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Getting started

The first-run wizard, the starter commands, and copying your first snippet.

The welcome wizard

The first time you open Snipstack on a device with an empty library, it shows Welcome to Snipstack with two choices:

  1. Start locally: everything stays on this device. You can connect a database later.
  2. Connect Turso: sync across machines through your own libSQL database. This card is selected first.

Press 1 or 2 to pick a card and Enter to continue. Esc starts locally; the starter commands are added only if Start locally was selected with its box ticked.

Once you choose Start locally or finish connecting, the wizard is not shown again on this device. Emptying your library later does not bring it back. If you already have snippets, or the device was already connected to a database, it is skipped.

Starter commands

Under Start locally, the box Add starter commands is ticked by default. It adds a ready-made library of about 120 commands, in folders:

  • Git, Docker, Kubernetes, Node & package managers, Networking, SSH & remote, Shell, Databases
  • plus a folder for your system: Windows (PowerShell), macOS or Linux

Edit or delete them freely. Adding them again never creates duplicates: commands you already have, edited or moved to the Trash are skipped.

You can add them at any time from Settings > Data > Add starter commands, or with the command palette action Add starter commands. On a device connected to a database, Snipstack syncs first; if it cannot, it says “Snipstack needs to sync with your database first. Check your connection and try again.”

If you choose Connect Turso instead, starter commands are offered only when the database holds no Snipstack data at all. See Sync with Turso.

Importing instead

The wizard also has Import existing snippets…, which reads a Snipstack JSON export. See Import and export.

Your first snippet

  1. Press Cmd+N or Ctrl+N to create a snippet.
  2. Give it a title and type or paste the command. Snipstack saves as you type; there is no Save button. The footer shows Saved locally.
  3. Turn the parts that change into variables, such as ssh {{user}}@{{host}}. See Variables.
  4. Copy it with Cmd+C or Ctrl+C, or fill in the variables and copy with Cmd+Option+C or Ctrl+Alt+C.

From any app

Press Option+Space or Ctrl+Shift+Space anywhere to open quick search, type a few letters and press Enter to copy. See Quick search window.

Two more keys are worth learning early: Cmd+K or Ctrl+K opens the command palette (every snippet, folder and action), and ? lists every shortcut.