Snip ✂️

Snip is a dead simple CLI tool that manages shell snippets as POSIX-style aliases and functions.

Ideal for keeping long commands one short key away.

Quick Overview

• Aliases + Functions: Plain snippets become alias k='v'; snippets with $1, $2, ... become shell functions.
• Auto-sourced: Snippets live in one managed file, sourced from your shell rc automatically.
• Copy on demand: snip key expands arguments and copies the result to your clipboard.
• Pretty Output: Every command prints a branded ✂️ SNIP message, and snip ls shows an easy-to-read table with alternating row colors.

Supported shells

snip generates POSIX-style aliases and functions, so it supports:

Shell	Config file snip hooks into
zsh	~/.zshrc
bash	~/.bashrc
ksh	~/.kshrc

snip detects your shell from $SHELL. If your shell is anything else (fish, nushell, PowerShell, ...), snip exits with an error and does not modify any files.

Requirements

• Go 1.22 or later
• A clipboard tool: pbcopy (macOS), wl-copy (Wayland), or xclip (X11)

Installation

go install github.com/iamhectorsosa/snip@latest

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/iamhectorsosa/snip.git
cd snip
go install

Usage

Basic Usage

# Save a snippet
snip gs='git status'

# Save a snippet with positional arguments
snip cpto='cp $1 $2'

# Copy a snippet to your clipboard
snip gs

# Copy a snippet with arguments filled in
snip cpto a.txt b.txt

# List snippets
snip ls

# Delete a snippet
snip rm gs

Output

Snippets are stored in ~/.config/snip/snippets.sh:

# managed by snip, do not edit by hand
alias gs='git status'
cpto() { cp $1 $2; }

Run . <rc> (your shell's rc file, see above) or open a new shell after saving to use them directly.

Commands

• snip key='value': Save a snippet.
• snip key [args...]: Copy a snippet, replacing $1, $2, ... with args.
• snip ls: List snippets.
• snip rm key: Delete a snippet.

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
SNIP_SHELL	Force one of the supported shells instead of using $SHELL
SNIP_FILE	Snippet file path (default ~/.config/snip/snippets.sh)
SNIP_RC	Shell config file to hook into

Development

go mod tidy
go test ./...
go build

main.go            # CLI wiring
internal/snip/     # parse, format, expand (pure)
internal/shell/    # shell detection + rc resolution (pure)
internal/store/    # file I/O + rc hook
internal/clip/     # clipboard
internal/ui/       # lipgloss styling