Claude Paste

Paste images from your clipboard directly into Claude Code CLI conversations over SSH.

The Problem

When using Claude Code over SSH in VS Code's integrated terminal, there's no way to paste screenshots. Claude Code supports image file paths, but getting a clipboard image onto a remote server means manual scp or upload steps every time.

The Solution

Claude Paste captures clipboard images from your local machine, writes them to the remote host, and injects the file path into your terminal. Claude Code picks it up natively.

Clipboard (screenshot) --> VS Code Extension --> Remote file --> Terminal path --> Claude Code reads it

One paste. That's it.

Features

Cmd+V / Ctrl+V in the integrated terminal -- same shortcut you already use
SSH-native -- works seamlessly in Remote-SSH sessions
Auto-cleanup -- temp images expire after 1 hour (configurable)
Format support -- PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP
Zero interference -- text paste works exactly as before

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

Search for "Claude Paste" in the Extensions panel, or:

code --install-extension humanrace-ai.claude-paste

From VSIX

code --install-extension claude-paste-0.1.0.vsix

Usage

Copy a screenshot or image to your clipboard
Focus the VS Code integrated terminal (where Claude Code is running)
Press Cmd+V (Mac) or Ctrl+V (Windows/Linux)
A paste target appears briefly -- press Cmd+V again to capture the image
The image file path is injected into your terminal automatically

Claude Code reads the image and responds with full visual context.

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
`claudePaste.imageTTL`	`3600`	Seconds before temp images are cleaned up
`claudePaste.imageDir`	`/tmp/claude-paste/images`	Directory for temp image storage
`claudePaste.maxImageSize`	`10485760`	Max image size in bytes (10MB)
`claudePaste.enableStatusBar`	`true`	Show clipboard status in status bar

How It Works

The extension uses a webview clipboard bridge -- a pattern that solves a core limitation of VS Code's extension API (which can only read text from the clipboard, not images).

When you paste in the terminal:

If the clipboard has text, it pastes normally with zero delay
If the clipboard is empty (typical when you've copied an image), the extension opens a lightweight webview
The webview runs in your local VS Code renderer, giving it access to your Mac's clipboard even over SSH
It captures the image data, sends it to the extension host on the remote server, and writes it as a temp file
The file path is injected into the terminal and the webview closes

This approach works because VS Code's webviews always run locally, regardless of whether you're connected via Remote-SSH. The image data is transferred through VS Code's built-in webview message passing.

Requirements

VS Code 1.85+
macOS, Windows, or Linux client
Works with any remote host (SSH, WSL, Containers)

Development

git clone https://github.com/humanrace-ai/claude-paste.git
cd claude-paste
npm install
npm run test        # Run test suite
npm run compile     # Build
npm run package     # Create .vsix

License

MIT -- see LICENSE for details.

Built by Human Race AI
AI infrastructure for teams that ship

humanrace.ai