clipfix

Fix copy-pasted text from LLMs and the web -- instantly convert fancy Unicode punctuation to plain ASCII.

Installation

npm install -g clipfix

macOS only (ARM64 and Intel)

Two Modes

Soft mode (default) -- removes invisible/structural characters and AI-signature typographic characters (curly quotes ""'', em/en dashes ---, ellipsis ...). Arrows, math symbols, and guillemets are left untouched.

Hard mode (--hard) -- also replaces all remaining typographic Unicode with ASCII equivalents. Useful for terminal output, source code, or strictly ASCII pipelines.

Usage

Clipboard Mode

Copy text from anywhere, then:

clipfix --clipboard          # soft mode (default)
clipfix --hard --clipboard   # hard mode
# Fixed N characters

Pipe Mode

# Soft sanitize a file
cat email.md | clipfix > email-clean.md

# Hard sanitize — flatten all Unicode punctuation to ASCII
echo '"Hello — world"' | clipfix --hard
# Output: "Hello -- world"

# Fix a file
cat document.md | clipfix --hard > fixed.md

List All Replaced Characters

clipfix --list-replacements

Prints a full table of every character clipfix handles, grouped by soft/hard mode.

Command Reference

clipfix [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -S, --soft               Soft sanitize: remove only invisible/structural characters (default)
  -H, --hard               Hard sanitize: also replace typographic characters with ASCII equivalents
  -c, --clipboard          Read from and write to clipboard
  -l, --list-replacements  List all characters replaced by clipfix, grouped by mode
  -h, --help               Print help
  -V, --version            Print version

What Gets Fixed

Soft mode (default)

| Unicode | Becomes | Description | |---------|---------|-------------| | U+00A0 | (space) | Non-breaking space | | U+200B | (removed) | Zero-width space | | U+FEFF | (removed) | BOM marker | | U+200E/F | (removed) | Directional marks | | U+2018/19 | ' | Curly single quotes | | U+201C/D | " | Curly double quotes | | U+2014 | -- | Em dash | | U+2013 | - | En dash | | U+2026 | ... | Ellipsis |

Hard mode only

| Unicode | ASCII | Example | |---------|-------|---------| | — (em dash) | -- | Hello—world → Hello--world | | "" (smart quotes) | "" | "hello" → "hello" | | → (arrow) | -> | step → next → step -> next | | ≠ | != | x ≠ y → x != y | | … | ... | wait… → wait... |

Plus 15+ more — run clipfix --list-replacements for the full list.

Why?

LLMs love fancy punctuation that breaks in terminals, code editors, and config files.

License

MIT