VaultClip

Your clipboard, finally under control. VaultClip is a macOS clipboard history manager: instant access to past copies, favorites at your fingertips, passwords kept apart from the main stream — all encrypted on disk, with no cloud and no subscriptions.

It lives in the menu bar, opens with ⌘⇧V, and stays out of your way. Copy a snippet, link, screenshot, or PDF — a second later it is in history, with search and ⌘0…⌘9 quick-paste shortcuts.

Open-source fork of Yippy by Matthew Davidson: the lean UX and “panel always nearby” idea are preserved; VaultClip adds AES-GCM, filtering of copies from password managers, Favorites and Passwords tabs, up-to-date toolchains, and an open roadmap.

Repository: github.com/akarakuts/VaultClip · Changelog: CHANGELOG.md · Русский: README.ru.md

History, Favorites, and Passwords — one panel, three modes. UI in all macOS app languages.

Why VaultClip


Keep context	Code, quotes, URLs, images — everything stays in local history until you decide otherwise.
Keep secrets out of the noise	Copies from 1Password, Bitwarden, and other managers never enter history; your own passwords go to the Passwords tab.
Keep data off the cloud	History stays on your Mac; the key lives in macOS Keychain. The app does not use the network for storage.

VaultClip is not trying to replace a full password manager — it tames clipboard chaos and gives fast, predictable access to what you actually copy every day.

See it in action

History — the full timeline at hand

Text, code, links, colors, images, PDFs, and files in one list, with the source app icon and a timestamp. Re-copying the same content does not clutter the feed.

Favorites — what you cannot afford to lose

Pin commands, SSH strings, documentation, and templates. Favorites survive ordinary history clears and are not pruned like one-off copies.

Passwords — separate and tidy

Saved entries show a comment, login, optional site URL, and masked secret. Search by comment, login, and URL; copy via the context menu. These rows do not appear in general history.

Features

Clipboard history

Background monitoring of the system pasteboard — every new copy (except filtered sources) is saved locally.
Up to 5000 items in the model; settings can cap the displayed set (50–1500).
Content types: text, RTF, HTML, URLs, colors, raster images, PDF, files with icon or preview.
Deduplication within the last 20 items.
Source app icon and timestamp on every row.

Three tabs

Tab	Purpose
History	Full timeline without favorites and saved passwords.
Favorites	Pinned items; protected from ordinary clears.
Passwords	Explicitly saved secrets: comment, login, URL, `••••••••`.

Favorites and saving to Passwords are available from the context menu (right-click): add/remove favorite, save to passwords, copy login/URL/password, open URL in browser, edit, delete.

Search, preview, paste

Search (⌘\) — fuzzy text matching; for passwords, search runs on comment, login, and URL, not the secret.
Preview (Ctrl+Space) — text, image, or Quick Look; passwords are masked outside the Passwords tab.
Return — paste into the app that was active before the panel opened.
⌘0 … ⌘9 — quick paste by list position.
Drag and drop to reorder; moving to the top updates the system clipboard.

Panel and menu bar

No Dock icon — menu bar only. Dock the panel left, right, top, bottom, centered, or full screen; the position is remembered. Change it from the Position menu or with Ctrl+Alt+⌘ + arrow keys.

Menu items: Toggle Window (default ⌘⇧V), launch at login, clear history, preferences, help.

First launch and language

Welcome on first open requests Accessibility (needed for automatic ⌘V paste). Without it, history works; Return-to-paste does not.

UI in all macOS app languages (Localizable.xcstrings); the active language follows the system locale.

Security and privacy

VaultClip is designed as local storage, not a sign-in service.

Encryption at rest

Item payloads use AES-GCM (CryptoKit, 256-bit key), VC1 format + sealed box.
Key in macOS Keychain (com.karakuts.VaultClip / history-data-key), AfterFirstUnlockThisDeviceOnly, no iCloud sync.
Metadata (favorite flag, password flag, comment, login, time, bundle id) uses the same encryption layer.
Legacy plaintext files are read and re-encrypted on write; migration from Yippy and early VaultClip is automatic.

Leak prevention

History directory: ~/Library/Application Support/com.karakuts.VaultClip/history/ with mode 0700.
Symlink checks on paths; sanitized pasteboard type filenames.
Denylist of password-manager bundle ids (1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden, Dashlane, Keeper, Apple Passwords, Proton Pass, and others) and sensitive pasteboard types.
Hardened Runtime; ATS blocks arbitrary HTTP loads. The app does not fetch history over the network.

macOS permissions

Permission	Why
Accessibility	One-shot ⌘V simulation into the focused app. No keystroke logging.
Keychain	AES key with Developer ID signing. Ad-hoc builds fall back to `.history-encryption-key` (0600).

