clips

README

clips

A simple tool to generate snippets on the command line using templates. For example, generating bash one liners straight to the clipboard in situations where functions and aliases in config files aren't practical.

See the Tips section for an example use case.

Installation

With go installed and a properly configured $GOPATH, simply run

go get -u github.com/danielthatcher/clips

Usage

clips uses a template system based around JSON files. To view the available templates, use

clips list

To generate a snippet using one of the available templates, run

clips [template]

By default, this will ask you to fill in any missing variables for the template. To use defaults, add -q. To copy the result to the clipboard, add -c.

For a list of all options, use

clips -h

Templates

No templates come by default. To add a new template and open it in an editor (-e), run

clips new -e [template]

Templates are JSON files, stored under $HOME/.config/clips/[profile]/[template].json. An example of a template can be seen here.

The line field of a template should provide the base of the template. The variables field provides a dictionary of substitutions to make on the line field, with the keys being strings to find, and the values being the names of the variables that should be used to replace them. The defaults sections is a dictionary of default values for variables in the case that they are unset.

Variables

Variables can be set globally using

clips set [variable] [value]

The value of this variable will then be used to fill in templates.

Variables can also be set when generating a template by using the -s flag. For example,

clips [template] -s MYVAR=zzz

Profiles

Profiles provide a way to switch between sets of active templates. You can view your current profile with

clips profile

You can view all profiles with

clips profile list

The active profile can be changed with

clips profile use [profile]

Profiles can be added using

clips profile add [profile]

and removed using

clips profile remove [profile]

Tips

This is particularly useful when combined with a program such as rofi or dmenu. For example, I use the profiles in my dotfiles for Boot2Root style CTFs with the following command bound to a hotkey:

clips -q -c $(clips list | rofi -dmenu)

When I (typically) start a VPN connection and focus on a target machine, I set the LHOST and RHOST variables using

clips set LHOST <vpn-ip>
clips set RHOST <target-ip>

I also keep a public SSH key stored in a variable.

I can then press my assigned hotkey, and make a selection from a number of useful commands to run on the target machine (as well as some simpler templates to generate the URL of my local HTTP server, or copy the LHOST or RHOST variables to the clipboard), which will then be copied to the clipboard, ready to be used. This saves remembering and repeatedly typing out repetitive commands.

Documentation

Overview

Copyright © 2020 Daniel Thatcher