ClipDesk

Clip useful research from webpages and PDFs into a local-first library with notes, tags, search, and export.

ClipDesk turns the web into a research library you can actually use. Clip a page or PDF from the side panel, keep it organized, then find, understand, and write from what you saved. Your library lives on your computer, and every feature that could send something anywhere is optional and tells you what it sends. SAVE ANYTHING WORTH KEEPING - Clip a selection, a whole page, or just the link from any webpage, straight into Chrome's side panel - Import text PDFs, and read scanned PDFs with on-device OCR (paid plans) - Highlight text on a page and keep every highlight as a quote with a link back to the exact sentence - Grab part of the screen as a visual clip, or transcribe audio from a tab, a video, or your microphone - Save all your open tabs as a named research session and reopen them later in one click FIND IT AGAIN - Search, filter, favorite, and group clips into collections, with bulk actions for many clips at once - Semantic search that finds clips by meaning, running entirely on your computer - A daily review queue that brings back favorites, notes, and highlights on a spaced schedule TRUST YOUR SOURCES - Check a paper for retractions and preprint status - Find prior, citing, and related work - Save an integrity snapshot, or archive the page to the Wayback Machine so it stays citable - Pull tables (as CSV) and captioned figures out of a clip, and format citations UNDERSTAND IT WITH AI, YOUR WAY - Ask questions of your library and get answers built only from your clips, with every claim cited. Click a citation to see the exact passage. - Get a short summary, key points, and suggested tags on each clip, automatically when you save or all at once for clips you already have - Fill an extraction table: ask the same questions of many sources and review each answer - Run AI on your computer with the built-in Local AI (nothing leaves your device), or connect your own provider with your own Gemini (free from Google AI Studio), Anthropic, or OpenAI key TURN IT INTO WRITING - Compare sources side by side in a synthesis matrix and turn it into an outline - Arrange ideas on boards and build an outline - Export Markdown, Obsidian-ready notes, Notion-ready blocks, or research JSON - Send clips straight to Readwise, Notion, or Google Docs PRIVATE BY DESIGN - Your clips, notes, tags, highlights, and summaries are stored in your browser on your computer - Nothing is uploaded unless you use a feature that sends something, and each one says what it sends: AI with your own provider, research lookups, sending to Readwise, Notion, or Google Docs, and opt-in sync - Summaries and AI features are off until you choose where they run - Anonymous product analytics is off by default. If you turn it on, it never includes your clips, notes, URLs, or email - API keys and tokens you add stay on your computer and are never included in backups or sync - Back up and restore your whole library at any time ACCOUNTS, PLANS, AND SYNC - Account features are optional and local capture, save, search, backup, and export still work while signed out. - Sync is opt-in, entitlement-gated, and existing local clips are not uploaded automatically after sign-in. - Clerk handles identity and session management. - The ClipDesk backend handles entitlements, account records, devices, sync policy, cloud deletion, OCR allowances, and billing orchestration. - Stripe handles payment processing. - Checkout and billing management open backend-created Stripe redirects instead of embedded card collection inside the extension. - ClipDesk does not claim end-to-end sync encryption. - Signing out does not delete your local clips, and deleting cloud data does not delete what is on your computer. PERMISSIONS, AND WHY - Read the page you are on, only when you clip it (activeTab, scripting, optional site access requested when you use it) - Right-click to clip (contextMenus) - Store your library and settings on your computer (storage) - Show ClipDesk in the side panel (sidePanel) - Record audio from the current tab, only while you transcribe it (tabCapture) - Run on-device transcription and Local AI in the background (offscreen) - Optional Sign in with Google, only to send clips to Google Docs (identity) - Stay signed in to your optional ClipDesk account (cookies for clipdesk.io) - Send queued analytics events, only if you turned analytics on (alarms) Support: clipdesksupport@gmail.com · Privacy policy: https://clipdesk.io/privacy