[Feature Request]: Standalone "Open Editor" hotkey with smart clipboard auto-paste (Extension of #1860)

[dennyschroeder]

Hi @richiemcilroy,

This is a logical extension of the "After Capture" workflow requested in #1860.

If a user configures Cap to silently save screenshots to the clipboard/files without automatically opening the UI, we need a highly efficient "backdoor" to manually launch the Editor for specific annotations when needed.

Proposed Solution:

1. Dedicated "Open Editor" Action & Hotkey: Please add a standalone "Open Editor" (or Annotation Tool) option in the Menubar dropdown menu, accompanied by a customizable global keyboard shortcut. This allows users to open a blank editor canvas instantly.

2. Smart Toggle: "Auto-paste from clipboard on manual launch"
   Add a setting switch that automatically detects and imports any image currently held in the macOS clipboard the moment the Editor is manually launched via hotkey.

The Power-User Workflow this enables:

• A user captures multiple screenshots silently in the background (no disruptive windows popping up).
• They hit a roadblock and realize they need to add arrows or blur sensitive info on the latest capture.
• They press the global "Open Editor" hotkey.
• Cap launches the canvas and instantly loads the latest screenshot directly from the clipboard without requiring a manual ⌘V.

This bridges the gap between clean background captures and lightning-fast manual annotations seamlessly.
Thanks, Denny

[linear]

CAP-722

[tembo]

Some context from the codebase to help with implementation:

Existing hotkey infrastructure is ready for this feature

The HotkeyAction enum in apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/hotkeys.rs:53-69 defines all available hotkey actions. Adding a new action like OpenEditor would follow the same pattern as ScreenshotDisplay, ScreenshotWindow, etc. The hotkey settings UI at apps/desktop/src/routes/(window-chrome)/settings/hotkeys.tsx would need the new action added to ACTION_TEXT and the actions() array.

Screenshot editor already supports being opened directly

The ShowCapWindow::ScreenshotEditor { path } variant at apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/windows.rs:937-939 shows how the editor is opened with an image path. For the "open blank editor" case, this could be extended to accept an optional path, or a new variant could be added.

Clipboard read permission is missing and needed

The current capabilities file only grants clipboard-manager:allow-write-text (apps/desktop/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json:71). To implement the auto-paste feature, you would need to add clipboard-manager:allow-read-image (or similar) and use the Tauri clipboard read APIs in Rust.

Tray menu pattern for reference

The tray menu at apps/desktop/src-tauri/src/tray.rs has TrayItem enum entries like TakeScreenshot, RecordDisplay, etc. Adding an OpenEditor entry there would follow the same pattern.

Coordinates with #1860

This feature pairs well with #1860's "After Capture" behaviors. When #1860's silent capture workflow is enabled, this hotkey becomes the critical path for quick annotations. Consider implementing the settings toggle under the same screenshots settings section at apps/desktop/src/routes/(window-chrome)/settings/screenshots.tsx.