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Managing Code Snippets

Use mahpastes as a personal code snippet library. Store, organize, and reuse code fragments across projects.

Why Use mahpastes for Snippets?​

  • Quick access: Faster than searching through old projects
  • Cross-project: Snippets available regardless of current project
  • Editable: Modify snippets before using
  • Searchable: Find snippets by filename or content type

Saving Code Snippets​

From Your Editor​

  1. Select code in your editor
  2. Copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C)
  3. Switch to mahpastes
  4. Paste (Cmd/Ctrl + V)

The code is saved as a text clip.

Tips for Saving​

Use descriptive paste context: When you paste, the clip is named pasted_text_<timestamp>.txt. For better organization, consider:

  1. Creating a text file with a descriptive name
  2. Pasting your code into it
  3. Dragging the file into mahpastes

Example names:

  • react-useEffect-cleanup.js
  • python-async-retry-pattern.py
  • sql-pagination-query.sql

Organizing Snippets​

Archive Important Snippets​

Keep valuable snippets in the archive:

  1. Find the snippet in the gallery
  2. Open the clip menu (three dots) and click Archive
  3. Snippet moves to Archive view

Benefits:

  • Won't be accidentally deleted
  • Separate from temporary clips
  • Easy to find in Archive

Filter snippets by filename or content type:

  1. Type in the search bar
  2. Results filter instantly
  3. Find your snippet quickly

Search matches against the filename and content type (MIME type), not the full snippet body. For example, searching text matches clips with a text/plain content type, and searching python matches a file named python-retry.py.

Search tips:

  • Include the language in the filename: python, react, sql
  • Include the snippet purpose in the filename: retry, pagination, auth
  • Include the project name in the filename when it matters

Using Snippets​

Copy and Paste​

  1. Find your snippet
  2. Open the clip menu (three dots), hover over Copy, and click Contents
  3. Paste into your editor

Modify Before Using​

Often you need to customize a snippet:

  1. Open the clip menu (three dots) and click Edit
  2. Modify the code in the editor
  3. Either:
    • Click Save to overwrite the current clip
    • Click Save As (creates a new clip with your changes)
    • Copy the text and close the editor (keeps original unchanged)

Copy Path for CLI​

Some tools work better with file paths:

  1. Open the clip menu (three dots)
  2. Hover over Copy, then click Path
  3. Path is copied to clipboard
  4. Use in terminal:
# View with syntax highlighting (if bat installed)
bat "$(pbpaste)"

# Source a shell script
source "$(pbpaste)"

# Run a Python script
python "$(pbpaste)"

If you are not on macOS, replace pbpaste with your platform's clipboard command.

Snippet Categories​

Configuration Templates​

Store config file templates:

// package.json template
{
  "name": "my-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js",
    "test": "jest"
  }
}

Archive these for repeated use.

Utility Functions​

Common helper functions:

// Debounce function
function debounce(fn, delay) {
  let timeout;
  return (...args) => {
    clearTimeout(timeout);
    timeout = setTimeout(() => fn(...args), delay);
  };
}

API Patterns​

Request patterns you use often:

# Retry with exponential backoff
async def retry_request(fn, max_retries=3):
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        try:
            return await fn()
        except Exception as e:
            if attempt == max_retries - 1:
                raise
            await asyncio.sleep(2 ** attempt)

SQL Queries​

Reusable query patterns:

-- Pagination query
SELECT *
FROM items
WHERE id > :last_id
ORDER BY id
LIMIT :page_size

Shell Commands​

Complex commands you want to remember:

# Find and delete node_modules
find . -name "node_modules" -type d -prune -exec rm -rf {} +

# Git log with graph
git log --oneline --graph --all --decorate

Workflow Examples​

Starting a New Project​

  1. Open Archive in mahpastes
  2. Search for "template" or project type
  3. Copy configuration files
  4. Paste into new project
  5. Customize as needed

Implementing a Pattern​

  1. Search for the pattern name
  2. Open snippet in editor
  3. Customize for current context
  4. Copy the modified version
  5. Paste into your code

Sharing with Team​

  1. Find relevant snippets
  2. Select multiple (Shift-click)
  3. Download them as a ZIP archive
  4. Share with team
  5. Each person imports into their mahpastes

Tips​

Naming Conventions​

Use consistent naming:

  • language-purpose-variant.ext
  • react-form-validation.js
  • python-db-connection-pool.py

Keep Snippets Focused​

Each snippet should do one thing:

  • ✅ Single function
  • ✅ One config file
  • ❌ Entire module with many functions
  • ❌ Multiple unrelated utilities

Update Regularly​

When you improve a snippet:

  1. Edit it in mahpastes
  2. Use Save to overwrite it, or Save As to keep the original and create a new version

Version Control Alternative​

For extensive snippet libraries, consider:

  • A Git repository of snippets
  • Watch folder pointing to the repo
  • mahpastes auto-imports updates

Limitations​

mahpastes is great for quick access to snippets but isn't a replacement for:

  • Full-featured snippet managers with variables
  • IDE snippet expansion
  • Version-controlled snippet repositories

Use mahpastes for:

  • Quick capture of useful code
  • Cross-project code storage
  • Temporary code storage during development
  • Archive -- store important snippets long-term
  • Tags -- organize snippets by language or project