SnipForge

Your commands, one hotkey away.
A blazing fast snippet palette that lives on your desktop.
Save commands, code blocks, prompts, and templates. Search instantly, copy with variables.

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Why SnipForge

You have hundreds of commands across Docker, Kubernetes, Git, SSH, APIs, and internal tooling. Some live in Notion, some in Slack messages, some you just google every time. SnipForge puts them all in one place — a global hotkey palette that opens from anywhere, searches instantly, and copies to your clipboard with variable substitution.

Teams can share command libraries through GitHub repos. Adding a GitHub library creates a local working copy of its command files; a local folder works without GitHub.

Features

Global hotkey — One shortcut opens SnipForge from any app. Type to search, arrow keys to navigate, Enter to copy. Configurable in settings.

Variables — Use {{variable name}} templates. When you copy, SnipForge prompts you to fill in each value before it hits your clipboard.

/add customer {{Customer Name}}

Multi-format editors — Plain text, rich text (TipTap), Markdown, and syntax-highlighted code for 15+ languages (JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Bash, SQL, YAML, and more).

Libraries — Keep commands as JSON files in local folders; optionally link a library to a GitHub repo for library-level fetch, commit, push, or PR workflows. Auto-sync can refresh the local index.

Local-first — Command files live in folders you choose; SQLite indexes them and stores app settings. No account is needed for local libraries. Optional GitHub features use GitHub's API and local Git working copies; update checks contact GitHub Releases when enabled. No telemetry is built in.

Keyboard-driven — Full navigation without a mouse. Customizable shortcuts for every action.

The Armory

SnipForge ships with The Armory — a curated starter library of 477 commands across 39 categories including Git, Docker, Kubernetes, SSH, curl, PostgreSQL, nginx, n8n, and more. Import it from The Armory/ in this repo, or use it as a reference for building your own libraries.

Download

Get the latest stable release from the Releases page (prereleases appear on all releases):

Platform	Format
macOS	.dmg
Windows	.exe
Linux	.AppImage

macOS note: The app isn't code signed yet. Right-click > "Open" > "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper, or run xattr -cr /Applications/SnipForge.app in Terminal.

Quick Start

1. Install and launch SnipForge; choose a folder for your default writable library when prompted (commands are stored there as JSON files)
2. Press Cmd+Shift+Space (or Ctrl+Shift+Space) to open the palette
3. Create a command or open an existing library folder, then type to search
4. Press Enter or C to copy a command
5. If the command has {{variables}}, fill in the values when prompted

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Arrow Keys	Navigate list
C / Enter	Copy command
Shift+C	Copy with variables intact
N	New command
E	Edit selected
Backspace	Delete selected
Escape	Clear search / close
S	Settings

All shortcuts are customizable in Settings > General.

Team Libraries

1. Open Settings > Libraries; open a local folder for an offline library, or connect GitHub in Settings > Connectors to add a repo-backed one
2. Enter a GitHub repo URL (or org/team-commands) and click Subscribe (the current UI label); choose a library if the repo contains more than one
3. SnipForge clones the repo into a local working copy and indexes its command files. Use the library's management view for refresh and Git workflows; available write actions depend on permissions and working-copy state

Local libraries do not require GitHub. An unreadable or invalid command JSON blocks that library's sync without discarding its previous search index; repair or remove the bad file and sync again. See Library Working Copies for current behavior and Library-First Command Storage for reconciliation details.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/ArtluxDM/SnipForge.git
cd SnipForge
# Use Node 24 (.nvmrc) and pnpm 10.16.0 (packageManager)
pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
pnpm typecheck:main
pnpm typecheck:renderer
pnpm test       # prepares Node-native dependencies, then runs the full suite
pnpm dev        # prepares Electron-native dependencies before Vite/Electron
pnpm build      # production packaging; rebuilds Electron-native dependencies

Run pnpm test:db for just the SQLite suite. After tests, use pnpm native:electron to prepare/probe Electron's native addon before launching it (pnpm dev does this automatically). Do not run tests and packaging concurrently in the same checkout. See Release Pipeline for CI, smoke checks and publishing.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Desktop	Electron + Vue 3 + Vite + TypeScript
Database	SQLite via better-sqlite3
Editors	CodeMirror 6 (code/markdown), TipTap (rich text)
Search	Fuse.js (weighted fuzzy search)
UI	Lucide icons, Virtua (virtual scrolling), highlight.js

Documentation

• Library Working Copies — current local/GitHub library behavior
• Library-First Command Storage — files, index and sync behavior
• Release Pipeline — checks, packaging and manual publication
• DB Health — SQLite maintenance checks and DB test recovery
• Codebase Map — File reference, architecture, IPC channels
• Settings — Configuration, hotkey remapping, auto-sync
• Variable Substitution — Template syntax and copy flow

Support

SnipForge is built and maintained independently. If you or your team uses it, consider sponsoring the project to keep development active.

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). Free to use, modify, and distribute. Modifications must be released under AGPL with full source code.

For commercial licensing inquiries, reach out at contact@snipforge.dev.