Screenshot to Devbox

Overview

Claude Code supports pasting images from the clipboard with Ctrl+V, but this only works when Claude Code can access the local OS clipboard. Over SSH, the remote Claude Code process can't see your Mac's clipboard.

Solution: Take a screenshot locally, upload it to the devbox, and reference the path.

Usage

From your Mac terminal (not inside SSH):

screenshot-to-devbox

Or use the alias:

ssdb

This will:

Open macOS screenshot selection (crosshairs)
Upload the selection to ~/.cache/claude-images/ on devbox
Copy the remote path to your clipboard

Then in your SSH session with Claude Code:

Analyze this image: /home/dev/.cache/claude-images/screenshot-20240115-143022-12345-67890.png

Configuration

| Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | DEVBOX_HOST | devbox | SSH host alias | | SCREENSHOT_REMOTE_DIR | ~/.cache/claude-images | Remote directory for uploads |

How It Works

The script:

Uses screencapture -i -x to capture a selection silently
Generates a unique filename with timestamp and PID
Creates the remote directory with 700 permissions
Uploads via scp and sets 600 permissions on the file
Copies the remote path to clipboard via pbcopy

Troubleshooting

"Screenshot cancelled": You pressed Escape or clicked outside the selection. This is expected behavior.

SSH connection fails: Ensure your devbox host alias is configured in ~/.ssh/config and SSH keys are set up.

Permission denied on remote: The script creates directories with umask 077 and files with 600 permissions. If the parent directory has issues, check ~/.cache permissions.

Why Not Just Use iTerm2's it2ul?

iTerm2's it2ul upload tool can be flaky inside tmux (proprietary escape sequences don't always pass through cleanly for large files). This script uses standard scp which works reliably through any tmux session.

OSC 52 Clipboard - For text copy/paste over SSH