Deleting the Keychain entry history-data-key permanently breaks decryption of existing history.

Data locations

~/Library/Application Support/com.karakuts.VaultClip/
├── history/          # encrypted items (per UUID)
├── instance.lock     # single-instance guard (flock)
├── error.log
└── warning.log

Settings: ~/Library/Preferences/com.karakuts.VaultClip.plist (UserDefaults).

Migration from Yippy / VaultClip 1.1.2: on first launch, data moves from MatthewDavidson.Yippy and VaultClip folders; settings and encryption keys are copied automatically.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘⇧V (default)	Open / close panel
↑ / ↓, Page Up / Down	Navigate the list
Return	Paste selection
Esc	Close panel
⌘0 … ⌘9	Paste by index
Ctrl+Delete	Delete selection
Ctrl+Space	Toggle preview
⌘\	Focus search
Ctrl+[ / Ctrl+]	Previous / next tab
Ctrl+Alt+⌘←→↑↓	Move panel on screen

Change the panel toggle in Preferences → Hot Key.

Installation

Choose how to install

Path	Cost	Best for
Build from source (below)	Free	You, on your Mac — recommended without Apple Developer Program ($99/year)
DMG from GitHub Releases	Free download	Quick try; may need Gatekeeper steps if the DMG is ad-hoc signed
Signed + notarized DMG	$99/year Apple program	Anyone can install without warnings — requires Developer ID Application

Apple does not offer a free Developer ID certificate. Open source does not waive the fee. Without the paid program you can still use VaultClip by building locally or accepting macOS security prompts for an unsigned/ad-hoc DMG.

Quick build (personal use, free)

Requirements: Xcode, macOS 10.15+ (Swift Package Manager resolves dependencies at build time).

git clone https://github.com/akarakuts/VaultClip.git
cd VaultClip
VAULTCLIP_SIGN_RELEASE=1 ./build-dmg.sh
./install-app.sh VaultClip.app
open /Applications/VaultClip.app

VAULTCLIP_SIGN_RELEASE=1 signs with Developer ID Application if present in Keychain; otherwise with Apple Development (created by Xcode on your Mac). Both work better than ad-hoc for Accessibility (paste into other apps).

To skip signing (fastest, least reliable for Accessibility):

./build-dmg.sh
./install-app.sh VaultClip.app

Install to Applications

Always install under /Applications — not from the DMG volume and not by dragging from the repo folder (macOS resets Accessibility when the app path changes).

./install-app.sh VaultClip.app
# or, after build-dmg.sh:
./install-app.sh dmg-staging/VaultClip.app

The script uses ditto --norsrc and preserves an existing signature when possible.

First launch

Welcome may ask for Accessibility — required for Return-to-paste (simulated ⌘V). History works without it; automatic paste does not.
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility — enable VaultClip once. Remove duplicate/stale entries if you reinstalled from another path.
Optional: menu bar Launch at Login.

Code signing

Mode	Command	Accessibility	Other Macs
Ad-hoc	`./build-dmg.sh`	Often broken	Gatekeeper blocks
Apple Development	`VAULTCLIP_SIGN_RELEASE=1 ./build-dmg.sh`	Usually OK on your Mac	Not for distribution
Developer ID	Same + cert in Keychain / CI secrets	OK	OK after notarization

Signing logic: codesign-app.sh (Hardened Runtime; Keychain entitlements only with Developer ID).

If macOS blocks the app (Gatekeeper)

Typical for ad-hoc or Apple Development DMGs on a Mac that did not build the app:

xattr -cr /Applications/VaultClip.app

Or right-click VaultClip.app → Open → confirm once. Prefer build from source on that Mac to avoid this.

