GitHub - kubestellar/hotshot: Hotkey-triggered screenshot injection into your last active terminal session · GitHub

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hotshot

Take a screenshot, and it lands in your terminal. That's it.

hotshot is a tiny macOS menu bar app that captures a screenshot and automatically pastes the file path into whichever terminal session you were last using. Built for AI coding assistants like Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, aider, and OpenCode that accept image paths as input.

If you're like me, you use screenshots constantly to debug your work — a broken UI, a weird error message, a dashboard that doesn't look right. Normally you'd screenshot it, find the file, copy the path, switch to your terminal, paste it in. hotshot does all of that in one keystroke.

What it looks like

You're working in Claude Code (or any AI CLI) in your terminal

You switch to a browser and spot a bug

Press ⇧⌘S — the familiar crosshair appears, select the area

hotshot saves the screenshot and types the file path into your terminal session

Your AI assistant reads the image and starts helping

No dragging files around. No copy-pasting paths. No "here let me find where that screenshot went."

Install

Requires macOS 13+ and Swift (comes with Xcode or Xcode Command Line Tools).

git clone https://github.com/kubestellar/hotshot.git<br>cd hotshot<br>swift build -c release<br>sudo cp .build/release/hotshot /usr/local/bin/

Then just run it:

hotshot

A small camera icon appears in your menu bar — that's hotshot running. It stays out of your way until you need it.

Tip: Run hotshot & to background it so it doesn't hold your terminal.

First-time setup

macOS will ask for two permissions the first time:

Screen Recording — so it can take screenshots

Accessibility — so it can type the path into your terminal

Grant both in System Settings > Privacy & Security. You only have to do this once.

How it works

hotshot remembers which terminal you last clicked on. When you press the hotkey, it:

Opens the macOS region selector (same crosshair as ⌘⇧4)

Saves the screenshot to your configured folder

Types the file path into your last active terminal session

Brings the terminal back to the front

That's it. No servers, no clipboard hacks, no browser extensions.

Configuring

Click the camera icon in your menu bar. Everything is configurable:

Option<br>Default<br>What it does

Auto-focus terminal<br>On<br>Brings your terminal to the front after pasting the path

Auto-press Return<br>Off<br>Sends Enter after the path (so your CLI processes it immediately)

Capture full screen<br>Off<br>Grabs the whole screen instead of letting you select a region

Show notifications<br>Off<br>Desktop notification after each capture

Change screenshot folder<br>Your macOS default<br>Pick any folder — opens a standard folder picker

Change shortcut<br>⇧⌘S<br>Press "Change shortcut..." and type any key combination you want

Works with these terminals

iTerm2 (recommended — uses native AppleScript for reliable injection)

Terminal.app

Kitty

Alacritty

Warp

Ghostty

Works with these AI assistants

Any CLI tool that accepts image file paths as input:

Claude Code

GitHub Copilot CLI

aider

OpenCode

Any tool where you can paste a file path and it reads the image

FAQ

Does it conflict with the Mac's built-in screenshot shortcuts?<br>No. macOS system shortcuts (⌘⇧3, ⌘⇧4, ⌘⇧5) are handled at a lower level and can't be overridden. hotshot's default ⇧⌘S doesn't conflict. You can change it to anything you want from the menu bar.

I pressed the shortcut and nothing happened.<br>Make sure hotshot is running (look for the camera icon in your menu bar). Also make sure you've clicked on a terminal window at least...