Peekaboo/docs/commands/paste.md

summary	read_when
Paste text or rich content via peekaboo paste	you want fewer steps than clipboard set + menu/hotkey paste + clipboard restore pasting rich text (RTF) into a targeted app/window without drift

peekaboo paste

paste is an atomic “clipboard + Cmd+V + restore” helper. It temporarily replaces the system clipboard with your payload, pastes into the focused target, then restores the previous clipboard contents (or clears it if it was empty).

This reduces drift by collapsing multiple CLI steps into one command.

Key options

Flag	Description
[text] / --text	Plain text to paste.
--file-path / --image-path	Copy a file or image into the clipboard, then paste.
--data-base64 + --uti	Paste raw base64 payload with explicit UTI (e.g. public.rtf).
--also-text	Optional plain-text companion when pasting binary.
--restore-delay-ms	Delay before restoring the previous clipboard (default 150ms).
Target flags	--app <name>, --pid <pid>, --window-id <id>, --window-title <title>, --window-index <n> — focus a specific app/window before pasting.
Focus flags	Foreground focus controls (--space-switch, --no-auto-focus, etc.).

Examples

# Paste plain text into TextEdit
peekaboo paste "Hello, world" --app TextEdit

# Paste rich text (RTF) into a specific window title
peekaboo paste --data-base64 "$RTF_B64" --uti public.rtf --also-text "fallback" --app TextEdit --window-title "Untitled"

# Paste a PNG into Notes
peekaboo paste --file-path /tmp/snippet.png --app Notes

Notes

• File paths for --file-path and --image-path accept ~/....

Troubleshooting

• Verify Screen Recording + Accessibility permissions (peekaboo permissions status).
• Confirm your target (app/window/selector) with peekaboo list/peekaboo see before rerunning.
• Re-run with --json or --verbose to surface detailed errors.