Build from source (step by step)

Clone the repo (see Quick build above).
Open VaultClip.xcodeproj in Xcode (first build resolves SPM packages: RxSwift, HotKey, Fuse).
Xcode schemes:
- VaultClip — release app;
- VaultClip Beta — beta bundle;
- VaultClip XCTest — unit and UI tests.
DMG in one command: ./build-dmg.sh (see signing table above).
Manual build (without DMG script):

xcodebuild -project VaultClip.xcodeproj -scheme VaultClip -configuration Release \
  -destination 'platform=macOS' -derivedDataPath DerivedData \
  CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY="-" CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO build
COPYFILE_DISABLE=1 ditto --norsrc DerivedData/Build/Products/Release/VaultClip.app VaultClip.app
VAULTCLIP_SIGN_RELEASE=1 ./codesign-app.sh VaultClip.app
./install-app.sh VaultClip.app

Run tests:

chmod +x scripts/run-unit-tests.sh scripts/check-coverage.sh
./scripts/run-unit-tests.sh    # 99 unit tests + code coverage
./scripts/check-coverage.sh    # Security/History module gate (≥55%)

Raw xcodebuild test (scheme VaultClip XCTest) works too; the scripts match CI flags.

UI tests need Accessibility enabled for the test runner in System Settings (local only — not run in CI).

Public releases (Developer ID, optional)

For GitHub Release DMGs that install cleanly on any Mac, enroll in the Apple Developer Program, create Developer ID Application, export .p12, and add repository secrets:

Secret	Content
`MACOS_CERTIFICATE_P12`	Base64 of Developer ID Application `.p12` export
`MACOS_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD`	Password for that `.p12`
`APPLE_ID`	Apple ID email (notarization, optional but recommended)
`APPLE_APP_SPECIFIC_PASSWORD`	App-specific password from appleid.apple.com
`APPLE_TEAM_ID`	Team ID from the developer account

# Keychain Access → My Certificates → Developer ID Application → Export → .p12
base64 -i DeveloperID.p12 | pbcopy   # paste into MACOS_CERTIFICATE_P12

The Release workflow (tag v*) imports the cert, signs with Hardened Runtime + Keychain entitlements, and notarizes when Apple ID secrets are set.

After reinstall

Re-enable VaultClip in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Use ./install-app.sh or ditto --norsrc — do not copy .app from the build tree with Finder drag-and-drop.

Where the project is headed

VaultClip is an active open-source fork (GPLv3). Yippy provided a proven edge-of-screen UX; the next step is a secure local layer between macOS and your clipboard data.

Already shipped: AES-GCM encryption, Favorites and Passwords tabs, password-manager filtering, RU/EN localization, Yippy migration, Hardened Runtime, CI (build, SwiftLint baseline, unit tests, coverage gate), AppEnvironment composition root (v2.3.1).

On the horizon (driven by community priorities and issues):

sync only when you choose — local network or encrypted volume, no mandatory cloud;
extensible filtering rules and tags for long history;
accessibility improvements and App Sandbox while keeping paste via Accessibility;
widgets and quick actions for common workflows (snippets, markdown, DevOps commands).

Ideas, bugs, and pull requests are welcome: issues · pull requests.

For developers

docs/architecture.md — layers, AppEnvironment, on-disk layout, testing;
docs/linux-port-plan.md — portable Rust core roadmap;
VaultClip/Sources/ — application code; AppEnvironment is the composition root after launch;
VaultClip/Sources/Models/Security/ — Keychain, AES-GCM, migrations;
VaultClip/Resources/Localizable.xcstrings — localized UI strings (all macOS app languages);
VaultClipTests/ — unit tests (99); VaultClipUITests/ — UI tests (local);
scripts/run-unit-tests.sh, scripts/check-coverage.sh — same as CI;
graphify-out/graph.html — code graph (graphify update .).

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later). See LICENSE.

Fork of Yippy (Matthew Davidson), originally MIT. GPLv3 applies to VaultClip as a whole. Third-party code (RxSwift, HotKey, Fuse, vendored Default and LoginServiceKit) remains under its respective licenses.

Contact

Aleksey Karakuts — aleksey@karakuts.com

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
TestData		TestData
VaultClip.xcodeproj		VaultClip.xcodeproj
VaultClip		VaultClip
VaultClipTests		VaultClipTests
VaultClipUITests		VaultClipUITests
docs		docs
scripts		scripts
.gitignore		.gitignore
.graphifyignore		.graphifyignore
.swiftlint-baseline.yml		.swiftlint-baseline.yml
.swiftlint.yml		.swiftlint.yml
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
README.ru.md		README.ru.md
build-dmg.sh		build-dmg.sh
codesign-app.sh		codesign-app.sh
create-installer.sh		create-installer.sh
install-app.sh		install-app.sh
notarize-dmg.sh		notarize-dmg.sh

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