`snip`: a terminal snippet manager

snip is a terminal replacement for the MacOS app SnippetsLab: save your snippets as plain files, version them with Git, and let AI agents read and write the snippet library for you through packaged agent skills. Code, notes, and metadata in snip are ordinary text you can freely grep, diff, edit in any editor, and put under Git.

Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Install · Quick start · What it does
Terminal browser · Agent-friendly operations
AI agent skills · Configuration
Files are the database · Preview and editing
SnippetsLab migration · Git backup and deletion
Share as a gist · Manual pages · Shell completion
Development · License

Install

Install script

curl -fsSL https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

The script installs snip to ~/.local/bin without sudo. Re-run it to upgrade, or pass --uninstall to remove the binary:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall

Manual pages and shell completions are opt-in after installation:

snip man install
snip completion bash|zsh|fish

macOS / Linux (Homebrew)

brew install gitkeniwo/snip/snip

Cargo

The crate is sniplab; the binary it installs is snip.

Prebuilt binary via cargo-binstall, no compilation:

cargo binstall sniplab

Or build from crates.io (Rust 1.89 or newer):

cargo install sniplab

Debian / Ubuntu / Mint / Kali

From the Open Build Service (OBS). Each release is compiled on the target distribution, so apt installs a prebuilt snip without a Rust toolchain on your machine, and apt upgrade picks up new releases.

Pick the repository matching your distribution — derivatives use their Debian or Ubuntu base:

Distribution	`REPO`
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS	`xUbuntu_26.04`
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Linux Mint 22.x, Pop!_OS 24.04, Zorin OS 18, elementary OS 8	`xUbuntu_24.04`
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Linux Mint 21.x, Pop!_OS 22.04, Zorin OS 17	`xUbuntu_22.04`
Debian 13 (trixie), LMDE 7	`Debian_13`
Debian testing (forky), Kali Linux	`Debian_Testing`
Debian unstable (sid)	`Debian_Unstable`

REPO=xUbuntu_24.04    # from the table above
BASE=https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/gitkeniwo/$REPO

sudo install -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL "$BASE/Release.key" |
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/home_gitkeniwo.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/home_gitkeniwo.gpg] $BASE/ /" |
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home_gitkeniwo.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sniplab

The package is sniplab; the command it installs is snip. OBS repositories are amd64 only.

On arm64, or on a release without an OBS repository, grab the standalone .deb from a release instead — it needs glibc 2.35 or newer, so Ubuntu 22.04+ and Debian 12+:

curl -fLO https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip/releases/latest/download/snip-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.deb
sudo apt install ./snip-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.deb

On arm64, swap x86_64 for aarch64. Upgrading a downloaded .deb means downloading the newer file again.

Fedora / Enterprise Linux

From Copr. Fedora's build machines compile each release and publish a binary package, so dnf installs a prebuilt snip without a Rust toolchain on your machine, and dnf upgrade picks up new releases:

sudo dnf copr enable gitkeniwo/snip
sudo dnf install sniplab

This covers the currently supported Fedora releases and the Enterprise Linux 9 and 10 families — RHEL, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Oracle Linux, and CentOS Stream — on both x86_64 and arm64. On Enterprise Linux, dnf copr enable ships in dnf-plugins-core, so install that first if the subcommand is missing:

sudo dnf install dnf-plugins-core

Or grab the standalone .rpm from a release. It needs glibc 2.35 or newer, so it suits Fedora and the Enterprise Linux 10 family — RHEL 10.0+, Rocky Linux 10.0+, AlmaLinux 10.0+, Oracle Linux 10+, CentOS Stream 10+ — but not Enterprise Linux 9, which ships glibc 2.34. Use Copr there:

curl -fLO https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip/releases/latest/download/snip-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.rpm
sudo dnf install ./snip-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.rpm

On arm64, swap x86_64 for aarch64.

openSUSE

From the Open Build Service, compiled natively for each release, so zypper installs a prebuilt snip and zypper up picks up new releases.

