# CPDock user guide

Copy and paste, simplified. Keep earlier copies, reusable text, images and files in a panel at the edge of your Mac.

**Guide version: 0.2.12 preview. Updated 4 October 2026.** Public downloads and purchases are not open yet. Activation instructions below describe the planned paid release. Private previews make clipboard tools available for testing.

## Get started

1. Open CPDock from Applications.
2. Hover directly over the visible dot at the edge of your screen. You can also choose **Show CPDock** from the menu bar icon.
3. Open **Settings** from the menu bar or the sliders button in the panel.
4. Turn on **Enable clipboard history** when you want CPDock to capture new copies. Capture starts off on a fresh installation. In the paid release, automatic capture requires Pro activation.
5. Copy some text in another app. Open **Clipboard**, click the entry to copy it again, then paste into the app where you need it.

Copying an entry puts its full contents on the system clipboard. It does not automatically type into another app: switch there and use **Command-V** or Paste.

## Install CPDock

The current preview targets **macOS 13 or later**, with a universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel. Public release verification, including Intel hardware testing, is still in progress.

When the public download opens:

1. Download the installer from [cpdock.com](https://cpdock.com/).
2. Open the DMG and drag CPDock into **Applications**.
3. Open CPDock from Applications, rather than from the mounted installer.
4. Confirm the normal macOS downloaded-app prompt if it appears.
5. Eject the CPDock installer disk in Finder after installation.

If macOS says the app cannot be verified, check that you downloaded the official release and contact support. Do not disable Gatekeeper to install it. Public installers will be Developer ID signed and notarized before release.

## Find your way around

- **All:** view your saved shelf items together.
- **Favorites:** quickly find saved items you have starred.
- **Text:** keep reusable text, prompts, notes and replies.
- **Links:** keep saved website links.
- **Media:** keep images, PDFs and file references.
- **Clipboard:** find recent captured copies, including text and URLs.

Use the search field to narrow the current view. Clear the search if you cannot see an expected item. Each tab remembers its search and scroll position while you switch between tabs.

Open the menu bar icon to reuse the **ten newest text copies**, including URLs. Selecting a menu entry copies its full text. Enable **Show recent text in menu bar** in Settings; this quick menu requires Pro in the paid release.

## Save text and prompts

Clipboard is a rolling history. Text is your saved library.

1. Find a useful text entry in Clipboard.
2. Click **Save to Text** beside it. The Clipboard entry remains, and an independent saved item appears in Text.
3. Open Text. Single-click the saved item to copy its complete text.
4. Double-click to open the larger editor. Edit the title, text, folder and optional source link.
5. Click **Done** or the close button to save and return to the panel. If saving fails, the draft stays open so you can retry or discard it.

Give long prompts short, clear titles, such as “Rewrite an email” or “Summarize meeting notes.” Browser source information is retained only when supplied. You can enter or correct a source URL yourself; CPDock does not guess a website from ordinary plain-text copying.

![Saved prompts organized in CPDock's Text tab](./assets/prompts.png)

## Organize with folders and favorites

Text starts with **Prompts** and **Notes** folders. Use the folder menu to choose a folder, **All Text**, or **Unfiled**. Older saved text appears in Unfiled until you assign a folder.

Select a folder and use the pencil button to rename it. Use the folder-plus button to create another folder. Choose an item's folder in its editor. You can star saved items to find them in Favorites.

Saving text independently protects it from rolling Clipboard history limits and expiry. Clearing history does not delete the saved Text copy. To remove saved text, delete that saved item separately.

## Combine several copies

1. Open Clipboard and click **Combine**, or choose **Combine Copies** from the top plus menu.
2. Select the text entries you want, in the order you want to paste them.
3. CPDock automatically copies the combined text as your selection changes. The normal result puts entries on separate lines.
4. Switch to another app and paste. You do not need a second Combine confirmation or a popup.

**Done** finishes selection and leaves the combined text copied. **Edit** is optional: use it to adjust the combined text, change formatting to bullets or numbering, or save a combined result. Combining keeps the original entries.

## Split a list into separate items

1. Copy a multiline list in another app.
2. Open the top plus menu and choose **Split Current Clipboard**.
3. Review the source and the resulting lines. Optionally enable **Remove bullet and number prefixes**.
4. Click **Add to Clipboard**.

Each nonempty line becomes its own Clipboard entry, in the original order. Blank lines are skipped. The original entry is kept. Split results join rolling history; use Save to Text for any line you want to keep permanently.

## Keep images, PDFs and files handy

Drag an image, PDF or file into CPDock. Use Media to find it, then drag it into an app that accepts that kind of content. Small previews help you recognize files without keeping full-size previews loaded in the panel.

Finder files remain in their original locations. Keep those originals available: moving or deleting a file can break its reference. Use **Locate file** when CPDock asks you to find a missing original.

Browser and clipboard imports may need their own full-quality local file so they remain reusable later. Small previews do not mean every imported original has been removed from disk.

**Images from websites:** dragging a browser image can save the image in Media and the supplied link in Clipboard. This depends on the browser providing usable image data or a downloadable image URL. Some sites restrict downloads or omit an image representation. CPDock keeps an offered link when the image cannot be imported; ordinary webpage links do not automatically download an arbitrary page image.

