Windows-11-Clipboard-History-For-Linux/README.md

📋 Windows 11 Clipboard History For Linux

A beautiful, Windows 11-style Clipboard History Manager for Linux

Built with 🦀 Rust + ⚡ Tauri v2 + ⚛️ React + 🎨 Tailwind CSS

Features • Installation • Development • Contributing

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✨ Features

• 🎨 Windows 11 Design - Pixel-perfect recreation of the Win+V clipboard UI with Acrylic/Mica glassmorphism effects
• 🌙 Dark/Light Mode - Automatically detects system theme preference
• ⌨️ Global Hotkey - Press Super+V or Ctrl+Alt+V to open from anywhere
• 📌 Pin Items - Keep important clipboard entries at the top
• 🖼️ Image Support - Copy and paste images with preview thumbnails
• 🚀 Blazing Fast - Written in Rust for maximum performance
• 🔒 Privacy First - All data stays local on your machine
• 🖱️ Smart Positioning - Window appears at your cursor position
• 💨 System Tray - Runs silently in the background
• 🐧 Wayland & X11 - Works on both display servers

🐧 Installation (For Users)

The easiest way to get started (Recommended)

One-line install:

curl -sL https://clipboard.gustavosett.dev | bash

Note: This script automatically detects your distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, etc.) and installs the appropriate package.

Or

Using package managers

Download the latest release from GitHub and follow the installation instructions for your distribution in RELEASES

📦 Installation (For devs)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/gustavosett/Windows-11-Clipboard-History-For-Linux.git
cd win11-clipboard-history

# Install system dependencies (auto-detects your distro)
make deps

# Install Rust and Node.js if needed
make rust
make node
source ~/.cargo/env  # Reload shell environment

# Build and install
make build
sudo make install

Distribution-Specific Dependencies

🟠 Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint / Pop!_OS

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
    libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
    build-essential \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libssl-dev \
    libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
    librsvg2-dev \
    libxdo-dev \
    libgtk-3-dev \
    libglib2.0-dev \
    pkg-config

🔵 Fedora

sudo dnf install -y \
    webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
    openssl-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
    librsvg2-devel \
    libxdo-devel \
    gtk3-devel \
    glib2-devel \
    pkg-config \
    @development-tools

🟣 Arch Linux / Manjaro / EndeavourOS

sudo pacman -Syu --needed \
    webkit2gtk-4.1 \
    base-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    openssl \
    libappindicator-gtk3 \
    librsvg \
    xdotool \
    gtk3 \
    glib2 \
    pkgconf

Install Rust

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env

Install Node.js (v18+)

# Using nvm (recommended)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.1/install.sh | bash
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

Build from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/gustavosett/Windows-11-Clipboard-History-For-Linux.git
cd win11-clipboard-history

# Install npm dependencies
npm install

# Build the application
npm run tauri:build

# The built packages will be in:
# - Binary: src-tauri/target/release/win11-clipboard-history
# - DEB package: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/
# - RPM package: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/rpm/
# - AppImage: src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage/

🛠️ Development

Quick Start

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode (hot reload enabled)
make dev
# OR
./scripts/run-dev.sh

Note for VS Code Snap users: If you're using VS Code installed via Snap, use make dev or ./scripts/run-dev.sh instead of npm run tauri:dev directly. This script cleans the environment to avoid library conflicts.

Makefile Commands

Command	Description
make help	Show all available commands
make deps	Install system dependencies (auto-detect distro)
make deps-ubuntu	Install dependencies for Ubuntu/Debian
make deps-fedora	Install dependencies for Fedora
make deps-arch	Install dependencies for Arch Linux
make rust	Install Rust via rustup
make node	Install Node.js via nvm
make check-deps	Verify all dependencies are installed
make dev	Run in development mode
make build	Build production release
make install	Install to system (requires sudo)
make uninstall	Remove from system (requires sudo)
make clean	Remove build artifacts
make lint	Run linters
make format	Format code

npm Scripts

Command	Description
npm run dev	Start Vite dev server (frontend only)
npm run tauri:dev	Start full Tauri development mode
npm run tauri:build	Build production release
npm run build	Build frontend only
npm run lint	Run ESLint
npm run format	Format code with Prettier