Tumbleweed (and Slowroll):

sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:gitkeniwo/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:gitkeniwo.repo
sudo zypper --gpg-auto-import-keys refresh
sudo zypper install sniplab

Leap 16.0:

sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:gitkeniwo/16.0/home:gitkeniwo.repo
sudo zypper --gpg-auto-import-keys refresh
sudo zypper install sniplab

The package is sniplab; the command it installs is snip. x86_64 only.

Arch Linux

From the AUR. The prebuilt sniplab-bin installs the release binary without compiling:

yay -S sniplab-bin

paru -S sniplab-bin works too. If you prefer to build from source, install sniplab instead

yay -S sniplab

Or clone https://aur.archlinux.org/sniplab.git and run makepkg -si. Both packages provide snip, so they conflict with each other.

Gentoo

From the standalone snip overlay. The prebuilt app-misc/sniplab-bin package installs the static musl release binary without compiling:

sudo eselect repository add snip git https://github.com/gitkeniwo/gentoo-snip-overlay.git
sudo emaint sync -r snip
sudo emerge --ask app-misc/sniplab-bin

Needs app-eselect/eselect-repository (or add the overlay path by hand under /etc/portage/repos.conf). The package starts with testing keywords, so a stable profile must first accept app-misc/sniplab-bin ~amd64 or app-misc/sniplab-bin ~arm64 under /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords. Those are the only supported architectures for now.

Nix

Needs the nix-command and flakes experimental features. Linux and Apple silicon; nixpkgs no longer supports Intel macOS.

nix profile install github:gitkeniwo/snip

The first run asks whether to trust the project's Cachix substituter; accept it to download a prebuilt binary instead of compiling on your machine.

Append a tag to pin a release: github:gitkeniwo/snip/vX.Y.Z. Or run it without installing:

nix run github:gitkeniwo/snip -- list

On NixOS, install it declaratively instead — add the flake input, then apply the overlay in a module:

inputs.snip = {
  url = "github:gitkeniwo/snip";
  inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
};

nixpkgs.overlays = [ inputs.snip.overlays.default ];
environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.sniplab ];

Manual pages and shell completions ship with the package, so man snip works without snip man install.

Windows (Scoop)

scoop bucket add snip https://github.com/gitkeniwo/scoop-snip
scoop install snip

scoop update snip picks up new releases. x86_64 only for now.

Manual download

Binaries and packages are on the latest release:

Platform	Asset
macOS (Apple Silicon)	`snip-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz`
macOS (Intel)	`snip-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz`
Linux x86_64 (GNU)	`snip-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz`, `.deb`, `.rpm`
Linux arm64 (GNU)	`snip-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz`, `.deb`, `.rpm`
Linux x86_64 (musl, static)	`snip-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz`
Linux arm64 (musl, static)	`snip-aarch64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz`
Windows x86_64	`snip-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip`

curl -L https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip/releases/latest/download/snip-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz | tar xz
install -m 755 snip /usr/local/bin/snip

The Unix archives also carry man/; see Manual pages.

From source

git clone https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip.git
cd snip
cargo install --path .

For a smaller binary without the terminal browser, add --no-default-features.

Notes

GNU Linux archives and the release .deb / .rpm packages are built on Ubuntu 22.04 and need glibc 2.35 or newer. The static musl archives have no glibc version floor; the install script uses them on Linux. Upgrading a downloaded .deb / .rpm means downloading the newer file again.

The distribution repositories are not affected by either binary requirement: Copr, the Open Build Service, and the AUR source package all compile against the release you install on. Copr covers x86_64 and arm64; OBS is x86_64 only for now.

Release history is in CHANGELOG.md.

