Yank
Your clipboard, with natural-language search.
"that CSS snippet from yesterday" · "the phone number I copied last week" · "the error from the terminal earlier"
Yank is in early development — we're building in public. Try it, break it, tell us what to fix next.
What's Yank?
Yank is a local-first clipboard history manager for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It captures everything you copy, categorizes it automatically, and lets you find it again with either fuzzy search or AI-powered semantic search.
The entire "find → paste" loop takes under five seconds. Semantic search runs on-device out of the box; TypeSafe's Jev re-ranking is an opt-in upgrade if you bring your own API key.
Why Yank?
| Problem | Yank's Solution |
|---|
| "I know I copied that link but can't find it" | Semantic search — describe what you remember, not what you copied |
| "Clipboard managers are cluttered / slow" | 500ms capture, SQLite+FTS5, keyboard-first UI |
| "I want AI but don't trust cloud with my data" | Default semantic search runs on-device; cloud re-ranking is opt-in |
| "I want AI search that understands meaning" | Local embeddings + keyword search, fused by rank; optionally TypeSafe Jev |
| "I want AI labels but not monthly fees" | Optional Anthropic key — you control your usage and spend |
Features
- Silent auto-capture — copied text and images are captured automatically, with sensitive-copy filtering
- Block sensitive copies — on-device checks for card numbers, Social Security numbers, and recognizable credentials; honors confidential clipboard markers. On by default, toggle in Tweaks
- Image capture & paste — screenshots and images captured automatically; full-resolution preview and one-key paste-back
- Auto-categorization — clips sorted into
code, url, email, phone, color, path, text, address, number, or image
- Semantic search — on-device ONNX embeddings (BGE Small, MiniLM, or Google EmbeddingGemma 300M / 2), no key or network needed after the first model download.
- TypeSafe Jev (opt-in) — paste your own TypeSafe API key to re-rank a keyword shortlist with Jev instead.
- Fuzzy search — keystroke-level fast, SQLite FTS5 with BM25 ranking
- Hybrid ranking — vector and BM25 pools fused with reciprocal rank fusion (or Jev scores with TypeSafe)
- Raycast-style palette —
Ctrl+Shift+Space from anywhere, type, paste
- Pin, rename, soft-delete with undo — 4-second grace window
- Native tray + global shortcut + launch-at-startup
- Mica-blur on Windows 11, light/dark themes, adjustable accent, density, fonts
- Keyboard-first — every action has a shortcut; press
? for cheatsheet
Install
Pre-built installers are attached to every GitHub Release. macOS builds available via source.
Windows
| File | What it is |
|---|
Yank_<version>_x64-setup.exe | NSIS installer — recommended |
Yank_<version>_x64_en-US.msi | MSI installer — for managed environments |
Linux
| File | What it is |
|---|
yank_<version>_amd64.AppImage | Portable binary — works on most distros |
yank_<version>_amd64.deb | Debian/Ubuntu/PopOS package |
Notes:
- GNOME? Use the
.deb. The tray icon needs the AppIndicator extension on stock GNOME, and the .deb installs the right integration.
- Wayland? Global shortcuts are X11-only on Linux. Bind a keyboard shortcut in your desktop settings to run
yank --palette instead — it toggles the palette through the running app.
- AppImage won't launch? Install FUSE (
sudo apt install libfuse2) or use the .deb.
macOS
Build from source: make build (produces .dmg)
Quick Start
- Install and launch — app runs in system tray
- Copy anything — text, links, code, images
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+Space — palette opens
- Type what you're looking for — fuzzy or semantic
Enter to paste
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Ctrl+Shift+Space | Toggle palette (rebindable) |
? | Keyboard cheatsheet |
↑ ↓ or J K | Navigate |
Enter | Paste selected |
Tab | Toggle fuzzy ↔ semantic |
Ctrl+P | Pin / unpin |
Ctrl+Backspace | Delete |
Configuring AI
Click the AI button in the top-right. Two independent features:
- Semantic search — on by default with a local embedding model. Optionally switch to TypeSafe's Jev by pasting your own API key.
- AI intent labels — paste an Anthropic key for one-line summaries ("Stripe webhook debug snippet", "login URL"). Off by default.
Status: Early Alpha
Yank is being built in public. Things may break. Features may change. We're shipping fast and listening to feedback.
Current limitations:
- macOS builds require building from source
- Some polish items (animations, edge cases) in progress
- Documentation improving daily
Coming soon:
- Sync across devices (local network option)
- More category heuristics
- Plugin/extension API
Architecture
| Concern | Implementation |
|---|
| Framework | Tauri v2 — Rust backend, React + TypeScript frontend |
| Storage | SQLite + FTS5 |
| Clipboard | arboard crate, 500ms polling + dedupe |
| Semantic search | fastembed ONNX (local, default) or TypeSafe Jev (opt-in) |
| Search | BM25 (FTS5) + cosine, fused via RRF; or BM25 → Jev re-rank |
Building from Source
# Linux
./build.sh install && ./build.sh build
# Windows
.\build.ps1 install; .\build.ps1 build
# macOS (via make)
make install && make build
Privacy
- Clipboard history is stored locally in SQLite
- Block sensitive copies is on by default in Tweaks → Privacy. It excludes recognized card numbers, formatted or labeled US Social Security numbers, labeled credentials, supported token patterns, and private-key headers before saving, along with copies marked confidential or excluded from history by their source app (for example, password managers). Turn it off to save these like any other clip
- Normal paste still works. Detection cannot identify every unmarked password or sensitive image, and enabling it does not remove existing history. See the sensitive-copy policy for exact rules, platform support, and limitations
- Fuzzy and default semantic search are fully local; only the opt-in TypeSafe provider sends your query and matching clip contents off-device
- Network calls support model downloads, updates, optional TypeSafe/Anthropic features, and usage sharing if you enable it
- Usage sharing through Umami is off by default. A one-time prompt asks for permission; change your choice in Tweaks → shield icon → Privacy & usage
- Usage statistics contain feature names, coarse result counts, timings, app version, OS, and a random installation ID. No clipboard content, images, search terms, titles, source apps, file paths, or API keys are sent in telemetry
- Turning sharing off stops pending telemetry and resets the random ID. No account is required
See the telemetry guide for events, privacy boundaries, and reading desktop insights in Umami.
Let's Build Together
- ⭐ Star us on GitHub
- 🐛 Report bugs
- 💡 Request features
- 🗣️ Spread the word
Yank — find anything you ever copied.