Project Structure

win11-clipboard-history/
├── src/                      # React frontend
│   ├── components/           # UI components
│   │   ├── EmptyState.tsx    # Empty history state
│   │   ├── Header.tsx        # App header with actions
│   │   ├── HistoryItem.tsx   # Clipboard item card
│   │   └── TabBar.tsx        # Tab navigation
│   ├── hooks/                # React hooks
│   │   ├── useClipboardHistory.ts
│   │   └── useDarkMode.ts
│   ├── types/                # TypeScript types
│   │   └── clipboard.ts
│   ├── App.tsx               # Main app component
│   ├── index.css             # Global styles + Tailwind
│   └── main.tsx              # Entry point
├── src-tauri/                # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs           # App setup, tray, commands
│   │   ├── lib.rs            # Library exports
│   │   ├── clipboard_manager.rs  # Clipboard operations
│   │   └── hotkey_manager.rs     # Global shortcuts
│   ├── capabilities/         # Tauri permissions
│   ├── icons/                # App icons
│   ├── Cargo.toml            # Rust dependencies
│   └── tauri.conf.json       # Tauri configuration
├── scripts/
│   └── run-dev.sh            # Clean environment dev script
├── Makefile                  # Build automation
├── tailwind.config.js        # Win11 theme config
├── vite.config.ts            # Vite configuration
└── package.json              # Node dependencies

Global Hotkey Permissions

On Linux with X11, global keyboard capture may require the user to be in the input group:

sudo usermod -aG input $USER
# Log out and back in for changes to take effect

On Wayland, permissions are typically handled automatically by the compositor.

🐧 Platform Support

Display Servers

Display Server	Status	Notes
X11	✅ Full support	Global hotkeys work via rdev
Wayland	✅ Full support	Uses wl-clipboard for clipboard access

Tested Distributions

Distribution	Version	Status
Ubuntu	22.04+	✅ Tested
Debian	12+	✅ Tested
Fedora	38+	✅ Tested
Arch Linux	Rolling	✅ Tested
Manjaro	Latest	✅ Tested
Linux Mint	21+	✅ Tested
Pop!_OS	22.04+	✅ Tested

🎨 Customization

Changing the Hotkey

Edit src-tauri/src/hotkey_manager.rs to modify the global shortcut:

// Current: Super+V or Ctrl+Alt+V
Key::KeyV => {
    if super_pressed || (ctrl_pressed && alt_pressed) {
        callback();
    }
}

Theme Colors

The Windows 11 color palette is defined in tailwind.config.js:

colors: {
  win11: {
    'bg-primary': '#202020',
    'bg-accent': '#0078d4',
    // ... customize as needed
  }
}

🔧 Troubleshooting

Application won't start

1. Check dependencies: Run make check-deps to verify all dependencies are installed
2. Wayland clipboard issues: Ensure wl-clipboard is installed for Wayland support
3. VS Code Snap conflict: Use make dev or ./scripts/run-dev.sh instead of npm run tauri:dev

Global hotkey not working

1. X11: Add user to input group: sudo usermod -aG input $USER
2. Wayland: Some compositors may require additional permissions
3. Try alternative hotkey Ctrl+Alt+V instead of Super+V

Window not showing at cursor position

This may occur on some Wayland compositors. The window will fallback to a default position.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'feat: add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style
• Run make lint and make format before committing
• Write meaningful commit messages
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Tauri - For the amazing Rust-based framework
• Windows 11 - For the beautiful design inspiration
• rdev - For global keyboard capture
• arboard - For cross-platform clipboard access
• wl-clipboard-rs - For Wayland clipboard support

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If you find this project useful, please consider giving it a ⭐!

Made with ❤️ for the Linux community