clip-type — autotype the current clipboard into the next window you focus.

autotype.applescript

#!/usr/bin/osascript

(*
    clip-type — type the current clipboard into the next window you focus.

    Why this exists:
        Some apps refuse paste (Cmd+V) — KVM/VNC/RDP consoles, certain
        password fields, locked-down VMs. Synthesizing keystrokes works
        where paste doesn't, because the OS sees real key events.

    How it works:
        1. If a numeric argument is passed (seconds), wait that long, then
           type. This is the "I'll click the target window myself" mode.
        2. With no argument, record which app is frontmost right now
           (typically the terminal you launched this from), then poll
           every 100ms until a *different* app becomes frontmost. As soon
           as you click into another application, the wait ends and the
           clipboard is typed into it.
        3. Either way, the final step uses System Events `keystroke` to
           emit the clipboard contents one character at a time, as if
           typed on the keyboard.

    Usage:
        clip-type           # wait for app switch, then type
        clip-type 5         # wait 5 seconds, then type

    Requirements:
        - Accessibility permission for whichever app launches the script
          (Terminal / iTerm / Script Editor). Granted in:
          System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
        - Clipboard must contain text. Images / files will error out at
          `the clipboard as text`.

    Caveats:
        - Switching between windows or tabs of the *same* app does NOT
          end the wait — the frontmost-app name is unchanged. You must
          switch to a different application.
        - `keystroke` is slow for large clipboards and can drop characters
          over laggy remote sessions.
        - Non-ASCII / dead-key characters depend on the active keyboard
          layout and may produce unexpected output.
*)

-- Returns the name of the application that currently owns the menu bar
-- (the "frontmost" app). Used to detect when the user switches windows.
on frontApp()
    tell application "System Events" to return name of first application process whose frontmost is true
end frontApp

-- Entry point. `argv` is the list of command-line arguments passed to
-- `osascript`. AppleScript receives them as a list of strings.
on run argv
    if (count of argv) > 0 then
        -- Explicit-delay mode: argv[1] is seconds to wait before typing.
        -- Coerced to `real` so fractional values like "1.5" work.
        delay (item 1 of argv as real)
    else
        -- App-switch mode: snapshot the current frontmost app, then
        -- spin until it changes. The 0.1s sleep keeps CPU usage near
        -- zero while staying responsive to the user's window switch.
        set startApp to frontApp()
        repeat while frontApp() is startApp
            delay 0.1
        end repeat
    end if

    -- Type the clipboard. `the clipboard as text` coerces whatever is
    -- on the pasteboard to a string (or raises an error if it can't).
    -- `keystroke` synthesizes real key events into the frontmost app.
    tell application "System Events"
        keystroke (the clipboard as text)
    end tell
end run