Does ClipHistory store my copied API keys in the cloud?

No. Everything stays local on your Mac. There is no cloud sync and no account. Data only leaves your machine if you run an AI transform, and that uses your own API key with the provider you chose.

Can I use it with my existing Claude or OpenAI key?

Yes. ClipHistory supports Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom endpoint. You supply your own API key, so you control which model runs and what it costs.

How many clips does it keep?

It keeps your last 150 unpinned clips in rotation, plus an unlimited number of pinned clips that never age out.

Does it run natively on Apple Silicon?

Yes. It is a universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and it supports macOS 12 and later.

The Best Clipboard Tool for Mac Developers

Developers copy and paste constantly: API keys, stack traces, SQL fragments, JSON blobs, regex, shell one-liners. The default macOS clipboard holds exactly one item, which means the snippet you copied 30 seconds ago is gone the moment you copy the next thing. A clipboard manager fixes that, but the features that matter to a developer are different from what a casual user needs.

Here is a practical breakdown of what actually helps in a development workflow, and how ClipHistory maps to it.

What developers need from clipboard history

Fast search across recent clips

You rarely remember when you copied something — you remember a fragment of what it was. The ability to type a few characters and instantly filter your history is the single most useful feature. ClipHistory keeps your last 150 unpinned clips plus an unlimited number of pinned ones, and you reach all of them with a global shortcut, Cmd+Shift+V.

Pinning the things you reuse

Some snippets you paste ten times a day: a license header, a connection string template, a curl command with the right flags. Pinning keeps them out of the 150-item rotation so they never age out. Unpinned clips cycle; pinned clips stay forever.

A paste stack for multi-field work

Filling out a form, scaffolding a config file, or porting values between two files often means pasting several items in order. A paste stack lets you queue clips and paste them one after another instead of bouncing back and forth.

Snippets and boards

Snippets are reusable text blocks you save deliberately. Boards group related clips together — for example, a board per project or per ticket. This turns the clipboard from a dumb buffer into a lightweight organizer.

Where AI fits into a developer's clipboard

AI transforms are useful when they save a context switch. ClipHistory supports summarize, rewrite, translate, and clean directly on a clip. Concretely:

Clean strips weird formatting, smart quotes, or trailing whitespace from something you pasted out of a PDF or a chat window — handy before dropping it into code.
Rewrite reshapes a commit message or a comment.
Translate turns a copied error message or doc snippet into your language.
Summarize condenses a long log or a chunk of documentation.

Two details matter for developers specifically. First, you bring your own API key — ClipHistory works with Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, or a custom endpoint, so you control cost and model choice. Second, everything stays local: there is no cloud sync and no account. Your clipboard — which for a developer regularly contains tokens and credentials — never leaves your Mac unless you invoke an AI transform with your own key.

What to check before you commit to a tool

Is it signed and notarized? ClipHistory is signed and notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper does not fight you on launch.
Does it run native on your hardware? It ships as a universal binary, so it runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
What macOS does it need? ClipHistory supports macOS 12 and later.
Is the pricing predictable? It is a one-time $19.99 purchase for a 12-month license with no auto-renewal — no surprise subscription charge.

A realistic day-to-day flow

Copy a stack trace, copy the failing query, copy the env var — all three live in your history. Hit Cmd+Shift+V, type a fragment to find the query, paste it. Pin the env var because you will need it again this afternoon. Run clean on the doc snippet you grabbed from a rendered web page before pasting it into a code comment. Queue three config values into the paste stack and drop them into your .env in order.

None of that is flashy. It just removes dozens of tiny interruptions across a working day, which is exactly what a good developer tool should do.

Bottom line

For a Mac developer, the right clipboard tool is one with fast search, durable pinning, a paste stack, and AI transforms that run on your own key while keeping data local. ClipHistory covers all four without a subscription.

Ready to try it? Get ClipHistory for macOS ($19.99, one-time) — a 12-month license, no auto-renewal, signed and notarized by Apple.