Quick start

Install snip, then run it in an interactive terminal and answer the three setup questions. It creates (or connects) a library and can make it your default:

snip

For scripts and remote shells, use the non-interactive path instead:

snip init ./Main.sniplib --name Main
snip config set default-library ./Main.sniplib

printf 'echo hello\n' | snip create \
  --title "Hello" \
  --folder Scripts/Shell \
  --tag demo \
  --language bash \
  --content-file -

snip list
snip list --sort modified          # modified | created | title
snip search hello
snip preview Hello
snip edit Hello
snip open Hello                    # hand a managed path to an app

Then open the terminal browser:

snip tui                              # or plain `snip` in an interactive terminal
snip --library ./Main.sniplib tui

When --library is omitted, SNIP_LIBRARY is checked next, then the nearest snip.toml walking up from the current directory, and finally default_library in the user config. Commands run inside a library never jump to the global default.

What it does

Plain-file library. One directory per snippet, holding fragments, notes, a README, and a TOML manifest. FORMAT.md specifies it normatively.
CLI for everything. Create, list, search, show, edit, move, tag, trash, restore, import, and repair, with --output json or jsonl on every command.
Terminal browser. Three-pane TUI with syntax highlighting, live reload, and mouse support.
Concurrency-safe writes. Library lock, atomic writes, and --if-hash fingerprint checks so a writer cannot overwrite a version it never read.
Structure-aware search. Regex, field filters, and context lines, so it replaces grep/rg over the library.
SnippetsLab import. Preserves UUIDs, hierarchy, tags, flags, timestamps, content, and notes.
Optional Git backup. Commit, push, and fetch scoped to the library, with an interactive console in the TUI.
Agent skill. skills/snip packages the CLI contract for coding agents.

Terminal browser

Three panes: the library on the left, snippets in the middle, a preview on the right. Press S to hide the library pane for a narrow terminal; it is a session-only adjustment, so the pane returns the next time you open the TUI. A file watcher picks up changes made outside the browser.

The left pane holds the scopes you can be in (All snippets, Uncategorized, Trash), then Filters, then the folder and tag trees. Moving the cursor onto a scope applies it, Trash included — deleted snippets open in the snippet pane and preview normally, so you can read one before restoring it with u or purging it with x. Published, under Filters, is a toggle that narrows whatever you are already looking at; press Enter or click to apply it.

/ filters the list as you type, and matches are highlighted in the rows. The active query shows as the last breadcrumb segment, so a filtered list is never mistaken for the whole library. Enter keeps the query, Esc clears it.

Key
`?`	the full key map
`:` / `Ctrl-P`	command palette
`/`	search
`S`	show or hide the library pane
`Tab`, `h`/`l`	switch pane; back out or drill in
`j`/`k`, `g`/`G`	move; first/last
`n`, `e`, `d`	create, edit in `$EDITOR`, move to trash
`y`	copy content
`A`	toggle light/dark for this session
`Ctrl-g`, `Ctrl-s`	Git console, gist panel

Bindings can be changed per mode in keys.toml. Run snip keys list to see the effective map, snip keys path to locate the file, or snip keys export to create a complete editable starting point; snip keys check validates it. An export begins with its syntax: values are one chord or a list, [] unbinds an action, and inherit-defaults = false makes a full export authoritative.

? opens a cheatsheet for the context that was active when help opened. Use / to filter it, a to switch between that context and all modes, and s to sort by key or action. The generated key reference lists every mode, inherited binding, and fixed input.

Keys are named after the CLI commands they run, so r on a folder is snip folder rename. The mouse works as expected: click to focus, double-click to drill in, scroll the pane under the cursor, drag across the preview to copy.

Command palette

: or Ctrl-P opens a fuzzy-matched list of every command, each spelled out (Folder: Rename, Snippet: Rename, Git: Commit) and runnable regardless of which pane has focus. Commands that cannot run right now stay visible, greyed out with the reason; the rest show their key binding, so the palette doubles as a way to learn the shortcuts.

Appearance

On macOS the TUI follows the system light/dark setting and updates while it runs; Linux uses GTK_THEME or COLORFGBG when available. Override it for a terminal whose background differs from the system:

SNIP_TUI_THEME=light snip     # or: snip config set tui-theme light

While the TUI is running, press A to toggle light/dark for this session only. This is useful when the host's system appearance does not describe the terminal you are actually using, such as a phone connected over SSH. Run Clear Appearance Override from the command palette to restore normal theme resolution; it may use tui.theme, SNIP_TUI_THEME, or system detection. Neither command writes to config.toml.

