Development Motivation

In our daily work and life, we are constantly copying and pasting. Text, images, links—the flow of this information is a fundamental part of our digital lives. I've always been searching for a clipboard tool that is efficient enough and truly "gets me," but after a long search, I never found one that fit the bill.

The Inspiration: Raycast

I am a heavy user of Raycast. It has dramatically improved my efficiency in launching apps, searching for files, and managing windows. I was deeply drawn to Raycast's design philosophy: fast, efficient, and keyboard-driven.

Naturally, I also tried its built-in clipboard history feature. It's good, but as I used it more, I always felt that something was "missing." For instance:

• Inconvenient Filtering: If I wanted to see the last few images I copied, or code snippets from a specific project group, it required several complex keyboard shortcuts in Raycast. It wasn't intuitive and broke my workflow.
• No Merging or Multi-selection: Sometimes I need to combine several discontinuous pieces of text to send at once, but Raycast doesn't support multi-select or merging.
• No Data Export: What if I switch computers or want to back up my important pinned and favorited items? Raycast doesn't offer export or sync functionality, which made me uneasy.

The Pain Points of Existing Tools

So, I turned my attention to other clipboard tools on the market. They were powerful, but most had "minor issues" that drove me crazy:

1. Mouse Dependency: Many actions, like searching or switching categories, always required me to reach for the mouse and click. For someone who strives for a keyboard-only workflow, this was unbearable.
2. Complex Shortcuts: Other tools offered a vast number of shortcuts, but the learning curve was too steep. I just want a tool that naturally prompts me with the right key to press when I need it, not one that forces me to memorize a thick manual.

The Birth of PasteQ: Building My Ideal Tool

After a fruitless search, a thought struck me: Why not build my own ideal clipboard tool?

And so, PasteQ was born. It inherits the efficient soul of Raycast and focuses on solving all the pain points I encountered with clipboard management. I wanted it to meet several core needs:

• Keyboard-First, No Mouse Needed: From summoning the window to searching, filtering, copying, pasting, and editing, all high-frequency operations should be done with the keyboard. And you don't need to memorize shortcuts; the interface provides clear hints.
• There When You Need It, Gone When You Don't: When not in use, it runs silently in the background without disturbing your work. When needed, a single hotkey brings it to the front. After you're done, it automatically hides, and the focus seamlessly returns to your previous application.
• Powerful Organization and Editing:
  • Pin and Collections: Easily pin frequently used items to the top or organize them into collections.
  • Secondary Editing: Make quick edits to clipboard content.
  • Merge Records: Combine multiple text records into one.
• Reliable Data Management: Most importantly, your pinned and collected important data will never be automatically deleted, and it now supports both export and data synchronization.

If you've ever been troubled by inefficient clipboard management, and if you also believe in the keyboard-driven philosophy, then PasteQ might just be the answer you've been looking for.