Model Context Protocol

Bring your clipboard into Claude

SnipTray speaks MCP, so AI assistants can search your clipboard history, paste past snips, and save new snippets — right from a conversation. It runs entirely on your Mac, and you decide which apps get in.

Requires SnipTray for Mac Nothing to install — bundled & signed On-device, private by design

What it does

What your assistant can do with your snips and prompts

SnipTray exposes a focused set of tools over MCP — enough to be genuinely useful, nothing that puts your history at risk.

Search your history

Ask "find the staging database URL I copied yesterday" and your assistant searches across every snip — by text, title, or category.

Read a snip into the chat

Pull the full content of any snip into the conversation so the assistant can quote it, transform it, or reason over it.

Copy back to paste

Have the assistant place any snip on your clipboard — text, a URL, rich text, or an image — ready to paste wherever you need it.

Save a new snippet

Capture the assistant’s output straight into SnipTray history so it’s waiting in your tray the next time you need it.

Find the right prompt

Ask for “that prompt I use for code review” and your assistant searches your prompt library — the curated catalog and the ones you wrote — by title, category, or tag.

Fill in the blanks for you

Prompts have blanks like {{language}} or {{diff}}. Your assistant fills them from the conversation it is already having, and tells you about any it left empty.

Turn it on

Connected in under a minute

No terminal required. Everything happens in SnipTray Settings and a single paste into your AI client.

Enable MCP in SnipTray

Open SnipTray Settings → MCP and turn on "Enable MCP access". This starts a small server that runs entirely on your Mac — no network port, no account, nothing to install. It stays off until you flip this switch.

Add your AI tool

Click Add AI tool and pick your assistant (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code…). SnipTray mints a private access token just for that tool and builds a ready-to-paste configuration. Each tool you add is listed so you can revoke it later with one click.

Paste the configuration into your client

Copy the generated config from SnipTray and paste it into your client — for Claude Desktop that is claude_desktop_config.json; for Claude Code it is a single claude mcp add command. Restart the client and the SnipTray tools appear.

Ask your assistant to use your snips

That is it. Try "paste the email signature I use" or "what was that tracking number I copied this morning?" The assistant searches, reads, and pastes from your clipboard — right inside the conversation.

Configuration

You never write this by hand

When you add a tool in Settings → MCP, SnipTray generates the exact configuration for you — with the bundled bridge’s path and that tool’s private token already filled in. Copy it, paste it into your client, done. It looks like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sniptray": {
      "command": "/Applications/SnipTray.app/Contents/MacOS/sniptray-mcp",
      "args": ["--socket", "…/SnipTray/mcp.sock", "--token", "•••", "--client", "cli_…"]
    }
  }
}

For Claude Code, SnipTray gives you a one-line claude mcp add command instead. The same server works with any client that speaks MCP over stdio.

Privacy & control

Your clipboard, on your terms

Clipboard history can hold sensitive things. SnipTray treats MCP access as something you grant deliberately — and can take back instantly.

The app is the gatekeeper

MCP is off by default, and every AI tool must be explicitly added before it can connect. Nothing reaches your clipboard unless you approved it.

On-device, over a private socket

The server listens on a local Unix socket — not a network port. Your snips never leave your Mac; only the specific answers your assistant asks for do.

Read-only history

Assistants can search and read snips and prompts, copy one back to paste, and save a new snippet. They cannot delete, edit, or touch your categories or sharing.

Prompts are opt-in separately

Turning on MCP does not expose your prompt library. That is its own switch in Settings → Prompts, off until you turn it on.

Revoke anytime

Each tool holds its own token. Revoke it in Settings → MCP and its access is cut off immediately — no reinstall, no reset.

Works with

Claude Desktop Claude Code Cursor VS Code Any MCP client

MCP FAQ

Questions about connecting AI to SnipTray

What MCP is, where your data goes, and how you stay in control.

What is MCP, and why would I connect it to SnipTray?

MCP (the Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants like Claude use external tools. Connecting SnipTray over MCP means you can ask your assistant to search your clipboard history, pull a past snip into the conversation, copy something back so you can paste it, or save a new snippet — without leaving the chat. It turns your clipboard into something your AI can actually reach.

Is my clipboard data sent to any server?

No. The MCP server runs entirely on your Mac. It talks to your AI client over a private local socket — nothing about your snips ever leaves the device except the specific answers your assistant asks for. SnipTray still has no servers of its own, and the same privacy filters (passwords, 2FA codes, excluded apps) that keep sensitive data out of your history keep it out of MCP too.

How do I control which assistants get access?

SnipTray is the gatekeeper. MCP is off until you turn it on in Settings → MCP, and each AI tool has to be added there before it can connect — which mints a private token just for that tool. You can revoke any tool at any time, which immediately cuts off its access. Nothing can read your clipboard through MCP unless you have explicitly approved it.

Which AI apps can connect to SnipTray?

Any client that speaks MCP over stdio. SnipTray gives you ready-made setup for Claude Desktop and Claude Code, and the same configuration works for Cursor, VS Code, and other MCP-capable tools. You copy the generated config from Settings → MCP and paste it into your client.

Can the assistant delete or change my snips?

No. The server reads your history read-only. The only things it can write are: copying an existing snip to your clipboard so you can paste it, and saving a new text snippet into history. It cannot delete snips, edit them, or touch your categories or sharing settings.

Do I need Node.js or any extra install?

No. The MCP bridge is bundled inside the SnipTray app and signed alongside it — there is nothing separate to install and no npm or Node.js required. Turn MCP on, add your AI tool, and paste the config.

Give Claude access to your clipboard

Free forever for one Mac. Turn on MCP in Settings and add your assistant in a minute.

Download for Mac See pricing