Any other SNIP_TUI_THEME value selects a theme by name for that run — see Themes. A overrides either form: if the variable pins a name such as dark-nord, the first press drops the pin and loads your configured light_theme or dark_theme.

Themes

Open the command palette and run Change Color Theme to preview every theme for the current light or dark appearance; Esc restores the previous theme and Enter saves the choice. The same slots can be set from the command line:

snip theme use dark-nord                  # writes to the theme's own slot
snip theme list                           # every installed name
snip theme show dark-nord                 # the resolved colors

snip theme use saves to the theme's own slot unless --appearance light|dark forces another. Theme names go in the tui-light-theme/tui-dark-theme slots (see Configuration); tui-theme only picks auto|light|dark.

User themes live in the directory printed by snip theme path (normally ~/.config/snip/themes). See docs/themes.md for the complete format, inheritance, validation, and base16 role mapping; snip theme import SCHEME.yaml converts a base16 or base24 scheme into an editable local theme.

Language badges are plain ASCII ([rs], [py], [sh], [md]) so they render in any font. The rounded caps on the top and bottom bars need a Nerd Font or another Powerline-patched font. Without one, use square bars instead:

snip --simplified-ui                          # this run only
snip config set tui-simplified-ui true        # save it
snip --simplified-ui=false                    # Powerline bars for one run

Toggle Simplified UI in the command palette switches and saves it while the TUI is open. Only the bar caps change; borders, arrows, and stars stay.

Agent-friendly operations

Every command takes --output json or jsonl. Use UUIDs from that output for deterministic operations; titles are accepted only when they identify exactly one snippet.

snip --output json list
snip --output json list --folder Scripts        # includes Scripts/Shell
snip --output json list --folder Scripts --no-subfolders
snip --output json search terraform
snip --output json show 428ac138

# Search is structure-aware, so it replaces grep/rg over the library
snip --output json search 'kubectl (apply|rollout)' --regex
snip --output json search rollout --context 2      # surrounding lines
snip --output json search deploy --field title --field tag --limit 10

# Content, notes, and READMEs take an inline value or a file (- is stdin)
snip edit 428ac138 --content 'replacement content' --if-hash 03ab...
snip edit 428ac138 --content-file - --if-hash 03ab... <<'EOF'
replacement content
EOF

search results carry the snippet's fingerprint, so a metadata change can go straight to --if-hash without a separate show. Commands that would open an editor fail with a usage error when stdout is not a terminal, so scripts never block on an editor that cannot appear.

Structured stdout is kept separate from errors. Exit codes are stable:

Code	Meaning
0	success
1	I/O or internal failure
2	invalid CLI usage
3	missing or ambiguous selector
4	lock or fingerprint conflict
5	invalid library data

AI agent skills

skills/snip packages all of the above into a skill any agent can load: vocabulary, selectors, JSON payload shapes, and the --if-hash workflow. Symlinking keeps it current as the CLI evolves.

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills && ln -s "$PWD/skills/snip" ~/.agents/skills/snip

~/.agents/skills/ is the vendor-neutral location. Support for it is still uneven, so also link it into the directory your agent actually reads: ~/.claude/skills/ (Claude Code), ~/.codex/skills/ (Codex), ~/.opencode/skills/ (opencode), ~/.omp/skills/ (oh-my-pi). One pass covers whichever of them exist:

for dir in ~/.agents ~/.claude ~/.codex ~/.opencode ~/.omp; do
  [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
  mkdir -p "$dir/skills"
  ln -sfn "$PWD/skills/snip" "$dir/skills/snip"
done

Or hand the job to the agent itself:

Install the snip agent skill from
https://github.com/gitkeniwo/snip/tree/main/skills/snip

Fetch that directory (SKILL.md plus everything under references/) and put it at
~/.agents/skills/snip if you read that location, otherwise your own skills
directory. If the snip repository is already cloned locally, symlink its
skills/snip instead of copying, so the skill tracks the CLI. Then tell me the
path you used and confirm `snip --version` runs.

