Mac tools that send a screenshot to a remote coding agent, compared
Updated 3 October 2026. What it says about other tools was checked that day.
When your coding agent runs on a server, a screenshot on your Mac has to travel there before the agent can see it. At least eleven tools do that job today. They differ in how you trigger them, what they put on the server and what they cost. Hostbeam is ours; it is here like the rest, checked the same way.
Three questions decide it
- Only screenshots from your Mac, or files too, and from your iPhone? Most of these tools send images from a Mac; a few take any file; one sends from a phone.
- Do you also need to see what the agent builds? When it starts a dev server on the server, two of these open it on your Mac.
- One app, or any app? Some work inside a single terminal or editor; others work with whatever terminal and agent you use.
The four ways they work
- Watch the clipboard. Every image you copy is uploaded, and the clipboard is swapped for its path on the server. Nothing to press. Paste2SSH, SSH Screenshot Bridge.
- You send it. A shortcut, a command or a click. Nothing leaves until you ask. Hostbeam, screencp, clipssh, SSH Image Drop, Image Paste for Remote SSH, claude-screenshot-uploader.
- Catch the paste in your terminal. You paste as usual and the tool uploads on the way. FainLane, and cmux for files you drop.
- Tunnel the clipboard to the server. Ctrl+V on the server reaches back to your Mac. clipaste.
Whichever it is, the agent ends up with a path. Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and OpenCode attach the image when you give them its path (why).
At a glance
| Tool | iPhone | Opens the dev server | Any file | Installs on the server | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostbeam | Yes | Yes, in any browser | Yes, to 100 MB | Nothing | Free; $29 licence optional |
| cmux | — | Yes, in its own browser panes | Yes | A helper | Free, GPL |
| Paste2SSH | — | — | Yes | Nothing | Free |
| SSH Image Drop | — | — | Yes, and folders | Nothing | Free, MIT |
| FainLane | — | — | Images | Nothing | $12 a year |
| clipaste | — | — | Images | A clipboard shim | Free, MIT |
| SSH Screenshot Bridge | — | — | Images | Nothing | Free |
| screencp | — | — | Images | Nothing | Free |
| claude-screenshot-uploader | — | — | PNG, JPEG | Nothing | Free, MIT |
| clipssh | — | — | PNG | Nothing | Free, MIT |
| Image Paste for Remote SSH | — | — | PNG | VS Code's server | Free, MIT |
— means the tool's own pages don't offer it, as of the date above. The table leaves out how each one sends: Paste2SSH and SSH Screenshot Bridge, for one, upload every image you copy with nothing to press. The next section credits what each does best.
Each one, fairly
Paste2SSH
Turn on Paste Mode and every image you copy is uploaded, with the clipboard swapped for the
remote path; you can also drop files on its window, several at once. It uses your keys and
~/.ssh/config, switches hosts in a click, keeps your last 100 paths
and holds the connection open so later uploads are quick. Free with an optional tip, macOS 14
and later, not open source. A Linux build is in alpha. Last release June 2026.
SSH Screenshot Bridge
Watches the clipboard and uploads with scp to hosts from your SSH config or your Tailscale network, and deletes the previous upload so only one screenshot sits on the server. Images only. macOS 15 and later, built from source.
screencp
Click the menu-bar icon, pick a screenshot from a grid, pick a host, press Send. It copies the
path, host:path or the whole scp command, as you prefer. Images
only. macOS 14 and later, unsigned.
claude-screenshot-uploader
An xbar plugin that watches your screenshots folder, or uploads on a click, with rsync over SSH to servers you list in it, then copies the remote path. Keeps an activity log. PNG and JPEG, MIT.
clipssh
A Bash script: copy a screenshot, run clipssh myserver, and the path
is on your clipboard. Follows your SSH config, works from a Mac or Linux desktop. PNG, MIT.
SSH Image Drop
A Raycast extension: a command, or a hotkey per server, sends the clipboard image or the files selected in Finder, several at once, and can pull files back. It signs in with a password kept in the Keychain or a key it installs. MIT.
Image Paste for Remote SSH
For Claude Code in a VS Code Remote-SSH terminal: Alt+I saves the clipboard image on the server and types its path. Nothing else to set up if you already work in VS Code. PNG, MIT.
FainLane
Paste with Ctrl+V as usual in Ghostty, iTerm2 or Terminal: FainLane uploads the image, types the path at your cursor and finds the host from the session you're in, tmux and mosh included. Images only. Needs Accessibility and Automation permissions. Apple silicon, macOS 15.7 and later; $12 a year after a 14-day trial.
cmux
A full terminal app for coding agents: drop an image or any file into a remote session and
it's uploaded over that session's connection. Its browser panes reach the server's network,
so localhost:3000 in cmux is the remote dev server. It installs a
small helper on the server the first time you connect, and also does mosh. Free and open
source.
clipaste
A daemon on your Mac serves the clipboard image through an SSH tunnel, and a one-time setup
puts a stand-in for xclip on the server, so Ctrl+V in Claude Code
on a Linux server just works; Codex runs a helper that prints a path. It needs the server to
allow SSH port forwarding, which hardened servers often turn off. Also runs on Windows and
Linux desktops. MIT.
Hostbeam
Copy a screenshot, or a file in Finder, and press ⌘⇧7, or drop it on
the menu-bar icon: it's uploaded to the host you picked and its path is on your clipboard.
Any file up to 100 MB, several at once. It checks the host key before anything is sent, never
overwrites a file, and installs nothing on the server.
- An iPhone app sends from the share sheet, once it's on the App Store.
- It also opens the dev server your agent started, in whichever browser you use, even where SSH port forwarding is off.
- Its free MCP server lets the agent fetch your latest screenshot itself.
Free with no limit. After the first week it asks now and then for a $29 licence, and never blocks anything. macOS 13 and later.
Which one
| If you want | Look at |
|---|---|
| the phone too, the dev server back, any file, with any terminal and agent | Hostbeam |
| one app for the terminal and the browser | cmux |
| nothing to press at all, Mac screenshots only | Paste2SSH |
| Ctrl+V to just work in your terminal | FainLane, or clipaste if forwarding is allowed |
| to stay in Raycast or VS Code | SSH Image Drop, the VS Code extension |
| a script you can read | clipssh |
None of the others says it sends from an iPhone; on a phone, Termius uploads an image you paste into a session. If you make one of these tools and something here is wrong or out of date, write to support@hostbeam.app and it gets fixed.
Try Hostbeam
Free, with no limit and no account, on macOS 13 and later. It uses the SSH keys and
~/.ssh/config you already have, and installs nothing on the
server.