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.