Once loaded, the agent works the library directly:

Save the fish function we just wrote to snip under Shell/Fish, tag it fish and
clipboard, and add a note explaining why the pbcopy fallback is there.

My fish config drifted from the copy in snip. Diff ~/.config/fish/config.fish
against that snippet and update whichever is stale, keeping the note intact.

Run brew bundle dump, compare it with the Brewfile snippet in snip, and commit
the update to the library's Git repo if anything changed.

The skill assumes snip is on PATH and a library is reachable. See skills/README.md for project-scoped installs, the Claude Agent SDK, and runtimes that take a system prompt instead of skill files.

Configuration

The config lives at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/snip/config.toml, or ~/.config/snip/config.toml when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset.

snip config init --library /path/to/Main.sniplib
snip config show
snip config path

Supported values can be changed without editing TOML by hand:

snip config set default-library /path/to/Main.sniplib
snip config set output json
snip config set color auto
snip config set preview-render ansi
snip config set preview-pager false
snip config set editor 'nvim -f'
snip config set editor-cwd snippet
snip config set pager 'less -R'
snip config set default-language rust
snip config set default-folder Agents/Generated
snip config set default-tags 'ai,generated'
snip config set tui-theme auto
snip config set tui-light-theme light-default
snip config set tui-dark-theme dark-default
snip config set tui-sort modified
snip config set tui-density compact
snip config set tui-line-numbers false
snip config set tui-simplified-ui true
snip config set git-auto-commit-interval 15
snip config set git-auto-push true
snip config set git-backup-on-quit true
snip config unset default-folder

The complete schema is:

schema_version = 1
default_library = "/path/to/Main.sniplib"
output = "human"             # human | json | jsonl
color = "auto"               # auto | always | never
preview_render = "ansi"      # ansi | plain | html
preview_pager = false
editor = "nvim -f"
editor_cwd = "inherit"       # inherit | library | folder | snippet | fragment
vscode_cmd = "code"
pager = "less -R"
default_language = "text"
default_folder = ""
default_tags = ["personal"]

[tui]
theme = "auto"             # auto | light | dark
light_theme = "light-default"
dark_theme = "dark-default"
sort = "modified"          # modified | created | title
density = "comfortable"    # comfortable | compact
line_numbers = true        # preview gutter; toggled with `N`
simplified_ui = false      # square bar caps; no Powerline font required

[git]
auto_commit_interval = 0   # minutes; 0 disables automatic Git operations
auto_push = false          # push ahead commits in the background
backup_on_quit = false

SNIP_TUI_THEME=light|dark overrides [tui].theme; any other non-empty value selects a theme by name for that run. An in-app A appearance override takes precedence over SNIP_TUI_THEME and lasts only for the current TUI session. Config values are defaults only; explicit CLI options override them. Unknown TOML fields are preserved when snip config set or unset rewrites the file, so future settings can coexist.

editor_cwd controls the working directory of terminal editors opened by both the CLI and TUI:

Value	Editor working directory
`inherit`	The directory from which snip was started (default)
`library`	The `.sniplib` root
`folder`	The folder containing the snippet package
`snippet`	The snippet package containing `snippet.toml`
`fragment`	The fragment or note directory; README and metadata use the snippet package

Snippet packages are replaced by renaming their whole directory when changes are saved. If another process may write concurrently while the editor is open, prefer the more stable folder or library values over snippet and fragment. On Windows, the child working directory can participate in lookup of a bare editor executable name; use an absolute editor path when opening libraries from untrusted sources. Editor commands containing a relative path such as ./tools/editor are resolved before the child working directory is changed.

