Privacy and control
Vault: Touch ID for copied secrets
Detection is off until you turn it on, and each kind of secret has its own switch.
Pro
What it does
Some copies should not sit in a searchable list. With detection on, ClipBuddy recognizes credential-shaped copies and routes them into the Vault: encrypted on your Mac, invisible to search, and released only after Touch ID.
Detection is a choice
Detection is off by default because turning it on changes what happens to new copies. When you do turn it on, you decide what counts: payment cards, bank accounts, password-like text, API tokens, private keys. Each has its own switch, and rules can opt out per rule.
What “encrypted on your Mac” means here
The keys stay on the machine. That is a deliberate trade: vault items inside a backup cannot be restored onto a different Mac, which is the cost of nobody else being able to read them either.
The 60 second clear
When you paste a vault item, the value is copied out marked concealed and removes itself from the clipboard a minute later, so a secret does not linger in whatever the next app reads.
Tips
- Turn on the categories that match your actual work. A developer wants API tokens and private keys, a finance team wants cards and IBANs.
- Add the per-app blocklist for your password manager as well, so those copies are never captured in the first place.
Set up the vault
- 1 Turn on detection
Enable Detect and vault secrets in Settings. It is off by default, so ClipBuddy never silently changes how your copies are handled.
- 2 Choose what counts as a secret
Settings lists every kind ClipBuddy can watch for, each with its own switch: payment cards, bank accounts as IBANs, password-like text, API tokens and private keys. Turn off any you would rather keep in ordinary history.
- 3 Copy something sensitive
A recognized credential goes into the Vault instead of sitting in plain history, and search never sees it.
- 4 Reveal or paste it
Touch ID, or your device password, is required every time. The value is copied out marked concealed and clears itself from the clipboard after 60 seconds.
Frequently asked questions
What happens on the free tier?
If you enable detection without Pro, recognized secret-looking copies are simply never saved at all.
Can I read my vault from a backup on another Mac?
No. Vault items are encrypted with keys that never leave your Mac, so items in a backup can only be read again on that same Mac.
What is the card wallet?
Save your cards once, with every field encrypted and revealed per field behind Touch ID, so you are not keeping card numbers in a note.
