LibraryWhat is stored
Library keeps your library and clipboard history on your Mac. Unpinned clipboard history stays in memory and is cleared when you quit, unless you turn on Keep clipboard history across restarts in Settings > Clipboard. Only pinned items survive a quit otherwise.
Clipboard history never leaves your Mac.
Your files
Your files are in ~/.library/:
| File | Contents |
|---|---|
bookmarks.json | Your items, folders, shortcuts, and order |
clipboard.json | Pinned clipboard items, encrypted with a key kept in your Keychain |
clipboard-history.json | Unpinned clipboard history, encrypted the same way. This file exists only when Keep clipboard history across restarts is on. It is off by default. |
bookmarks-before-iCloud.json, bookmarks-iCloud-replaced.json | Backups kept when Keep Library in iCloud Drive is turned on, so no library is lost. |
bookmarks-damaged.json, snippets-damaged.json | A copy of a file that could not be read. Library tells you when it launches. |
snippets.json | Your snippets, as plain text. They are not encrypted, so don't keep passwords in a snippet. |
favicons/ | Cached site icons. Library downloads them again if you delete the folder. |
Updates don't change your data.
What is sent
Library connects to the internet only for these things.
- Favicons (site icons) for the sites you bookmark.
- Copied GIFs, only if you turn on Play Copied GIFs in Settings > Clipboard. It is off by default. Library downloads a GIF you copied from a web page so it can play.
- Link checks, only if you turn on Check links periodically in Settings > General. It is off by default. Once a day, Library quickly checks that each bookmark's page is still there. Library first asks for the page's headers only. If the server refuses that request, Library reads up to the first 64 KB of the page.
- Smart titles, only if you turn on Name new bookmarks from their pages in Settings > General. Library requests each new bookmark's page once and reads only the start of it to find the title.
- Update checks to
https://api.github.com/repos/deansasek/library/releases/latest. This happens when you choose Check for Updates…, every hour while Library runs when automatic checks are on (the default), and at launch when the last check was an hour or more ago. The request names only the app's version, in its User-Agent header, and the ETag from GitHub's last answer. No account or other data is sent. - Update in Terminal, only when you choose it. The release is cloned from
https://github.com/deansasek/library.gitinto a temporary folder, which is deleted afterward.
Touch ID or password lock
To lock pinned items, turn on Require Touch ID or password to show pinned items in Settings > Clipboard. It is off by default.
Pinned items stay hidden until you authenticate. The unlock lasts until you choose Lock Pinned Items, your Mac sleeps, or Library quits. Search doesn't look inside locked items. If your Mac has no password or Touch ID, Library won't turn the lock on, and it explains how to add one.
iCloud Drive
To keep your library in iCloud Drive, turn on Keep Library in iCloud Drive in Settings > General. It is off by default.
Library moves bookmarks.json into the Library folder of iCloud Drive (~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Library/) and links to it from ~/.library. Your library then follows you to your other Macs. Clipboard history never leaves your Mac.
If two Macs change the library at the same time, Library asks which version to keep: This Mac’s, the other Mac’s, or a review of each difference. Library tells you when a change from another Mac replaced an edit you hadn’t saved.
Temporary files
Some files are written briefly to the system's temporary folder and then removed. A copy of a clip is written while you preview it in Quick Look. A terminal command is written as a script that deletes itself when Terminal runs it. A calendar event is written as an .ics file for Calendar. Export writes a backup file to the place you choose. It does not include clipboard items.