Files are the database

Main.sniplib/
├── snip.toml
├── tags.toml
├── snippets/
│   └── Dotfiles/
│       └── Brewfile--a5792745/
│           ├── snippet.toml
│           ├── README.md
│           ├── fragments/001-Brewfile
│           ├── notes/001.md
│           └── attachments/
├── trash/
├── .snip/
└── .gitignore

The path below snippets/ is the folder hierarchy, and a directory is a snippet if it contains snippet.toml. Directory names are descriptive only, so you can move or rename them by hand; the UUID in the manifest is the stable identity. Nothing under .snip/ is user data, and deleting it while snip is not running never loses anything.

Three kinds of state live in three places, and only one of them belongs in Git:

Where	What	Scope	In Git
`Main.sniplib/snip.toml`, `tags.toml`	library identity (UUID, name, schema) and the tag registry	one library	yes
`Main.sniplib/snippets/`, `trash/`	every snippet and every soft-deleted one	one library	yes
`Main.sniplib/.snip/`	library lock, in-flight transactions, reserved cache	one library, one machine	no
`~/.config/snip/config.toml`	your preferences: default library, editor, pager, colors, theme, Git automation	all libraries, one machine	no — it lives outside the library

The distinction that matters when you sync: snip.toml says what this library is and travels with it, so the same library has the same UUID on every machine. config.toml says how you use snip and stays on the machine, which is why a second machine needs its own snip config set default-library after a clone. .snip/ is scratch space, and holds nothing a clone needs to carry.

Editor changes are picked up on the next scan. CLI writes take a library lock and are atomic, so snip doctor --repair can recover an interrupted one.

FORMAT.md specifies the format normatively, so another tool can read and write a library without going through snip.

Preview and editing

snip preview ID --render ansi
snip preview ID --render plain
snip preview ID --render html > preview.html
snip preview ID --pager

snip edit ID copies the first fragment to a temporary file and opens the configured editor, then $VISUAL, then $EDITOR, then vi. It checks the original fingerprint before committing the result. Additional editor targets are available with --fragment, --note-editor, --readme-editor, and --metadata-editor.

SnippetsLab migration

The source library is opened read-only. Import is staged, validated, and only then renamed to the requested destination.

snip import snippetslab \
  /path/to/main.snippetslablibrary \
  --into ./Main.sniplib \
  --dry-run

snip import snippetslab \
  /path/to/main.snippetslablibrary \
  --into ./Main.sniplib

The importer preserves snippet and fragment UUIDs, hierarchy, tags, flags, timestamps, content, notes, and original lexer names. Attachments are reported but their private SnippetsLab relationships are not imported in format v1.

A committed 2.6-format library fixture is imported by a regression test on every CI run, so decoder regressions are caught before a release.

Git backup and deletion

Git is optional. snip git status reports the branch, upstream, ahead/behind counts, uncommitted changes, conflicts, and last commit for the library. File counts and commits are scoped to the library when it lives inside a larger repository.

snip init Main.sniplib --git
snip --library Main.sniplib git init
snip --library Main.sniplib git commit
snip --library Main.sniplib git commit -m "before refactoring"
snip --library Main.sniplib git backup
snip --library Main.sniplib git push
snip --library Main.sniplib git fetch
snip --library Main.sniplib git pull

snip git clone <remote> [path] [--gh] [--set-default]

snip init --git only applies at creation time; snip git init makes an existing library a repository, and is idempotent when it already is one. commit stages and commits only library content. clone restores a library without first resolving an existing library; pass --gh to delegate GitHub credentials to the GitHub CLI. backup commits when the library is dirty and pushes whenever the branch is ahead of its upstream, so it also handles a clean worktree with earlier local commits. push retries only the push step. fetch refreshes and prunes remote-tracking refs without changing the worktree. pull fetches and merges the upstream branch; pass --ff-only to reject a diverged history instead of creating a merge commit. If a merge conflicts, snip aborts it immediately and leaves the library at its pre-pull state. backup is idempotent. Background automation and all Git subcommands are non-interactive. Clone delegates credentials to Git or, with --gh, to the GitHub CLI; authentication failures fail fast instead of waiting for input.

