Clipboard Copy Commands

A set of functions to simplify copying to the clipboard in the terminal.

🔑

This file adds copy and copypwd functions to your Fish shell. It's designed for fast CLI clipboard workflows and includes a smart help menu with colorized output.

⚠️

Ensure xclip is installed, as it's required for copying to your system clipboard.

Installation

Place the script in your shell config directory (e.g., ~/.config/fish/functions/clipboard) and source it from your main config:

👨‍💻echo 'source ~/.config/fish/functions/clipboard' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

It will remain silent when sourced.

Usage

🧪 Copy current working directory

copypwd

📋 Will copy: /current/path/you/are/in

🧪 Copy a full path to a file

copypwd ./myfile.ts

📋 Will copy: /full/path/to/myfile.ts

🧪 Copy a file's contents

copy myfile.txt

📋 If the file contains "hello world", this string will be copied to the clipboard.

🧪 Show the colorized help menu

Any of the following commands will show the help menu:

copy --help

⏹️ Recognized aliases: copy, copy -h, copy --h, copy help, copy -help, copy --help

Full Source Code

##!/usr/bin/env fish
 
# A silent sourceable clipboard helper for Fish shell
# Adds `copy`, `copypwd`, and a built-in colorized help menu
 
function copy
  set -l arg1 $argv[1]
  set -l arg2 $argv[2]
 
  if test (count $argv) -eq 0
    echo -e (set_color yellow)"✦ No arguments provided. Type "(set_color cyan)"copy --help"(set_color yellow)" for usage."
    return 1
  end
 
  switch $arg1
    case "help" "-h" "--h" "-help" "--help"
      echo ""
      echo -e (set_color brmagenta)"╭──────────────────────────────────────────────╮"
      echo -e (set_color brmagenta)"│"(set_color green)"         Fish Clipboard Helper v1.0        "(set_color brmagenta)"│"
      echo -e (set_color brmagenta)"╰──────────────────────────────────────────────╯"
      echo ""
      echo -e (set_color cyan)"Commands:"
      echo -e (set_color green)"  copy [file]"(set_color normal)"         → Copies the contents of a file"
      echo -e (set_color green)"  copypwd"(set_color normal)"            → Copies the current working directory"
      echo -e (set_color green)"  copypwd [file]"(set_color normal)"     → Copies full absolute path to file"
      echo ""
      echo -e (set_color cyan)"Help Aliases:"
      echo -e (set_color yellow)"  help, -h, --h, -help, --help"
      echo ""
      return 0
 
    case "pwd"
      if test -n "$arg2"
        set -l abs (realpath "$arg2" ^/dev/null)
        if test -e "$abs"
          echo -n "$abs" | xclip -selection clipboard
          echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied:"(set_color normal)" $abs"
        else
          echo -e (set_color red)"✗ File not found:"(set_color normal)" $arg2"
        end
      else
        echo -n (pwd) | xclip -selection clipboard
        echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied current directory to clipboard."
      end
      return 0
 
    case '*'
      if test -f "$arg1"
        cat "$arg1" | xclip -selection clipboard
        echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied contents of file:"(set_color normal)" $arg1"
      else
        echo -e (set_color red)"✗ File not found:"(set_color normal)" $arg1"
      end
  end
end
 
function copypwd
  if test (count $argv) -eq 0
    echo -n (pwd) | xclip -selection clipboard
    echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied current directory."
  else
    set -l abs (realpath "$argv[1]" ^/dev/null)
    if test -e "$abs"
      echo -n "$abs" | xclip -selection clipboard
      echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied full path to:"(set_color normal)" $abs"
    else
      echo -e (set_color red)"✗ File not found:"(set_color normal)" $argv[1]"
    end
  end
end

Clipboard Copy Commands

A set of functions to simplify copying to the clipboard in the terminal.

🔑

This file adds copy and copypwd functions to your Fish shell. It's designed for fast CLI clipboard workflows and includes a smart help menu with colorized output.

⚠️

Ensure xclip is installed, as it's required for copying to your system clipboard.

Installation

Place the script in your shell config directory (e.g., ~/.config/fish/functions/clipboard) and source it from your main config:

👨‍💻echo 'source ~/.config/fish/functions/clipboard' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

It will remain silent when sourced.

Usage

🧪 Copy current working directory

copypwd

📋 Will copy: /current/path/you/are/in

🧪 Copy a full path to a file

copypwd ./myfile.ts

📋 Will copy: /full/path/to/myfile.ts

🧪 Copy a file's contents

copy myfile.txt

📋 If the file contains "hello world", this string will be copied to the clipboard.

🧪 Show the colorized help menu

Any of the following commands will show the help menu:

copy --help

⏹️ Recognized aliases: copy, copy -h, copy --h, copy help, copy -help, copy --help

Full Source Code

##!/usr/bin/env fish
 
# A silent sourceable clipboard helper for Fish shell
# Adds `copy`, `copypwd`, and a built-in colorized help menu
 
function copy
  set -l arg1 $argv[1]
  set -l arg2 $argv[2]
 
  if test (count $argv) -eq 0
    echo -e (set_color yellow)"✦ No arguments provided. Type "(set_color cyan)"copy --help"(set_color yellow)" for usage."
    return 1
  end
 
  switch $arg1
    case "help" "-h" "--h" "-help" "--help"
      echo ""
      echo -e (set_color brmagenta)"╭──────────────────────────────────────────────╮"
      echo -e (set_color brmagenta)"│"(set_color green)"         Fish Clipboard Helper v1.0        "(set_color brmagenta)"│"
      echo -e (set_color brmagenta)"╰──────────────────────────────────────────────╯"
      echo ""
      echo -e (set_color cyan)"Commands:"
      echo -e (set_color green)"  copy [file]"(set_color normal)"         → Copies the contents of a file"
      echo -e (set_color green)"  copypwd"(set_color normal)"            → Copies the current working directory"
      echo -e (set_color green)"  copypwd [file]"(set_color normal)"     → Copies full absolute path to file"
      echo ""
      echo -e (set_color cyan)"Help Aliases:"
      echo -e (set_color yellow)"  help, -h, --h, -help, --help"
      echo ""
      return 0
 
    case "pwd"
      if test -n "$arg2"
        set -l abs (realpath "$arg2" ^/dev/null)
        if test -e "$abs"
          echo -n "$abs" | xclip -selection clipboard
          echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied:"(set_color normal)" $abs"
        else
          echo -e (set_color red)"✗ File not found:"(set_color normal)" $arg2"
        end
      else
        echo -n (pwd) | xclip -selection clipboard
        echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied current directory to clipboard."
      end
      return 0
 
    case '*'
      if test -f "$arg1"
        cat "$arg1" | xclip -selection clipboard
        echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied contents of file:"(set_color normal)" $arg1"
      else
        echo -e (set_color red)"✗ File not found:"(set_color normal)" $arg1"
      end
  end
end
 
function copypwd
  if test (count $argv) -eq 0
    echo -n (pwd) | xclip -selection clipboard
    echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied current directory."
  else
    set -l abs (realpath "$argv[1]" ^/dev/null)
    if test -e "$abs"
      echo -n "$abs" | xclip -selection clipboard
      echo -e (set_color green)"✓ Copied full path to:"(set_color normal)" $abs"
    else
      echo -e (set_color red)"✗ File not found:"(set_color normal)" $argv[1]"
    end
  end
end

Clipboard Copy Commands

Clipboard Copy Commands

Installation

Usage

Full Source Code

On this page

Clipboard Copy Commands

Clipboard Copy Commands

Installation

Usage

Full Source Code

On this page