paste image from clipboard

make-claude-code-ctrl-v-on-linux-works.md

Work with Claude Code / Gemini / Codex CLI

Enable Ctrl+V image pasting for AI agents (for example, Claude Code) on Linux and macOS so the agent can access the currently copied image.

Assume a tmp/ directory at the repository root (or it will fallback to /tmp) that is listed in .gitignore.

Add the following shell function to .zshrc or .bashrc. Ensure wl-paste, wtype, and notify-send are installed (typically available on standard Linux distributions).

Then add the corresponding configuration to Kitty.

map ctrl+alt+v            launch --type=background --cwd=current -- bash /path/to/pasteimage.sh

just press ctrl+alt+v when you are in claude code and it would show the [Image #1] thing:

 ▐▛███▜▌   Claude Code v2.0.33
▝▜█████▛▘  Sonnet 4.5 · API Usage Billing
  ▘▘ ▝▝    /home/chmouel/git/perso/stuff

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> [Image #1] 
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ⏵⏵ accept edits on (shift+tab to cycle)       

pasteimage.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Author: Chmouel Boudjnah <[email protected]>
# With kitty:
# map ctrl+alt+v            launch --type=background --cwd=current -- pasteimage
# requires: wl-clipboard, wtype, notify-send (for wayland linux) or osascript (for macOS)
set -eufo pipefail

gui=yes
msg=

function groot() {
  git rev-parse --show-toplevel
}

get_clipboard_image() {
  local output=$1

  if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
    osascript <<EOF 2>/dev/null && return 0
try
  set image_data to the clipboard as «class PNGf»
on error
  error number 1
end try
set outFile to POSIX file "${output}"
set fp to open for access outFile with write permission
set eof of fp to 0
write image_data to fp
close access fp
EOF
  elif command -v wl-paste &>/dev/null; then
    wl-paste --type image/png >"${output}" 2>/dev/null && return 0
  elif command -v xclip &>/dev/null; then
    xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png -o >"${output}" 2>/dev/null && return 0
  fi

  return 1
}

help() {
  echo "usage: $(basename $0)"
  echo
  grep ')\s\+##' "$0" | sed 's/^\s*/-/;s/)\s*/ /;s/^\s\+//;s/##//'
}

while getopts "hG" opt; do
  case $opt in
  G) ## Do not use GUI notifications
    gui=
    ;;
  h) ## Show this help
    help
    exit 0
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Unknown flag: -$OPTARG" >&2
    help
    exit 1
    ;;
  esac
done
shift $((OPTIND - 1))

destdir=/tmp/s

rootdir=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || echo "")
if [[ -n ${rootdir} ]] && [[ -d ${rootdir}/tmp ]]; then
  destdir=${rootdir}/${destdir}
fi
mkdir -p ${destdir}

# Clean up PNG files older than 1 day
find ${destdir} -name "*.png" -mtime +1 -delete 2>/dev/null || true
mkdir -p ${destdir} || {
  msg="Could not create ${destdir} directory"
  if [[ -n ${gui} ]]; then
    if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
      osascript -e "display notification \"${msg}\" with title \"pasteimage\""
    else
      notify-send pasteimage "${msg}"
    fi
  else
    echo "${msg}" >&2
  fi
  exit 1
}

random="${destdir}/$(mktemp -u pasted-image-XXXXXX).png"
if get_clipboard_image "${random}"; then
  frandom=$(readlink -f "${random}")
  if [[ -n ${gui} ]]; then
    if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
      osascript -e "display notification \"Image saved to $(realpath --relative-to="$(groot)" "${random}") and path copied to clipboard\" with title \"pasteimage\""
      echo -n "${frandom}" | pbcopy
      osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to keystroke "v" using command down'
    else
      notify-send pasteimage "Image saved to $(realpath --relative-to="$(groot)" "${random}") and path copied to clipboard"
      echo -n "${frandom}" | wl-copy
      wtype -M ctrl -M shift v
    fi
  else
    echo "${frandom}"
  fi
else
  rm -f "${random}"
  msg="Could not find image in clipboard"
  if [[ -n ${gui} ]]; then
    if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
      osascript -e "display notification \"${msg}\" with title \"pasteimage\""
    else
      notify-send pasteimage "${msg}"
    fi
  else
    echo "${msg}" >&2
  fi
  exit 1
fi