How to Automate Your Clipboard with Webhooks
Your clipboard is the most-used data transfer mechanism on your Mac, yet it has zero automation support by default. What if copying a tracking number could automatically update a spreadsheet? Or copying an address could trigger a map lookup?
Option 1: The Hard Way (Scripts)
- 1 Write a background script that polls
pbpasteevery second. - 2 Parse the clipboard content yourself and fire HTTP requests.
- 3 Handle failures, retries, and authentication. Maintain the script forever.
Option 2: The Sane Way (SaneClip)
- ✓ Webhooks: Configure an HTTPS endpoint in Settings. SaneClip fires a POST with HMAC-SHA256 signature on copy, paste, or delete events. Built-in retry logic.
- ✓ URL Schemes: Control SaneClip from Shortcuts, Alfred, Raycast, or scripts.
saneclip://paste?index=0,saneclip://search?q=keyword,saneclip://copy?text=Hello. - ✓ Siri Shortcuts: Full App Intents support — "Get clipboard history", "Search clips", "Paste snippet by name". Build entire workflows in Shortcuts.app.