# Python Clipboard Manager

This utility monitors the system clipboard for changes and logs every copied item to a history file. It uses the `pyperclip` module, which provides a cross-platform clipboard text API.

**Modules Used:**
*   `pyperclip`: To access the system clipboard (copy/paste).
*   `time`: To handle polling intervals and timestamps.

## Installation

```bash
pip install pyperclip
```

*Note: On Linux, you may need to install `xclip` or `xsel` via your package manager (e.g., `sudo apt install xclip`).*

## The Code

Save this as `clipboard_monitor.py`.

```python
import pyperclip
import time
import sys

def monitor_clipboard(history_file="clipboard_history.txt"):
    print(f"Monitoring clipboard... History saved to '{history_file}'")
    print("Press Ctrl+C to stop.")

    # Initialize with current clipboard content to avoid duplicate first entry
    last_value = pyperclip.paste()

    try:
        while True:
            # Get current clipboard content
            current_value = pyperclip.paste()

            # Check if it has changed
            if current_value != last_value:
                last_value = current_value
                
                # Print to console (truncated)
                preview = current_value.replace('\n', ' ')
                if len(preview) > 50:
                    preview = preview[:47] + "..."
                print(f"Captured: {preview}")

                # Save to file with timestamp
                timestamp = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
                with open(history_file, "a", encoding="utf-8") as f:
                    f.write(f"[{timestamp}]\n{current_value}\n{'-'*40}\n")
            
            # Check every 0.5 seconds
            time.sleep(0.5)
            
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        print("\nClipboard monitor stopped.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    monitor_clipboard()
```

## Usage

```bash
python clipboard_monitor.py
```

1.  Run the script.
2.  Copy text from any application (Browser, Notepad, etc.).
3.  The script will detect the change, print a preview to the console, and append the full text to `clipboard_history.txt`.

[[programming/python/python]]