[BUG] Can't paste image from clipboard

[empz]

In some presentation I saw this was possible. Simply pasting an image from the clipboard directly into Claude Code. I'm not talking about pasting an existing file path, but the image itself on the clipboard. Most screenshots tools allows you to quickly capture an screenshot and put it on the clipboard without the need to save it to the file system. This is highly convenient when iterating on UI changes.

Environment

• Platform (select one):
  • Anthropic API
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Google Vertex AI
  • Other:
• Claude CLI version: <1.0.3
• Operating System: WSL2 (Ubuntu) on Windows 11
• Terminal: Windows Terminal - Version: 1.22.11141.0 - Ubuntu bash

[empz]

If getting a keyboard shortcut to paste that works well across all platforms, OS, terminals and shells is tricky, maybe considering adding something like @clipboard to reference it?

That way we could tell Claude "check the screenshot on the @clipboard for a reference".

[mirkancal]

I have that issue on iTerm and MacOS 15.5. Also if you drag and drop from Finder multiple images, it doesn't work. It copies path of those images instead of image.

[1WorldCapture]

Support directly paste image to CLI is very important for productivity!

[andybergon]

Have you tried Ctrl + V instead of Cmd + V?

[empz]

Have you tried Ctrl + V instead of Cmd + V?

I'm on Windows, there's no Cmd + V.

[CoderF3ff]

Hi @rboyce-ant :)
Do we have any news about this issue?

Support for pasting an image to the CLI is essential for web development
Otherwise, for UI development is much more efficient to use Cursor or Windsurf

Do you need any additional info that may help?

Enviroment:
VSCode Version: 1.96.2
Commit: 53b99ce608cba35127ae3a050c1738a959750860
Date: 2025-06-04T19:44:25.253Z
Electron: 34.5.1
Chromium: 132.0.6834.210
Node.js: 20.19.0
V8: 13.2.152.41-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

[satoooh]

I’m on macOS Sequoia 15.1.1.

What I observe

Action	Result
Take a screenshot while holding ⌃ (⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 4) → Ctrl + V in Claude Code	📸 Image is pasted / attached correctly
Same screenshot → Cmd + V	Image is not pasted. If there’s plain-text in the clipboard, that text is inserted; otherwise nothing happens.

So on macOS Ctrl + V pastes images only, whereas Cmd + V pastes text only and silently ignores any image/* MIME types.

Why this might happen

It looks like the editor intercepts Cmd + V (event.metaKey) and runs its own paste handler that only reads text/plain from clipboardData, dropping files and other MIME types.
Ctrl + V (event.ctrlKey) isn’t intercepted, so default(?) paste event bubbles up to the outer chat layer, which correctly attaches image files.

[empz]

I’m on macOS Sequoia 15.1.1.

What I observe

Action Result
Take a screenshot while holding ⌃ (⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 4) → Ctrl + V in Claude Code 📸 Image is pasted / attached correctly
Same screenshot → Cmd + V Image is not pasted. If there’s plain-text in the clipboard, that text is inserted; otherwise nothing happens.
So on macOS Ctrl + V pastes images only, whereas Cmd + V pastes text only and silently ignores any image/* MIME types.

Why this might happen

It looks like the editor intercepts Cmd + V (event.metaKey) and runs its own paste handler that only reads text/plain from clipboardData, dropping files and other MIME types. Ctrl + V (event.ctrlKey) isn’t intercepted, so default(?) paste event bubbles up to the outer chat layer, which correctly attaches image files.

I've recently upgraded to a Mac and I'm getting the same behaviour in Sequoia. Except that I get an error message but it looks like it's able to access the image.

[danielraffel]

thanks for documenting this @satoooh good can confirm ctrl + v works on macOS for pasting screenshots even if that wasn't what I expected. I hope this behavior improves to respect whatever was last in my clipboard irrespective of image or text.

[aphronio]

this solution works for me on wsl2 and windows (technically platform agnostic, you have to modify the paths):

1. Create a script to find latest screenshot at ~/.local/bin/lastshot:

   #!/bin/bash
   # ~/.local/bin/lastshot
   LATEST=$(ls -1t /mnt/c/Users/YourUsername/Pictures/Screenshots/*.png | head -n1)
   
   if [[ "$PWD" == /home/username/code/* ]]; then
       mkdir -p ./tmp
       ln -sf "$LATEST" ./tmp/latest_screenshot.png
       echo "./tmp/latest_screenshot.png"
   else
       echo "$LATEST"
   fi
   

2. Make it executable: chmod +x ~/.local/bin/lastshot

3. Add to CLAUDE.md:

   When I type "ss" in a message, automatically run lastshot and use the Read tool to display my latest screenshot.

4. Usage:
   Type ss in any Claude messageand it automatically reads the last screenshot.

Why it works

• Symlinks avoid permission issues
• Works in any project directory
• No need to save/copy file paths
• Script handles Windows path translation

Takes 5 minutes to set up, saves hours of friction. The script is flexible. You can modify the screenshot path
or add filters as needed.