cpfile

🍎 macOS Only - A simple command-line tool for macOS that copies files to the clipboard, allowing you to paste them into applications like Finder, email clients, and more.

⚠️ Platform Requirement: This tool only works on macOS (Mac computers) as it uses Apple's AppleScript technology. It will not work on Windows or Linux.

Features

• 🚀 Simple: Just cpfile filename and it's copied to your clipboard
• 📁 File-aware: Copies actual files (not just paths) so you can paste into Finder
• ✅ Robust: Includes error handling and helpful messages
• 🍺 Homebrew-ready: Easy installation via Homebrew

Installation

Via Homebrew (Recommended)

# This will be available once the formula is submitted to Homebrew
brew install cpfile

Manual Installation

git clone https://github.com/your-username/cpfile.git
cd cpfile
sudo make install

This will install cpfile to /usr/local/bin/ (requires sudo for system directory access). You can customize the installation prefix:

sudo make install PREFIX=/opt/local

Usage

Basic Usage

# Copy a file to clipboard
cpfile image.png

# Copy with absolute path
cpfile /path/to/document.pdf

# Copy from home directory
cpfile ~/Desktop/file.txt

Options

# Show help
cpfile --help

# Show version
cpfile --version

Examples

# Copy an image and paste it into an email
cpfile screenshot.png
# Now Cmd+V in your email client will attach the image

# Copy a document and paste it into Finder
cpfile report.pdf
# Now Cmd+V in Finder will copy the file there

# Copy multiple files (run multiple times)
cpfile file1.txt
cpfile file2.txt
# The last file copied will be in the clipboard

How It Works

cpfile uses macOS's built-in AppleScript functionality to copy files to the clipboard as file URLs. This means:

• ✅ Works with Finder: Paste files directly into Finder windows
• ✅ Works with email: Attach files by pasting in email clients
• ✅ Works with messaging: Share files in Messages, Slack, etc.
• ✅ Works with cloud storage: Paste files into Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

The underlying AppleScript command used is:

set the clipboard to (POSIX file "/absolute/path/to/file")

Requirements

• 🍎 macOS only: This tool uses macOS-specific AppleScript functionality
  • ❌ Does NOT work on Windows
  • ❌ Does NOT work on Linux
  • ✅ Works on macOS 10.6+ (Snow Leopard and newer)
• Bash: Uses bash scripting (available on all macOS systems)
• realpath: Uses the realpath command (available on macOS 12+, or install via Homebrew)

Development

Testing

# Test if cpfile is properly installed
make test

# Manual testing
./cpfile --help
./cpfile --version
./cpfile test-file.txt  # (create a test file first)

Uninstalling

sudo make uninstall

Creating a Homebrew Formula

To submit this to Homebrew, you'll need to:

1. Create a GitHub release with a tarball
2. Calculate the SHA256 of the tarball
3. Create a formula like this:

class Cpfile < Formula
  desc "Copy files to clipboard on macOS (macOS only)"
  homepage "https://github.com/your-username/cpfile"
  url "https://github.com/your-username/cpfile/archive/v1.0.0.tar.gz"
  sha256 "your-sha256-hash-here"
  license "MIT"

  depends_on :macos

  def install
    bin.install "cpfile"
  end

  test do
    system "#{bin}/cpfile", "--version"
  end
end

4. Submit to homebrew-core or create your own tap

License

MIT License - feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test on macOS
5. Submit a pull request

Troubleshooting

"command not found: realpath"

If you're on an older macOS version:

brew install coreutils

"Permission denied" during installation

The installation requires administrator privileges to write to /usr/local/bin/:

sudo make install

"Permission denied" when running

Make sure the script is executable:

chmod +x cpfile

"Failed to copy file to clipboard"

• Ensure the file exists and is readable
• Check that you're running on macOS
• Try with a different file type

Similar Tools

• pbcopy - Copies text to clipboard (built into macOS)
• osascript - The underlying AppleScript runner (built into macOS)

cpfile fills the gap for copying actual files (not just text) to the clipboard.

Platform Compatibility

• ✅ macOS: Fully supported (macOS 10.6+)
• ❌ Windows: Not supported (uses macOS-specific AppleScript)
• ❌ Linux: Not supported (uses macOS-specific AppleScript)

If you need similar functionality on other platforms, consider:

• Windows: Use PowerShell with Set-Clipboard -Path "file.txt"
• Linux: Use xclip or platform-specific clipboard tools