Tabby SSH Image Clipboard

Paste clipboard images directly to remote SSH servers via SFTP in Tabby terminal.

Why?

When using AI coding assistants like Claude Code or OpenCode on remote servers, sharing screenshots is painful. You have to manually upload images via SCP/SFTP, find the path, and type it out. This plugin eliminates all of that — just copy an image and paste it.

Features

• One-key paste — Ctrl+Shift+V (Tabby's default paste hotkey) uploads clipboard images via SFTP and outputs the quoted file path to terminal
• Smart detection — Only triggers when the clipboard contains an image. If there's no image, normal text paste behavior is preserved
• Zero configuration — Works out of the box with any SSH connection that supports SFTP
• Split tab support — Works with Tabby's split pane layout, correctly detecting the active SSH session
• Configurable notifications — Optional success/error notifications (can be toggled in settings)

How It Works

1. You press Ctrl+Shift+V while in an SSH tab
2. The plugin checks if the clipboard contains an image
3. If yes: converts to PNG → uploads via SFTP to /tmp/clipboard_<timestamp>.png → types the quoted path into the terminal
4. If no: falls through to Tabby's normal text paste

The uploaded image path is automatically quoted (e.g., "/tmp/clipboard_1234567890.png"), so you can directly use it as an argument for CLI tools or AI assistants.

Installation

From Tabby Plugin Manager (Recommended)

1. Open Tabby Settings
2. Go to Plugins
3. Search for tabby-ssh-image-clipboard
4. Click Install
5. Restart Tabby

From npm

npm install -g tabby-ssh-image-clipboard

From Source

git clone https://github.com/coderredlab/tabby-ssh-image-clipboard.git
cd tabby-ssh-image-clipboard
npm install
npm run build

Then link it to Tabby's plugin directory:

Windows:

npm link
cd %APPDATA%\tabby\plugins
npm link tabby-ssh-image-clipboard

macOS/Linux:

npm link
cd ~/.config/tabby/plugins
npm link tabby-ssh-image-clipboard

Restart Tabby after linking.

Usage

1. Connect to an SSH server in Tabby
2. Copy an image to your clipboard (screenshot, browser image, etc.)
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+V
4. The image is uploaded to /tmp/clipboard_<timestamp>.png on the remote server
5. The quoted file path appears in your terminal, ready to use

Example with Claude Code

$ claude
> Here's the screenshot of the error: "/tmp/clipboard_1707500000000.png"

Settings

Open Tabby Settings → Plugins → Clipboard Sync:

| Setting | Default | Description | |---------|---------|-------------| | Enabled | true | Enable or disable the plugin | | Show Notifications | true | Show success/error toast notifications |

Requirements

• Tabby 1.0.x or later
• SSH server with SFTP support
• Remote server with a writable /tmp/ directory (Linux/macOS)

Troubleshooting

Image paste not working

• Make sure you're in an active SSH tab (not a local terminal)
• Check that the SSH connection supports SFTP
• Verify the plugin is enabled in Settings → Plugins → Clipboard Sync

Nothing happens on Ctrl+Shift+V

• If the clipboard has no image, Tabby performs a normal text paste — this is expected behavior
• Check that the SSH session is fully connected (wait for the shell prompt)

Permission denied on remote server

• Ensure /tmp/ is writable on the remote server
• Some hardened servers may restrict SFTP access

Building from Source

npm install          # Install dependencies
npm run build        # Production build → dist/index.js
npm run watch        # Development build with file watching
npm run lint         # Run ESLint

License

MIT