How to copy and share code snippets online

When a temporary clip is the right tool

Sometimes you need to get a few lines from one place to another and a repository would be overkill:

• Copying a command from your phone to a terminal on a server you are logged in to.
• Sending a stack trace to a colleague while you are on a call.
• Moving a config block to a fresh virtual machine that has a browser but no clipboard sharing.
• Handing someone a snippet in a chat that mangles code with smart quotes.
• Getting output off a locked-down machine where you cannot install tools or sign in.

In each case you want it fast, with no sign-up, and gone afterwards.

How to share a snippet

1. Copy the code in your editor or terminal.
2. Open this site and paste it into Send text. The box uses a monospaced font so you can check indentation at a glance.
3. Choose an expiry. For a live debugging session, 10 minutes or 1 hour is plenty.
4. Press Save to clipboard and share the 6-digit code, the link or the QR code.
5. The other person opens it and presses Copy or Download .txt.

If you are sending between two machines of your own, scanning the QR code on a phone and opening the link on the second machine avoids typing six digits.

Keeping the code intact

• Tabs and spaces are kept. What you paste is what is stored. Be aware that some terminals convert tabs to spaces on paste.
• Plain text only. Anything copied from a web page with formatting is flattened to text, which is what you want for code.
• Smart quotes are the usual culprit when a command fails after pasting from a chat app. If your command suddenly errors with strange characters, paste it through the clipboard and compare, or retype the quotes.
• Line endings. A snippet copied on Windows can have different line endings from one copied on Linux. For shell scripts, make sure the final file uses the endings your system expects.
• Download as a file. Use Download .txt if you need the content as a file, then rename it with the right extension.

Keep secrets out

Code snippets often carry things that should not travel: API keys, access tokens, private keys, database passwords and connection strings. A few rules:

1. Remove the secret first. Replace it with a placeholder such as YOUR_API_KEY.
2. If you must send it, add a password, set a 10-minute expiry and turn on Delete after the first view. The password encrypts the text in your browser before upload, so the server never holds it in readable form.
3. Send the password separately from the code, on a different channel.
4. Rotate it afterwards. Treat any secret that has been transferred outside your secrets manager as exposed, and replace it.

This is a quick-transfer tool, not a secrets manager, so use a proper one whenever you can.

Sharing logs and error messages

When you ask for help with a bug, the person helping needs the whole error message, not a screenshot of it. Paste the full stack trace into a clip, add the command you ran above it, and share the link. Before you do, check the output for:

• Usernames and home directory paths.
• Hostnames and internal IP addresses.
• Tokens in URLs or headers.
• Email addresses and other personal data.

Clip, gist or repository?

Small workflow tips

• Keep a clip open in a browser tab on your second machine so you can refresh and fetch the newest code.
• Put a comment on the first line, such as # restart nginx on staging, so the snippet explains itself when opened.
• If you are sending several commands, put each on its own line with a blank line between groups.
• Download a .txt copy if you want to keep the snippet; the clip itself will not last.