In the TUI, Ctrl-g opens the Git console: b backs up, c commits, p pushes, f fetches remote status in the background, and C enters a custom message. l pulls from the upstream in the background. Automation is editable there too: i sets the commit interval, u toggles automatic push, U toggles a one-time pull on TUI startup, o toggles backup on quit, and a pauses automation for the current session. In a library that is not yet a repository, i initializes it.

Automatic behavior is off by default. Set git-auto-commit-interval to make the TUI create a local commit when the library is dirty and the last commit is at least that many minutes old. Set git-auto-push to push ahead commits in a background worker on the same interval. Automatic work skips conflicts, detached HEADs, in-progress Git operations, open modals, and a library lock held by another snip process. Set git-auto-pull to fetch and merge once when the TUI starts; a repository that is dirty or cannot be pulled is skipped silently.

snip never switches branches or resolves conflicts. If a pull cannot merge cleanly, reconcile it with Git in the library directory.

Restoring a library on another machine

A backed-up library is restored by cloning it and pointing snip at it. The second step is separate because default-library is your own configuration, not part of the library, so it does not travel through Git:

gh repo clone gitkeniwo/Main.sniplib ~/Main.sniplib
snip config set default-library ~/Main.sniplib

Use gh repo clone for a private repository, so credentials stay with gh; git clone works for a public one. Nothing else needs restoring — the library UUID, every snippet, the trash, and the tag registry are all in the repository.

The same restore is available as one command:

snip git clone gitkeniwo/Main.sniplib --gh --set-default

This is a convenience wrapper for cloning and, with --set-default, running snip config set default-library; it is not required. A manually cloned library works immediately with snip --library ~/Main.sniplib.

Keep that restored library synchronized with later upstream commits by pulling them into its current branch:

snip --library ~/Main.sniplib git pull

The default merge mode handles both fast-forwards and cleanly diverged snippet changes. Use --ff-only when you require linear history.

.snip/ is excluded from Git and Git does not record empty directories, so a clone arrives without it — and without snippets/ or trash/ if either was empty. snip recreates them the first time it opens the library, so there is nothing to repair by hand.

snip delete moves packages into tracked trash/. snip restore moves them back. Permanent deletion requires snip purge SELECTOR --yes.

Share as a gist

snip gist publishes a snippet to GitHub Gists through the GitHub CLI, so snip never handles a token. Install gh and authorize the gist scope once:

gh auth login
gh auth refresh -h github.com -s gist

Each fragment becomes one gist file and the README becomes README.md, so a multi-fragment snippet arrives intact. Gists are secret unless you ask for --public.

snip gist push Brewfile          # publish, and update on later pushes
snip gist url Brewfile --copy    # copy the link
snip gist status Brewfile        # local vs published, no network
snip gist delete Brewfile --yes

push keeps the same URL for the life of the snippet, so a link you already shared stays valid, and records the gist in snippet.toml so it travels with the library. It skips the network entirely when nothing has changed. attach adopts a gist you created elsewhere and detach forgets one without deleting it. snip only manages the files it published, so anything you add to the gist in the browser is left alone.

Visibility is fixed at creation — GitHub cannot turn a secret gist public — so changing it means publishing a new one with --new.

In the TUI, Ctrl-s opens the gist panel for the selected snippet: p publishes or updates, y copies the link, o opens it in a browser, and a, r, d, x link an existing gist, check it still exists, unlink, and delete. P publishes a public gist and is offered only before the first publish; P, d, and x confirm first. Published snippets carry G✓ in the list and preview header, or G+ once you have edited since publishing. Unpublished snippets carry no marker.

Manual pages

Homebrew, deb, rpm, AUR, and Gentoo packages install them, so man snip works right away. For cargo install or a downloaded archive, install the pages embedded in the binary:

snip man path                                # where they will go
snip man install                             # default ~/.local/share/man/man1
sudo snip man install --prefix /usr/local    # system-wide, never implicit
snip man uninstall

snip man install warns when the destination is missing from your MANPATH and prints the line to add. Uninstalling keeps any page you edited yourself. snip man show snip-create reads a page without installing anything, and snip man generate DIR exports all of them. Windows has no man; use snip --help.

