Skip to content

Clipboard File Paste

Paste clipboard content into your workspace, save it beside the active document, and insert a language-specific reference at the cursor.

Features

Save clipboard content (file paths, HTTP URLs, images, data URLs, plain text) beside the active document
Insert language-specific references through configurable templates
Dynamic path placeholders such as [YYYY-MM-DD], [YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm-ss], and [RID-4]
Template placeholders: [dirname], [filename], [altText]
Select the generated alt or link text after insert when the template supports it
Filename collision handling with -1, -2, and so on
Shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+V (Cmd+Alt+V on macOS)
Editor context menu entry

Quick start

Copy content to the clipboard.
Open a supported file in the editor.
Press Ctrl+Alt+V or run Paste Clipboard File from the context menu.
The file is saved next to the active document and a reference is inserted at the cursor.

Markdown example

Default settings:

dirname: .
filename: [YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm-ss]
template: [[altText]]([dirname]/[filename])

Result:

Saved file: ./2026-07-13-22-15-30.png
Inserted text: [description](./2026-07-13-22-15-30.png)
The description text is selected for editing

HTML example

Default settings:

dirname: .
filename: [YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm-ss]
template: <a href="[dirname]/[filename]">[altText]</a>

Result:

Inserted text: `<a href="./2026-07-13-22-15-30.png">description</a>`
The description link text is selected for editing

How it works

Clipboard
   │
   ├─ empty text ──────────────► platform shell script ─► save image ─► insert template
   ├─ http(s) URL ─────────────► download with limits ──► save file ───► insert template
   └─ text
        ├─ existing file path ─► copy file ─────────────► insert template
        ├─ image data URL/SVG ─► decode and save ───────► insert template
        └─ otherwise ───────────► save plain text ──────► insert template

The save directory comes from the active document. Relative dirname values are resolved from the current file's folder. Untitled files use the first workspace folder.

After insert, the extension tries to select the generated alt or link text so you can edit it immediately.

Configuration

Settings namespace: clipboardFilePaste

Manifest entries (commands, keybindings, menus, configuration) are defined in package.json under contributes.

`clipboardFilePaste.templates`

Map VS Code languageId values to paste settings.

Default:

{
  "markdown": {
    "dirname": ".",
    "filename": "[YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm-ss]",
    "altText": "description",
    "template": "[[altText]]([dirname]/[filename])"
  },
  "html": {
    "dirname": ".",
    "filename": "[YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm-ss]",
    "altText": "description",
    "template": "<a href=\"[dirname]/[filename]\">[altText]</a>"
  }
}

Field	Purpose
`dirname`	Relative save directory (supports date and RID placeholders)
`filename`	File name pattern (supports date and RID placeholders)
`altText`	Default alt or link text inserted into the template
`template`	Reference inserted at the cursor

Notes:

template uses [dirname], [filename], and [altText]
Markdown templates may also use the literal ![altText] token for image syntax
Templates are matched by languageId such as markdown or html
Unsupported languages fall back to the markdown template
dirname must not contain ..

`clipboardFilePaste.defaultTextExtension`

Extension used when pasting plain text from the clipboard. Default: txt.

Placeholders

Placeholder	Description	Example
`[YYYY-MM-DD]`	Date format via dayjs	`2026-07-13`
`[YYYY-MM-DD-HH-mm-ss]`	Date-time format	`2026-07-13-22-15-30`
`[RID-N]`	Random `0-9A-Za-z` string, length `N`	`[RID-4]`
`[dirname]`	Resolved save directory in `template`	`.`
`[filename]`	Resolved file name in `template`	`2026-07-13.png`
`[altText]`	Resolved alt or link text in `template`	`description`

Rules:

Date and RID placeholders must be wrapped in []
Identical placeholders in one paste resolve to the same value
If the resolved filename has no extension, the clipboard file extension is appended
Relative paths are resolved from the current file directory
Absolute paths and file:// URLs are supported

Clipboard sources

Source	Behavior
Empty clipboard text	Treated as a clipboard image; uses a platform shell script
File path in clipboard	Copies an existing file and preserves its extension
HTTP(S) URL	Downloads the response with timeout and size limits; uses URL path or `Content-Type` for the extension
Image data URL or raw SVG	Saves with the derived image extension
Plain text	Saves as UTF-8 using `defaultTextExtension`; leading and trailing whitespace are preserved

Filename collisions

If ./2026-07-13.png already exists, the extension tries:

./2026-07-13-1.png
./2026-07-13-2.png
...

The attempt stops after 100 candidates.

Platform notes

Windows uses PowerShell to read clipboard images and saves them as PNG
macOS supports PNG, JPEG, and GIF clipboard images through AppleScript
Linux requires xclip and tries PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP clipboard targets
File operations use vscode.workspace.fs, including the final save after clipboard image capture
Clipboard shell scripts only write to a temp file; the extension copies that data into the workspace through workspace.fs

Known limitations

Windows clipboard images are normalized to PNG
Linux clipboard image support depends on xclip and the image formats exposed by the desktop environment
Untitled files require an open workspace so the save location can be resolved
Non-image binary clipboard content is not supported outside file-path text
HTTP downloads are limited to 30 seconds and 50 MB

Source layout

Path	Responsibility
`src/extension.ts`	Command registration and activation
`src/core/paste.ts`	Main paste workflow and clipboard routing
`src/core/utils.ts`	Path, placeholder, and clipboard text parsing helpers
`src/core/collision.ts`	`-1`, `-2`, ... filename collision handling
`src/core/templateConfig.ts`	Settings validation for language templates
`src/core/altTextSelection.ts`	Post-insert alt/link text selection
`src/core/workspaceFs.ts`	`vscode.workspace.fs` wrappers
`src/core/httpDownload.ts`	HTTP(S) download with size and timeout limits
`src/core/constant.ts`	Shared command and settings identifiers
`res/`	Platform shell scripts for reading clipboard images

Development

pnpm --filter vscode-clipboard-file-paste install
pnpm --filter vscode-clipboard-file-paste compile
pnpm --filter vscode-clipboard-file-paste test
pnpm --filter vscode-clipboard-file-paste package

compile bundles src/extension.ts to dist/extension.js
test runs Vitest unit tests under __tests__/
package builds the extension and produces a .vsix file

Press F5 in this package folder to launch an Extension Development Host. The launch configuration runs compile first.

When changing commands, keybindings, menus, or settings, edit contributes in package.json directly.