PureClip

PureClip is a lightweight macOS menu-bar utility that converts the clipboard to plain text.

It keeps indentation intact, strips rich-text styling, and gives you a single hotkey to clean the clipboard before pasting into editors like Word or Outlook.

Features

• Runs as a menu-bar app on macOS 13 Ventura or newer
• Cleans the clipboard to plain text while preserving line breaks and tabs
• Configurable global shortcut, Notifications, and detab mode: expand tabs to 2/4/8 spaces for code-friendly pastes
• Multiple language support: English, Spanish (Español), French (Français), German (Deutsch), Japanese (日本語), Chinese Simplified (简体中文)
• Zero external dependencies — built entirely with SwiftUI + AppKit
• Currently, Apple Silicon (arm64) only

Installation

Download Pre-built Release

1. Download the latest PureClip.dmg from Releases
2. Open the DMG and drag PureClip to your Applications folder
3. First launch: Right-click PureClip and select "Open" (required due to unsigned app)
4. Click "Open" when prompted about an app from an unidentified developer

Usage

• Access the app via the menu-bar icon
• Default hotkey: ⌥⌘V (change in Preferences…)
• Preferences allow you to:
  • Toggle notifications when the clipboard is cleaned
  • Choose whether to expand tabs (Off / 2 / 4 / 8 spaces)
  • Reassign the global shortcut or reset to default

Build from Source

For Development (GUI)

1. Ensure you have Xcode 15 (or newer) with Swift 5.9+
2. Clone this repository
3. Open PureClip.xcodeproj in Xcode
4. Select your Apple ID in Signing & Capabilities (Team dropdown)
5. Build and run (⌘R)

For Distribution (Command Line)

# Build to a local directory
xcodebuild -project PureClip.xcodeproj -scheme PureClip -configuration Release \
  -derivedDataPath ./build clean build

# The app will be in: ./build/Build/Products/Release/PureClip.app

You can then drag PureClip.app to /Applications to install.

Why "Unidentified Developer"?

PureClip is open-source and distributed without Apple Developer Program enrollment. macOS will show a warning on first launch. This is normal for unsigned apps. After the first "right-click → Open", the app will launch normally.

Running Tests

The test target requires macOS 14.0+ (while the app itself supports macOS 13.5+). This is because Xcode's XCTest framework requires macOS 14.

In Xcode

⌘U (Command-U) to run all tests

From Command Line

xcodebuild test \
  -project PureClip.xcodeproj \
  -scheme PureClip \
  -destination 'platform=macOS'

Creating a Release DMG

1. Update the version number:

   • Open PureClip.xcodeproj in Xcode
   • Select the PureClip project in the navigator
   • Select the PureClip target
   • Go to the General tab → Identity section
   • Update Version (e.g., from 1.0 to 1.1)
   • Update CHANGELOG.md with the new version and changes

2. Install create-dmg (one-time setup):

   brew install create-dmg

3. Build the Release version:

   xcodebuild -project PureClip.xcodeproj -scheme PureClip -configuration Release \
     -derivedDataPath ./build clean build

4. Prepare a clean staging directory (excludes debug symbols and build artifacts):

   rm -rf ./dmg-staging
   mkdir -p ./dmg-staging
   cp -R ./build/Build/Products/Release/PureClip.app ./dmg-staging/

5. Create a DMG:

   create-dmg \
     --volname "PureClip" \
     --volicon "Resources/AppIcon.icns" \
     --window-pos 200 120 \
     --window-size 600 400 \
     --icon-size 100 \
     --icon "PureClip.app" 175 190 \
     --hide-extension "PureClip.app" \
     --app-drop-link 425 190 \
     --no-internet-enable \
     "PureClip.dmg" \
     "./dmg-staging/"

6. Clean up:

   rm -rf ./dmg-staging

7. Upload to GitHub Releases:

   • Go to the repository's Releases page
   • Click "Draft a new release"
   • Tag version (e.g., v1.0.0)
   • Upload the PureClip.dmg file
   • Publish release

Credits

• App icon by Google Fonts Icons & IconKitchen
• Created with OpenAI Codex & Claude Code

License

This project is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.