Toast when the clipboard is copied to or read #33

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opened 2026-10-20 19:09:08 -05:00 by jeff · 0 comments

jeff commented

2026-10-20 19:09:08 -05:00

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A Toast (see GLOSSARY.md) over a pane when something is copied to or read from the clipboard or the Primary selection, so that a program's Clipboard access that needed no Confirmation is no longer silent.

When a toast is shown

The user copies, by the copy binding (Window.copy(.standard)). Copy-on-select into the primary selection is not toasted: it happens on every mouse release.
A program writes the clipboard or the primary selection without being asked (clipboard.write = "allow", or "yes for pane").
A program reads the clipboard or the primary selection without being asked (clipboard.read = "allow", or "yes for pane").
Never for an access the user has just answered in a Confirmation, and never for a paste.

What it says

Translated through l10n (Fluent), with the program and counts as arguments so plurals come out right.

Who: the pane's Foreground program, else its Program (always so on Windows), else "The program" (serial, message). The user's own copy names nobody.
What and where: copied / read / cleared, and "clipboard" or "primary selection" — never "selection" bare.
How much: for text, "N lines" when there is more than one, otherwise "N characters" (graphemes). For any other Clipboard type, the type and its size in bytes.
Examples: "Copied 42 characters", "ssh copied 3 lines to the clipboard", "nvim read the primary selection", "tmux copied image/png, 18 KB to the clipboard".
An empty write: "Cleared the clipboard".
A failed write: "Could not copy to the clipboard", shown even when toasts are off.
No preview of the contents.

Where and how

Per pane, not per window (unlike Ghostty's adw.Toast), so that it shows which pane did it. A pane not shown does not show its toast.
Bottom center of the pane, one line, drawn like the size overlay (buildSizeOverlay): the pane's own colors. It is skipped when it does not fit.
Drawn after the content and before the Confirmation, which covers it where they overlap.
One per pane: a new toast replaces the one shown and restarts its timer.
Takes no pointer input; clicks go to the pane.
Times out like the size overlay: a toast_until deadline joined into nextDeadline and update.

Config

clipboard.toast = always | programs | never, default always. programs drops the user's own copies. It is in the scoped "clipboard" category, so it follows the pane and its foreground program.
window.toast_ms = 3000.

Prior art

Ghostty's app-notifications = clipboard-copy (src/apprt/gtk/class/window.zig surfaceClipboardWrite): per window, 3 s, standard clipboard only, and it does not name who wrote.

A **Toast** (see `GLOSSARY.md`) over a pane when something is copied to or read from the clipboard or the **Primary selection**, so that a program's **Clipboard access** that needed no **Confirmation** is no longer silent. ## When a toast is shown - The user copies, by the copy binding (`Window.copy(.standard)`). Copy-on-select into the primary selection is not toasted: it happens on every mouse release. - A program writes the clipboard or the primary selection without being asked (`clipboard.write = "allow"`, or "yes for pane"). - A program reads the clipboard or the primary selection without being asked (`clipboard.read = "allow"`, or "yes for pane"). - Never for an access the user has just answered in a Confirmation, and never for a paste. ## What it says Translated through `l10n` (Fluent), with the program and counts as arguments so plurals come out right. - **Who**: the pane's **Foreground program**, else its **Program** (always so on Windows), else "The program" (serial, message). The user's own copy names nobody. - **What and where**: copied / read / cleared, and "clipboard" or "primary selection" — never "selection" bare. - **How much**: for text, "N lines" when there is more than one, otherwise "N characters" (graphemes). For any other **Clipboard type**, the type and its size in bytes. - Examples: "Copied 42 characters", "ssh copied 3 lines to the clipboard", "nvim read the primary selection", "tmux copied image/png, 18 KB to the clipboard". - An empty write: "Cleared the clipboard". - A failed write: "Could not copy to the clipboard", shown even when toasts are off. - No preview of the contents. ## Where and how - Per pane, not per window (unlike Ghostty's `adw.Toast`), so that it shows which pane did it. A pane not shown does not show its toast. - Bottom center of the pane, one line, drawn like the size overlay (`buildSizeOverlay`): the pane's own colors. It is skipped when it does not fit. - Drawn after the content and before the Confirmation, which covers it where they overlap. - One per pane: a new toast replaces the one shown and restarts its timer. - Takes no pointer input; clicks go to the pane. - Times out like the size overlay: a `toast_until` deadline joined into `nextDeadline` and `update`. ## Config - `clipboard.toast = always | programs | never`, default `always`. `programs` drops the user's own copies. It is in the scoped "clipboard" category, so it follows the pane and its foreground program. - `window.toast_ms = 3000`. ## Prior art Ghostty's `app-notifications = clipboard-copy` (`src/apprt/gtk/class/window.zig` `surfaceClipboardWrite`): per window, 3 s, standard clipboard only, and it does not name who wrote.

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2026-10-20 19:09:09 -05:00

jeff referenced this issue from a commit

2026-10-20 20:13:23 -05:00

Show a toast when the clipboard is copied to or read

jeff closed this issue

2026-10-20 20:13:23 -05:00