Clipboard To Markdown

Save Markdown or plain text from the clipboard as a Markdown file with an automatically generated filename.

Features

• Saves clipboard text without changing whitespace, line endings, or the final newline.
• Extracts filenames from Markdown H1 headings or the first visible line.
• Never overwrites an existing file.
• Supports local workspaces, Remote SSH, WSL, and Dev Containers.
• Works in untrusted workspaces.

Usage

1. Copy text.
2. Open the Command Palette.
3. Run Clipboard To Markdown: Save Clipboard.

No keyboard shortcut is assigned by default. To assign one, add this to keybindings.json:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+m",
  "command": "clipboardToMarkdown.saveClipboard"
}

Destination selection

The extension uses the active workspace file's parent directory when possible. Otherwise it uses the single workspace root, asks which root to use in a multi-root workspace, or displays a folder picker when no workspace is open. Explorer focus is not used.

Filename generation

The first Markdown H1 is preferred. If none exists, the first line with valid visible text is used. Markdown decoration is removed, unsafe filename characters are deleted, visible whitespace becomes underscores, and the result is limited to 250 UTF-8 bytes and 250 UTF-16 code units without splitting grapheme clusters. Existing names receive a numbered suffix such as _01.

Remote environments

Remote SSH, WSL, and Dev Containers are supported. Clipboard text is read by the local VS Code UI extension, while files are written through VS Code workspace APIs to the remote filesystem.

Known limitations

• VS Code for the Web, including vscode.dev and github.dev, is not supported.
• Virtual Workspaces are not supported.
• Filename case sensitivity follows the destination filesystem.
• The numbered-name search is limited to 10,000 candidates.

Privacy

The extension performs no network communication, telemetry, usage collection, or crash reporting. Clipboard contents are written only to the selected destination.

Development

Requires Node.js and npm.

npm ci
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm run test:unit
npm run test:integration
npm run build

Create a VSIX:

npm run package

Inspect the generated VSIX before distribution:

unzip -l clipboard-to-markdown-0.1.0.vsix

Marketplace publication

Before publishing, verify that the Publisher ID gk852 is owned by the publishing account and that the repository and bugs URLs in package.json are correct. Authenticate with @vscode/vsce outside the repository, then publish the already verified package. Never store Marketplace credentials in the repository or VSIX.