cget-cset

Lightweight clipboard tools for Windows that complement Microsoft's built-in clip command.

Overview

Microsoft's clip command only supports writing to clipboard (stdin → clipboard). These tools provide the missing functionality:

• cget: Read text from clipboard and output to stdout (clipboard → stdout)
• cset: Write text from stdin to clipboard (stdin → clipboard, with Unicode support)

Features

• 🚀 Lightweight: ~23KB each, no dependencies
• 🔤 Unicode Support: Automatic encoding detection (UTF-8/Shift_JIS)
• 🔄 Bidirectional: Complete clipboard read/write functionality
• 🖥️ Windows Native: Uses Windows API directly
• 📦 Single Executable: No runtime dependencies required

Installation

Option 1: Download Release

Download pre-built executables from Releases

Option 2: Build from Source

# Requirements: GCC (MinGW-w64)
winget install BrechtSanders.WinLibs.POSIX.UCRT

# Build
gcc -O2 -s -static src/cget.c -o cget.exe
gcc -O2 -s -static src/cset.c -o cset.exe

Usage

Basic Examples

# Read from clipboard
cget

# Write to clipboard
echo "Hello World" | cset

# Save clipboard to file
cget > output.txt

# Load file to clipboard
type file.txt | cset

Advanced Examples

# Process clipboard content and return
cget | findstr "keyword" | cset

# Combine with Microsoft clip
echo "data" | clip     # Using Microsoft's clip
cget | cset           # Round-trip processing

# Directory listing to clipboard
dir | cset

Command Line Options

# Show help
cget --help
cset -h
cget /?

Comparison with Microsoft clip

Command	Direction	Notes
clip	stdin → clipboard	Microsoft official
cset	stdin → clipboard	Equivalent with Unicode support
cget	clipboard → stdout	Missing functionality (provided here)

Exit Codes

cget

• 0: Success (text output)
• 1: Cannot open clipboard
• 2: No text data

cset

• 0: Success
• 1: Memory allocation failed
• 2: No stdin input
• 3: Character conversion failed
• 4: Cannot open clipboard
• 5-7: Clipboard operation failed

Technical Details

• Language: C (Windows API)
• Compiler: GCC (MinGW-w64)
• Size: ~23KB each
• Dependencies: None (static linking)
• Windows Support: Windows XP and later
• Encoding: Automatic detection (UTF-8/Shift_JIS/ANSI)

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file

Author

Copyright (c) 2025 thrashem

Contributing

Pull requests welcome! Please ensure:

• Code follows existing style
• Windows compatibility maintained
• No external dependencies added