IntentPaste

Intent-aware clipboard extension with transactional paste operations

IntentPaste introduces transactional clipboard behavior to VS Code, allowing developers to paste alternate clipboard content without losing their primary clipboard state. The extension maintains two clipboard states (Primary and Secondary) and automatically restores the Primary clipboard to the system clipboard after Secondary paste operations.

Features

• Non-destructive Copy: Copy to Secondary clipboard (Ctrl+Shift+C) without affecting your Primary clipboard
• Transactional Paste: Paste from Secondary clipboard (Ctrl+Shift+X) with automatic Primary restoration
• External Clipboard Monitoring: Automatically tracks clipboard changes from outside the IDE
• Optional Status Bar Feedback: Silent by default, with optional visual feedback
• Zero UI Disruption: Works seamlessly without interrupting your workflow

Installation

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "IntentPaste"
4. Click Install

Or install from the command line:

code --install-extension intentpaste

Usage

Basic Workflow

1. Copy to Primary (standard): Ctrl+C - Copies to Primary clipboard
2. Copy to Secondary: Ctrl+Alt+C - Copies to Secondary clipboard (preserves Primary)
3. Paste Primary (standard): Ctrl+V - Pastes from Primary clipboard
4. Paste Secondary: Ctrl+Alt+V - Pastes from Secondary clipboard and automatically restores Primary

Example Scenario

1. Copy important code snippet: Ctrl+C (Primary)
2. Copy temporary variable name: Ctrl+Alt+C (Secondary)
3. Paste variable name: Ctrl+Alt+V (pastes Secondary, restores Primary)
4. Continue pasting important code: Ctrl+V (Primary is still intact!)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Note: Shortcuts are fully configurable via VS Code's Keyboard Shortcuts editor (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S).

All shortcuts are fully configurable via VS Code's Keyboard Shortcuts editor.

Configuration

IntentPaste can be configured through VS Code settings:

intentpaste.statusBarFeedback

Show status bar feedback for clipboard operations.

• Type: boolean
• Default: false
• Description: When enabled, shows brief messages in the status bar when clipboard operations occur.

intentpaste.maxStackSize

Maximum size of clipboard history stack.

• Type: number
• Default: 20
• Description: Maximum number of entries in the internal clipboard history stack.

intentpaste.pollInterval

Clipboard polling interval in milliseconds.

• Type: number
• Default: 500
• Description: How often to check for external clipboard changes (lower = more responsive, higher = less CPU usage).

How It Works

IntentPaste maintains two clipboard states:

• Primary Clipboard: Your main clipboard (synced with system clipboard)
• Secondary Clipboard: A separate clipboard for temporary content

When you paste from Secondary:

1. Current system clipboard is saved as Primary
2. Secondary content is written to system clipboard
3. Paste operation executes
4. Primary is automatically restored to system clipboard

This ensures your Primary clipboard is never lost, even after pasting Secondary content.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.74.0 or higher
• Windows, macOS, or Linux

Extension Settings

This extension contributes the following settings:

• intentpaste.statusBarFeedback: Enable/disable status bar feedback
• intentpaste.maxStackSize: Maximum clipboard history stack size
• intentpaste.pollInterval: Clipboard polling interval

Known Issues

None at this time. Please report issues on GitHub.

Release Notes

1.0.1

• Added sidebar view with Status and Commands sections
• Real-time clipboard status display
• Improved error handling for shutdown
• Enhanced documentation with testing guides

1.0.0

Initial release of IntentPaste:

• Primary and Secondary clipboard support
• Transactional paste with automatic restoration
• External clipboard monitoring
• Optional status bar feedback
• Configurable keybindings

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Documentation: GitHub Wiki

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