**YouTube:** drag a YouTube video link into CPDock to save the available thumbnail in Media and the original video URL in Clipboard. If a usable thumbnail is unavailable, the link remains. This saves a thumbnail, not the video itself.

## Delete and undo

Click the trash icon beside a Clipboard entry to remove it. If that entry also appears in All through the same record, it disappears there too. An independent item previously saved to Text is kept.

Use **Undo** at the top of the panel to restore a recent deletion. Recovery is limited to the latest ten deletions, up to five minutes in the current session, and available recovery storage. Quitting ends that session's Undo history. Undo is not a permanent backup and does not change the current system clipboard.

## Control privacy and capture

Turn on **Privacy Mode** from the menu or the eye button to conceal part of text previews, titles, sources and menu previews. Enough remains visible to identify items. Copying and dragging still use the full original content. In the saved-text editor, revealing text for editing is an explicit action.

Privacy mode is visual masking. It does not encrypt stored content and is not a guarantee that a screen recording cannot reveal information. Pause capture or exclude sensitive apps when you do not want new copies retained.

In Settings, you can pause capture for a time, exclude selected apps from automatic capture, and choose history expiry after one, seven or thirty days, or never. Exclusions apply while the selected app is active; manual adds can still import its content.

Use the top plus menu's **Clear Clipboard History** action to clear captured entries. Its confirmation also offers **Clear History and Local Backups**. Expiry removes old captured records from the library and local backups; saved shelf items remain independent. Clearing history is not recovered by Undo.

CPDock stores your library on your Mac. There is no cloud sync or product analytics. Browser image and YouTube thumbnail imports contact the source servers. Payment and license activation use online services; clipboard contents are not sent to the license service.

## Make the panel comfortable

Settings lets you choose the left or right edge, the visible dot or edge trigger, the dot's vertical placement, panel width, card size and visual scale. Adjust reveal/hide delays if needed. The dot trigger activates over its visible circular area; the edge trigger is a separate optional mode.

Use **Auto-hide on mouse exit** to let the panel slide away, and **Always on top** if you want it above other windows. Enable **Launch at login** if you want CPDock to start with your Mac; macOS may require approval in Login Items. CPDock respects the system's Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency preferences.

## Activate Pro and move to another Mac

For the public paid release, purchase through the official site's Stripe checkout. Your receipt and license email are separate messages. Check your inbox and spam folder, then open Settings, enter the key and click **Activate**.

CPDock Pro is a **$9.99 USD one-time purchase for one Mac**. After activation, a verified license allows up to **seven days offline**. Reconnect periodically for automatic license renewal. **Validate** in Settings requests a fresh check; renewal is authorization, not a new payment.

Before retiring a Mac, connect it to the internet and click **Deactivate** in CPDock Settings to release its slot. Contact support using your purchase email if a lost Mac cannot be deactivated. Activation service and purchase delivery must be verified before the public release opens.

## Update to a newer version

CPDock currently has **manual updates**. There is no automatic update checker in this preview.

1. Check [What's new](https://cpdock.com/updates.html) for the latest public version and its requirements. Preview notes do not mean a public download is available.
2. In Settings, check your installed CPDock version.
3. Back up your Mac before upgrading important saved content.
4. Choose **Quit CPDock** from its menu bar icon.
5. Download the newer official installer, drag CPDock into Applications and choose **Replace** for the existing app.
6. Open the installed app and eject the installer disk.

The app is designed to reuse your existing library and preferences. Do not delete its library folders to update. An eligible maintenance update should not require another purchase; final license/update terms will be stated at launch.

If an upgrade reports a library error, stop and contact support. Do not repeatedly overwrite your data or assume an older app can open a newer database. A downgrade may require a matching pre-upgrade library backup.

## Back up your library

Use Time Machine or another full Mac backup for saved text and media. CPDock creates local database snapshots, but they do not duplicate every imported image or PDF and are not a substitute for a full backup.

For an additional manual backup, quit CPDock, use Finder's **Go to Folder**, open **~/Library/Application Support/EdgeDock/** and copy that entire folder to a safe backup location. This is the current internal folder name. Include original Finder files separately because references do not copy their contents into that folder. Do not edit the live database or restore an old schema without support guidance.

## Troubleshooting and support

- **New copies are missing:** confirm history is enabled, capture is not paused, the source app is not excluded, and Pro is active in a paid build. Clear the current search. CPDock's own copies and items marked private by another app are ignored by automatic capture.
- **The menu shows no recent text:** enable Show recent text in menu bar, check for existing text history and verify Pro in a paid build. Image-only copies do not appear in the ten-text menu.
- **Several CPDock disks appear in Finder:** these are mounted installers. Eject them after installing. Keep one app in Applications and quit an older running copy before opening the installed version.
- **A thumbnail is missing:** check your internet connection and try another supported link. Restricted images and unavailable YouTube thumbnails can leave only the supplied link.
- **A license email or activation is missing:** use [Help](https://cpdock.com/support.html), your purchase email and the last four characters of the key. Do not buy again just to retry delivery.
- **The app hangs or reports a save error:** keep the draft/data, record the steps and contact support. Avoid deleting the library as a troubleshooting shortcut.

Include CPDock version, macOS version and clear reproduction steps. Share only redacted screenshots. Never post your full license key, private clipboard history or passwords publicly. The verified support contact will appear on the Help page when launch opens.