveDidn't respond in our test window — often a slow first install.
Tools exposed3Callable tools this server registers over MCP.
Directory activity1 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Clipboard MCP Server works

What clipboard-mcp-server MCP server does

clipboard-mcp-server MCP server connects an MCP client to the host operating system's clipboard. It supports macOS, Linux using X11 or Wayland, and Windows. The server maps platform-specific clipboard types to four common formats: text, HTML, RTF, and image.

The clipboard_read tool retrieves a requested format or chooses the richest available representation. The clipboard_write tool replaces the clipboard with plain text or HTML, or clears all clipboard representations. The clipboard_inspect tool reports available formats and platform-native type identifiers without returning the full payload.

This is useful for agents that need to move content between applications, inspect whether rich content is available before reading it, or preserve enough state to undo an accidental overwrite.

How it works

The server detects a clipboard backend when it starts. macOS uses osascript/JXA, Linux uses xclip for X11 or wl-clipboard for Wayland, and Windows uses PowerShell 5.1 or later. Native identifiers such as macOS UTIs, X11 or Wayland targets, and Windows format names are translated into the common format names exposed through MCP.

Reads are size guarded. Text, HTML, and RTF are limited to 512 KB, while images are limited to 5 MB before base64 expansion. Larger values can be read in bounded slices using offset and limit. The response includes a nextOffset and a representationId; if the clipboard changes during continuation, the read fails rather than combining bytes from different values. Complete images are returned as base64-encoded PNG data, with dimensions when a readable PNG header is available.

HTML writes behave differently by platform. macOS and Windows also publish stripped plain text, while Linux may expose the markup to plain-text paste targets. Writes return the previous plain-text clipboard value when it can be read, supporting an application-level undo flow.

Setup and configuration

The package can run as a stdio process or as a local Streamable HTTP server. MCP clients can launch it through the npm package, and the repository provides installation links for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code.

Linux users need the backend utility for their display session: xclip for X11 or wl-clipboard for Wayland. Clearing the clipboard on Linux X11 also requires xsel alongside xclip. If a helper is missing or cannot reach the desktop session, operations return a typed clipboard_unavailable error.

Set CLIPBOARD_READ_ONLY to disable writing and clearing. When enabled, clipboard_write is not registered.

Tools and capabilities

  • clipboard_read accepts text, html, rtf, image, or auto. Automatic selection prefers image, then HTML, RTF, and text, moving to the next readable format when necessary.
  • clipboard_write accepts exactly one of content or clear: true. It rejects empty content and invalid combinations, and reports content_too_large for values over 1 MB.
  • clipboard_inspect returns the richest detected format, readable available formats, raw platform types, and measured byte sizes. Unmeasurable or unreadable types are distinguished from empty values.
  • Typed errors include format_unavailable, content_too_large, representation_changed, inspect_unreadable, and clipboard_unavailable.
  • Empty but present formats return empty content rather than being treated as missing.

The clipboard-mcp-server MCP server is therefore best suited to desktop-hosted agents whose MCP process can access the active user session. It is not a general remote clipboard service; its operations depend on the local platform helper and desktop connection.

Limitations and notes

Image slices are PNG byte chunks, not independently viewable images. Consumers must decode each base64 chunk and concatenate the bytes in offset order. A requested format that is absent, or a clipboard with no usable representation, produces format_unavailable.

The previousContent field is omitted when the clipboard was empty, has no text representation, or contains text beyond the 512 KB read limit. Linux HTML behavior can also result in raw HTML being pasted into a plain-text target, especially on X11.

The clipboard-mcp-server MCP server does not silently truncate oversized reads or writes. Applications should handle the typed errors and continuation metadata explicitly when working with large or changing clipboard values.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

Reviews

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Frequently Asked Questions about Clipboard MCP Server

clipboard-mcp-server is an MCP server that connects MCP clients to the local system clipboard on macOS, Linux X11 or Wayland, and Windows. Its main tools are clipboard_read for retrieving content, clipboard_write for replacing or clearing it, and clipboard_inspect for listing available formats and byte sizes.

Install it through an MCP client's npm-based server configuration or the repository's client installation links. The README provides setup links for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code, and the server can run over stdio or Streamable HTTP.

Yes, clipboard-mcp-server includes a Cursor installation link. Cursor can launch the package through an npm-based MCP configuration.

Linux needs xclip for X11 or wl-clipboard for Wayland. Clearing the clipboard on X11 also requires xsel alongside xclip. Missing helpers or unavailable desktop sessions produce a clipboard_unavailable error.

Yes, large reads can be split into bounded slices with offset and limit. Text, HTML, and RTF have a 512 KB limit and images have a 5 MB limit; representationId and nextOffset help continue safely or detect clipboard changes.

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