pbfile - a command-line utility similar to pbcopy, which creates a named file that is copied to the clipboard rather than raw text. Uses simon willison's llm utility to generate semantic filename.

pbfile

#!/usr/bin/env bash
#
# pbfile — read stdin into a temp file and copy it as a file into the macOS clipboard

set -euo pipefail

USE_LLM=true
while getopts "n" opt; do
  case $opt in
    n) USE_LLM=false ;;
    \?) echo "Usage: $0 [-n] < input" >&2; exit 1 ;;
  esac
done
shift $((OPTIND-1))

FINAL_TMPFILE="" # Initialize for robustness, used in both branches

if [ "$USE_LLM" = true ]; then
  # Create a basic temp file first
  BASIC_TMPFILE=$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/pbcopy-file-base.XXXXXX")
  # Ensure cleanup of the *initial* temp file if script exits early
  trap 'rm -f "$BASIC_TMPFILE"' EXIT

  # Write stdin to the basic temp file
  cat > "$BASIC_TMPFILE"

  # Use llm to generate a descriptive file name
  # Sanitize the name: lowercase, replace spaces/underscores with hyphens, remove non-alphanumeric/hyphen/dot
  echo "Generating semantic filename using LLM..." >&2
  SEMANTIC_NAME=$(llm --model openai/gpt-4.1-nano --system "Generate a concise, filesystem-safe, descriptive file name (lowercase, hyphens for spaces, no special characters except hyphens and dots) based on the text:" < "$BASIC_TMPFILE" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | tr ' _' '-' | tr -cd '[:alnum:].-' | sed 's/-\+/-/g; s/^-//; s/-$//')

  # Handle empty or invalid names from LLM
  if [ -z "$SEMANTIC_NAME" ]; then
    echo "LLM failed to generate a name, using fallback." >&2
    SEMANTIC_NAME="pbcopy-file-$(date +%s)" # Fallback name
  fi

  # Construct final path: add .txt only if LLM name lacks an extension
  FINAL_FILENAME_BASE="${SEMANTIC_NAME}"
  if [[ "$SEMANTIC_NAME" != *.* ]]; then
    FINAL_FILENAME_BASE="${SEMANTIC_NAME}.txt"
    echo "LLM name lacked extension, appending .txt" >&2
  fi

  # Ensure TMPDIR path doesn't have a trailing slash before appending filename
  TEMP_DIR_PATH=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}
  TEMP_DIR_PATH=${TEMP_DIR_PATH%/} # Remove single trailing slash if present
  FINAL_TMPFILE="${TEMP_DIR_PATH}/${FINAL_FILENAME_BASE}"

  # Avoid collisions if the final name somehow already exists
  if [ -e "$FINAL_TMPFILE" ]; then
      # Add timestamp before the extension (if any) or at the end
      if [[ "$FINAL_FILENAME_BASE" == *.* ]]; then
          local_name="${FINAL_FILENAME_BASE%.*}"
          local_ext="${FINAL_FILENAME_BASE##*.}"
          # Use the cleaned TEMP_DIR_PATH here too
          FINAL_TMPFILE="${TEMP_DIR_PATH}/${local_name}-$(date +%s).${local_ext}"
      else
          # Use the cleaned TEMP_DIR_PATH here too
          FINAL_TMPFILE="${TEMP_DIR_PATH}/${FINAL_FILENAME_BASE}-$(date +%s)"
      fi
  fi
  echo "Using filename: $FINAL_TMPFILE" >&2
  mv "$BASIC_TMPFILE" "$FINAL_TMPFILE"
  # DO NOT add a trap for FINAL_TMPFILE - it needs to persist
  trap - EXIT
else
  # Create a temp file directly with .txt suffix
  FINAL_TMPFILE=$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/pbcopy-file.XXXXXX.txt")
  # DO NOT add a trap for FINAL_TMPFILE - it needs to persist
  echo "Using temporary filename: $FINAL_TMPFILE" >&2

  # Write stdin to the temp file
  cat > "$FINAL_TMPFILE"
fi


# copy a Finder‐style alias of that file into the clipboard
osascript <<EOF
  set the clipboard to (POSIX file "$FINAL_TMPFILE")
EOF

# The file at FINAL_TMPFILE is intentionally left in the temp directory
# for the clipboard reference to remain valid. OS cleanup will handle it.