Mac Power Tools ⌬

A powerful macOS utility that enhances your productivity with advanced screen text extraction and intelligent clipboard management.

🚀 Features

Mac Power Tools combines two essential productivity features in one lightweight menu bar application:

📝 Text Extractor

• Keyboard Shortcut: Cmd+Shift+T
• Capture any area of your screen and extract text using Apple's Vision framework
• Automatically copies extracted text to clipboard
• Supports multiple languages with automatic detection
• Shows notifications with extraction results
• High accuracy OCR processing

📋 Clipboard History with Formatting

• Keyboard Shortcut: Cmd+Shift+V
• Tracks up to 50 clipboard items automatically
• Preserves rich text formatting (RTF, HTML)
• Quick access to recent items via menu bar
• Full history window with timestamps
• Smart preview with formatting indicators
• Double-click to restore items with original formatting
• Auto-paste functionality - select an item to paste it immediately

📋 Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

Action	Default Shortcut	Description
Extract Text	Cmd+Shift+T	Capture screenshot and extract text
Clipboard History	Cmd+Shift+V	Show clipboard history and paste selected item

🎛️ Custom Hotkeys

You can customize both hotkeys through the Preferences menu:

1. Click the ⌬ icon in your menu bar
2. Select "Preferences..."
3. Modify the hotkey combinations in the text fields
4. Click "Save" to apply changes immediately

Supported modifiers: cmd, shift, alt/option, ctrl/control Supported keys: Any letter a-z Examples: cmd+alt+t, ctrl+shift+v, cmd+option+s

The menu bar will automatically update to show your current hotkey combinations.

📦 Quick Installation (Recommended)

1. Install with Homebrew

# Add the tap
brew tap charsree/tools

# Install the app
brew install macpowertools

# Copy to Applications and launch (works on Intel and Apple Silicon)
cp -r $(brew --prefix)/opt/macpowertools/MacPowerTools.app /Applications/
open /Applications/MacPowerTools.app

If you get SHA256 errors when updating:

# Refresh the tap and try again
brew untap charsree/tools
brew tap charsree/tools
brew install macpowertools

2. Grant Permissions (When Needed)

Mac Power Tools uses a smart permission system:

• Screen Recording: When you first use text extraction (Cmd+Shift+T)
• Accessibility: When you first use clipboard history (Cmd+Shift+V)

That's it! The app will appear as a ⌬ diamond icon in your menu bar.

🎯 Usage

Text Extractor

1. Press Cmd+Shift+T anywhere on your Mac
2. Your cursor changes to a crosshair - drag to select the text area
3. The app processes the screenshot and extracts text
4. Extracted text is automatically copied to your clipboard
5. You'll see a notification with the results

Clipboard History

1. The app automatically tracks your clipboard in the background
2. Press Cmd+Shift+V to view your clipboard history popup
3. Click any item to paste it immediately where your cursor is
4. Items with [F] indicator have rich formatting preserved

Menu Bar Interface

Click the ⌬ icon to access:

• Text extraction functionality
• Recent clipboard items (last 5)
• Full clipboard history window
• Clear history option
• Custom hotkey preferences
• Login items management

🔒 Permissions

Screen Recording Permission

• Purpose: Capture screenshots for text extraction
• When requested: When you first use Cmd+Shift+T (or custom hotkey)
• System dialog: macOS shows standard permission request

Accessibility Permission

• Purpose: Global hotkeys and auto-paste functionality
• When requested: When you first use Cmd+Shift+V (or custom hotkey)
• System dialog: macOS shows standard permission request

🚀 Login Items Management

Easy Management: Built into the menu bar

1. Click the ⌬ icon in your menu bar
2. Select "Add to Login Items..." or "Remove from Login Items"
3. Menu automatically updates based on current status

Manual Setup (alternative):

1. System Preferences → Users & Groups → Login Items
2. Click + and add /Applications/MacPowerTools.app

🛠 Manual Build

Prerequisites

• macOS 10.15+ with Xcode Command Line Tools
• Swift compiler available

Build Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/charsree/MacPowerTools.git
cd MacPowerTools

# Build the application
chmod +x build.sh
./build.sh

# Create app bundle
chmod +x create_apps.sh
./create_apps.sh

# Copy to Applications
cp -r MacPowerTools.app /Applications/
open /Applications/MacPowerTools.app

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

App doesn't respond to hotkeys

• Grant Accessibility permission in System Preferences
• Restart the app after granting permissions

Text extraction not working

• Grant Screen Recording permission in System Preferences
• Ensure you're selecting clear, readable text

Clipboard items don't paste

• Ensure Accessibility permission is granted
• The app needs this permission to simulate Cmd+V keypress

App not starting automatically

• Check System Preferences → Users & Groups → Login Items
• Add /Applications/MacPowerTools.app if missing

Permission Reset

If permissions seem broken:

# Reset permissions (requires admin password)
sudo tccutil reset ScreenCapture com.macpowertools.app
sudo tccutil reset Accessibility com.macpowertools.app

# Restart the app
pkill MacPowerTools
open /Applications/MacPowerTools.app

🔐 Privacy & Security

Mac Power Tools:

• Processes all data locally on your Mac
• No network connections or data transmission
• No persistent storage (clipboard history is memory-only)
• Respects system permissions and security boundaries
• Open source - you can review all code

📊 System Requirements

• Operating System: macOS 10.15 or later
• Architecture: Intel x64 or Apple Silicon (Universal)
• Memory: < 50MB RAM usage
• Storage: < 5MB application size
• Permissions: Screen Recording, Accessibility (requested automatically)

🎉 Getting Started

1. Install: Use Homebrew or build manually
2. Launch: Open /Applications/MacPowerTools.app
3. Grant permissions: Follow the automatic prompts
4. Look for: The ⌬ icon in your menu bar
5. Try: Cmd+Shift+T for text extraction
6. Try: Cmd+Shift+V for clipboard history with auto-paste

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Enjoy your enhanced Mac productivity! ⚡

Mac Power Tools brings essential productivity enhancements to macOS with automatic setup and seamless integration.