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Clipboard Guardian

Clipboard Guardian

Mikael Valot

|
3 installs
| (0) | Free
Blocks pasting from external sources and copying to external destinations
Installation
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.
Copied to clipboard
More Info

Clipboard Guardian

A VSCode extension that protects code integrity by blocking external clipboard operations while preserving normal copy/paste functionality within the editor.

🛡️ What it does

  • Blocks external pastes: Prevents pasting content from browsers, AI tools, or other applications into VSCode
  • Prevents code leakage: Stops copying VSCode content to external clipboard (optional)
  • Preserves internal operations: Copy/paste between files and within VSCode works normally
  • Configurable protection: Enable/disable features as needed

🎓 Educational Use Cases

Perfect for academic environments where code integrity matters:

  • Prevent AI assistance: Blocks students from pasting code generated by ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot web, or other AI tools
  • Exam integrity: Ensures coding assessments reflect genuine student knowledge
  • Assignment authenticity: Prevents copy-pasting solutions from online sources
  • Learning reinforcement: Encourages students to type code manually, improving retention
  • Academic honesty: Supports institutional policies against unauthorized code assistance

💼 Additional Use Cases

  • Security-sensitive environments: Prevent accidental code leaks
  • Corporate compliance: Meet data loss prevention requirements
  • Focus enhancement: Avoid external distractions while coding
  • Code protection: Keep proprietary code within the development environment

🚀 Installation

  1. Download the latest clipboard-guardian-x.x.x.vsix file
  2. Install via command line:
    code --install-extension clipboard-guardian-1.0.0.vsix
    
  3. Restart VSCode
  4. The extension activates automatically

⚙️ Configuration

Access settings via File > Preferences > Settings and search for "Clipboard Guardian":

  • Enable blocking: clipboardGuardian.enabled (default: true)

    • Controls whether external paste operations are blocked
  • Block copy to external: clipboardGuardian.blockCopy (default: true)

    • Prevents copying VSCode content to system clipboard

🔒 How it works

When you try to:

  • Paste from external source: Shows warning message and blocks the operation
  • Copy to external clipboard: Optionally blocks and shows notification
  • Copy/paste within VSCode: Works normally without interference

🔧 Troubleshooting

Extension not working?

  • Check that it's enabled in Extensions panel
  • Verify settings are configured correctly
  • Restart VSCode after installation

Internal copy/paste not working?

  • Disable and re-enable the extension
  • Check VSCode version compatibility (requires v1.80.0+)

📝 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

🤝 Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome on GitHub.

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