Add copy-paste mode with cp: prefix for web UI interaction

[chrisnestrud]

Add copy-paste mode with cp: prefix for web UI interaction, based on the copy-paste-no-api branch of https://github.com/ther0bster/aider.git

See also Aider-AI#3479

[dwash96]

Oh man, I am not anti this concept at all but could you actually refactor it such that it's a coder class in aider/coders and add the relevant overriding logic on when to call the relevant model perhaps. I'm also super curious as to how this integrates with the TUI mode

[chrisnestrud]

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. I've made changes as you suggested.

Here’s how CopyPasteCoder behaves in the TUI, and how it differs from the --copy-paste CLI option.

Using a cp: model (e.g., cp:openai/gpt-5.2)

• What happens when you press Enter in the TUI:
  • CopyPasteCoder flattens the current chat (system/user/assistant messages) into plain text with role headers (e.g., “USER: …”, “ASSISTANT: …”).
  • It copies that text to your system clipboard (via pyperclip) and prints messages like:
    • “Request copied to clipboard.”
    • “Paste it into your LLM interface, then copy the reply back.”
    • “Waiting for clipboard updates (Ctrl+C to cancel)…”
  • It blocks and waits for the clipboard to change. As soon as you copy the LLM’s reply from your browser (or any external interface) into the clipboard, that text is treated as the assistant’s response and shown in the TUI.
• Important details/limitations:
  • Tool calls and function calls are ignored in this mode; it’s plain text in/out only.
  • Requires a working system clipboard (pyperclip). If clipboard access fails, you get a tool error in the TUI.
  • It is per-request blocking: the TUI waits until you copy a new clipboard value or you interrupt with Ctrl+C.

Using the --copy-paste CLI option (clipboard watcher for input)

• What it does in the TUI:
  • It starts a background clipboard watcher that continuously monitors your clipboard.
  • Whenever the clipboard changes, it interrupts the current input and pre-fills the TUI input box (io.placeholder) with the clipboard content. If it’s multi-line, it’s wrapped with leading/trailing newlines for nicer editing.
• What it does not do:
  • It does not change how model calls are made. If you’re using a normal API model (e.g., openai/gpt-4o), the app still calls the API as usual.
  • It does not automatically perform the “copy request, wait for reply in clipboard” round trip. That is specific to cp: models.
• It’s purely a UX aid for getting text into the TUI input quickly by just copying it.

How they differ and how they combine

• cp:openai/gpt-5.2 (or any cp:* model) switches the send path to clipboard-driven “transport” for model replies: request is copied out; the reply is read from clipboard; no API call happens; tools/functions are ignored.
• --copy-paste only affects the input experience in the TUI by pre-filling your next prompt from the clipboard; it does not alter the send path or API usage.
• You can combine them:
  • The cp: model will still do its request→clipboard→wait→clipboard flow.
  • The CLI watcher will continue to pre-fill the next input field when your clipboard changes (helpful for quickly turning copied snippets into prompts), but it doesn’t change the cp mode’s blocking wait behavior.

[dwash96]

Alright nice, my 2 last (very minor!) requests since I appreciate you separating most of the effects of this out from the rest of the code base:

• can we move aider/copypaste.py to aider/helpers/copypaste.py (I'm trying to keep highly specific functionalities sequestered as helpers files)
• Can we shorten copy_paste_instead_of_api to either copy_paste_mode or clipboard_mode

These 2 changes and I'm fine with this for 0.90.4

[ErichBSchulz]

This is useful for in what situations? What would this be documented?

[chrisnestrud]

Thanks, I've made these changes.

The use case is when your only LLM access is via a web browser frontend.

[ErichBSchulz]

The use case is when your only LLM access is via a web browser frontend.

Oh nice!! Sorry I'm very good at impersonating a dumb noob (ask @dwash96)... this is a bit of project wide soft spot. It would be great to say when you would use this feature and a bit more on what to expect.

Don't need "War and Peace", but is it possible to expand on "Enable automatic copy/paste of chat between aider and web UI".

eg "Enable automatic copy/paste of chat between aider and web UI (Useful when your LLM access is via a browser)".

But what does "automatic" mean exactly?

I feel like cecli has a growing number of awesome features that won't get the use they deserve for want of a few explanatory words.

[Konfekt]

I feel like cecli has a growing number of awesome features that won't get the use they deserve for want of a few explanatory words.

This mirrors my feelings at #256 (comment)