Shell completion

snip completion zsh > ~/.zfunc/_snip
snip completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/snip.fish

Bash, Elvish, and PowerShell are also supported.

Development

Rust 1.89 or newer. Dependencies are pinned in Cargo.lock.

cargo fmt --check
cargo clippy --locked --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings
cargo test --locked --all-features
cargo test --locked --no-default-features
cargo build --locked --release --all-features

Man pages are generated from the clap command tree and committed in man/. Update them after changing CLI help, check that they are current, or preview a page locally:

cargo run --locked --all-features --example generate-man
cargo run --locked --all-features --example generate-man -- --check
cargo run --locked --all-features --example generate-man -- --preview
cargo run --locked --all-features --example generate-man -- --preview snip-create

Main.sniplib/ is a scratch library for development, ignored by the repository. Recreate it any time with snip init ./Main.sniplib --name Main.

CI

Workflow
`CI`	pushes and PRs: fmt, Clippy on both feature sets, tests on Linux (stable, 1.89 MSRV, `--no-default-features`), macOS arm64, and Windows; checks generated man pages and lints their roff
`Nix`	pushes and PRs: builds the flake on Linux (x86_64, arm64) and macOS, checks the installed layout, and verifies the hashes in `nix/package.nix`
`Deep tests`	manual: full deterministic suite, importer fixture, watcher regression, coverage
`Release build`	`v*` tags and manual: builds every platform, then publishes (see below)

Releasing

Bump version in Cargo.toml, then rerun cargo run --locked --all-features --example generate-man — the pages embed the version, so CI fails without it.
Add the release to CHANGELOG.md.
Commit, then tag vX.Y.Z and push the tag.

The tag is the source of truth: the run fails if it disagrees with Cargo.toml. It then attaches the platform archives and a signed sniplab-X.Y.Z.tar.gz source archive to a GitHub release. The AUR package and the Copr SRPM both build from that source archive; the AUR package also verifies its detached PGP signature.

Before the first release, configure the following repository secrets and variable. PGP_PRIVATE_KEY must be an ASCII-armored private signing-key export; keep it and its passphrase out of the repository. PGP_FINGERPRINT is a repository variable (not a secret) containing the uppercase, whitespace-free primary-key fingerprint used in the AUR validpgpkeys field.

Configuration	Purpose
Secret `PGP_PRIVATE_KEY`	ASCII-armored private key used only to sign release source archives
Secret `PGP_PASSPHRASE`	Passphrase for that private key
Variable `PGP_FINGERPRINT`	Public primary-key fingerprint expected by the release workflow and AUR

It then updates each downstream package, every one gated on its own secret and skipped when that secret is absent:

Target	Secret
crates.io	`CARGO_REGISTRY_TOKEN`
homebrew-snip	`HOMEBREW_TAP_TOKEN`
AUR (`sniplab`)	`AUR_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY`
scoop-snip	`SCOOP_BUCKET_TOKEN`
gentoo-snip-overlay (`sniplab-bin`)	`GENTOO_OVERLAY_TOKEN`
Copr (`sniplab`)	`COPR_API_CONFIG`

Copr builds run in mock without network access, so the release job vendors the crate dependencies into the SRPM before submitting it.

The workflow rewrites only URLs and checksums, so the tap's own man1.install Dir["man/*.1"] line is maintained in gitkeniwo/homebrew-snip.

Re-running a release is safe: the crates.io step skips a version already on the registry, and the package updates are no-ops when nothing changed.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 336 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
assets		assets
docs		docs
examples		examples
man		man
nix		nix
packaging		packaging
skills		skills
src		src
tests		tests
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
FORMAT.md		FORMAT.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
ROADMAP.md		ROADMAP.md
flake.lock		flake.lock
flake.nix		flake.nix
install.sh		install.sh

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

snip: a terminal snippet manager