A Mac clipboard companion
that understands what you copy.
On copy, a light-layer insight pops up in the corner—Adopt once to write it back to the clipboard.
COPY → INSIGHT → ADOPT
What each step does
The first viewport states the outcome; the detail lives here. Your frontmost app keeps keyboard focus—insight happens in the corner, and the result comes back where you’re working.
Copy
Press ⌘C in any app. Ginkgo quietly appears near the corner—without activating or stealing focus.
Understand
Above the untouched clipping, a tinted insight card reveals which plug-in matched and what it found.
Adopt
Choose “Adopt” to write the result to the clipboard and paste it in place. The panel fades after about six seconds, or leaves with a swipe.
BUILT-IN PLUG-INS
Recognized on copy, converted when you ask
Timestamps, words, certificates, and JSON are recognized the moment you copy, each with its own typography. Anything unmatched is always shown exactly as copied. Every plug-in can be switched on or off in Settings.
1790640000Sep 29, 2026 at 08:00
Tuesday · UTC+8
Unix and ISO 8601 timestamps become readable at a glance.
serendipity /ˌserənˈdɪpɪti/
noun
- 1. the occurrence of events by chance in a happy way
- 2. good fortune in making unexpected discoveries
"a fortunate stroke of serendipity"
Copy a headword and its meaning unfolds in place—on-device via Dictionary.app; pick English→Chinese or Chinese→English in Settings.
{
"clip": {
"id": 1024,
"kind": "text",
"pinned": false
},
"tags": ["work", "api"]
}Even a tangled payload returns as a clean, aligned structure.
/ On-demand commands never run on copy. Type / in History to translate (macOS 26+, on-device via the system), format code as JSON, YAML, XML, web source, and more, encode or decode Base64 and URLs, or hash with MD5 / SHA-256—results are saved in place and the clipboard stays untouched.
LOCAL HISTORY
Find any copy in seconds
Text, images, and files—along with titles, tags, and pins—stay on this Mac. Search is fast and quiet; type / to translate or convert any clip. Captured content remains immutable; only its title, tags, and pin can change.
api-response.json
{
"id": 1024,
"name": "ginkgo",
"ok": true
}SHARE CARDS
Capture an insight as a signed card
Every result can become an image: four card themes (Evening Ginkgo, Ginkgo Leaf, Autumn, Paper), structured typography, and a ginkgo-leaf signature—ready to share as a small poster.
PRINCIPLES
Quietness is a discipline
Only adoption writes
The clipboard is never changed without confirmation. Insights never apply themselves.
Never steals focus
The panel activates no app and becomes no main window. Your input always belongs to the frontmost app.
Captures stay immutable
Captured content cannot be edited anywhere. Only its title, tags, and pin can change.
Local-first
The dictionary and translation run on-device, and your clips never leave this Mac on their own. The only outbound requests are license activation and revalidation (license metadata only, via Dodo Payments), the translation language packs macOS fetches itself, and the agent runs you start—a licensed, opt-in plugin that sends prompt content only to the provider you configure with your own key.
Ginkgo began as its maker’s own tool. The author is from a hometown of ginkgo trees, and the leaf mark is a small piece of that home. It was once called Clipmate; on the night it changed, a one-time migration carried every old clipping into its new home. Its interface speaks English and Simplified Chinese, and its surfaces follow the system between Ginkgo White (light) and Ink Leaf (dark)—or pin one in Settings.
FAQ