Quick Start

Learn the essentials of mahpastes in under 5 minutes.

Your First Clip

Method 1: Paste from Clipboard

1. Copy something to your system clipboard (text, image, or file)
2. Focus the mahpastes window
3. Press Cmd + V

The content appears as a clip in your gallery.

Method 2: Drag and Drop

1. Drag any file from Finder
2. Drop it onto the mahpastes window

Multiple files can be dropped at once.

Understanding the Gallery

The main window shows your clips in a grid layout:

• Images display as thumbnails
• Text/Code shows a preview of the content
• Files show the filename and type icon

The bottom bar shows the clip count, an + Add button, and an expiry dropdown for new uploads. Sort options are in the header bar next to the search field.

Clip Actions

Open the clip context menu (three dots on each card) to access actions:

Button	Action
Open	Open with your default application
Open With...	Choose an application to open this clip
Copy	Submenu with Path (temp file path), File (file to clipboard), and Contents (for text, JSON, and images)
Save	Open the native save dialog and export a copy to disk
Edit	Open supported image, text, or JSON clips in the built-in editor
Tags	Add or remove tags
Metadata	View and edit file metadata
Rename	Change the filename
Set Expiration	Schedule auto-deletion after a time period (or cancel an existing expiration)
Archive	Move to archive (or Restore in archive view)
Merge Duplicates	Merge identical copies when duplicates exist
Delete	Remove permanently

Working with Clips

Copy Back to Clipboard

Use a clip's three-dot menu and choose Copy -> Contents, then paste it anywhere.

For images in the lightbox, Cmd/Ctrl + C also copies the active clip contents.

Copy Path

Need to reference a file in terminal or another app? Use Copy Path:

1. Open the clip menu (three dots)
2. Open Copy -> Path
3. mahpastes creates a temporary file
4. The file path is copied to your clipboard
5. Paste the path wherever you need it

Temp files created by Copy Path are leased temporary files. mahpastes cleans them up periodically and again when the app exits.

Search and Filter

Use the search bar to filter the clips currently shown in the gallery:

• Type a filename to find specific clips
• Search by file type or MIME text (for example image or text/plain)
• Results update instantly

Clip Expiration

Set per-clip expiration at upload time using the bottom bar dropdown, or on existing clips via the context menu. Presets: 15 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, 7 days.

See Auto-Delete for details.

Using the Archive

The archive keeps important clips separate from your active workspace.

Archive a Clip

Open a clip's three-dot menu and click Archive. It moves to the archive section.

View Archived Clips

Click the Archive button in the header, or open the menu drawer (M) and click Archive, to see archived clips.

Unarchive

In Archive view, open a clip's menu and click Restore to move it back to the main gallery.

Editing Clips

Edit Images

1. Open an image clip's menu and click Edit
2. Use the toolbar to annotate:
   • Select — Select and move annotations
   • Crop — Crop the image
   • Brush — Freehand drawing
   • Eraser — Erase drawn content
   • Line — Draw straight lines
   • Arrow — Draw arrows
   • Rectangle — Draw rectangles
   • Circle — Draw circles
   • Text — Add text annotations
   • Anonymize — Pixelate a region
   • Eyedropper — Pick a color from the image
3. Click Save to overwrite the original clip, or Save As to create a new clip with your edits

Edit Text

1. Open a text clip's menu and click Edit
2. Modify the content in the editor
3. Click Save to overwrite the original, or Save As to create a new clip with the changes

Bulk Operations

Select multiple clips for batch operations:

1. Click the checkbox on each clip you want to select You can also Shift-click checkboxes to select a range.
2. Use the bulk action bar that appears:
   • Compare — Compare two selected images side-by-side (visible when exactly 2 images are selected)
   • Tag — Add or remove tags from selected clips
   • Expire / Clear Expiry — Set or remove expiration on selected clips
   • Copy — Copy selected clips as files to system clipboard
   • Download — Save the selected clips as a ZIP file via the native save dialog
   • Archive — Move selected to archive
   • Delete — Remove all selected

Keyboard Shortcuts

Essential shortcuts for power users:

Shortcut	Action
Cmd + V	Paste from clipboard
Cmd + C	Copy clip contents (lightbox) or copy selected clips as files (gallery)
Esc	Close modal/dialog
Cmd + Z	Undo (in editor)
Cmd + Shift + Z	Redo (in editor)
Cmd + S	Save As (in editor)

See all shortcuts in Keyboard Shortcuts.

Folder Mode

Press F to switch the gallery into folder mode. Tags act as directories -- each tag shows only its directly tagged clips, and child tags appear as navigable sub-folders. Uploading a clip while inside a folder automatically tags it with that folder's tag.

CLI for Power Users

The mp command-line tool gives you full access to mahpastes from a terminal. Upload clips, manage tags, run bulk operations, and script workflows against the REST API.

mp clip list               # List recent clips
mp clip upload photo.png   # Upload a file
mp tag list                # List all tags

See Installation for setup instructions.

What's Next?

• Set up Watch Folders for automatic imports
• Learn about Image Comparison
• Read the full Features guide