Snippets Plugin
Snippets saves reusable text for quick copying, pasting, or automatic expansion as you type.
Create a snippet
- Open Wox Settings → Installed Plugins → Snippets.
- Add a snippet with a name and the text you want to reuse. A keyword is optional.
- To expand keywords while typing, turn on Enable automatic expansion on this device. It is off by default.
For example, set the keyword to ;email and the text to hello@example.com. With automatic expansion enabled, typing ;email in a supported text field replaces it with hello@example.com.
A keyword may contain printable ASCII characters, including spaces. Wox replaces the entire keyword as soon as it is typed, without waiting for Enter or a space. Include a trailing space or punctuation in the keyword if you want that character to trigger expansion; include it in the text too if it should remain after replacement. Keywords must be unique. If synced snippets have conflicting keywords, their automatic expansion is paused until the conflict is resolved.
Find and use snippets
Type snip in Wox to list snippets, or snip email to search by name, keyword, or text. Press Enter to copy the expanded text. The Action Panel also offers a paste action when a target application is available. These actions work without enabling automatic expansion.
Immediately pressing Backspace after an automatic expansion attempts to restore the keyword. Undo support depends on the target editor and the text inserted.
Insert variables
In the text field, type { or use the lightning button to insert a variable. Variables are resolved when the snippet is copied, pasted, or expanded.
| Variable | Result |
|---|---|
{wox:date} | Today's date |
{wox:date?format=yyyy-MM-dd} | Date in the specified format |
{wox:clipboard_text} | Current clipboard text |
{wox:uuid} | A new unique identifier |
Date formats support yyyy, MM, dd, HH, mm, and ss. Unsupported placeholders or date formats remain unchanged. If clipboard text is unavailable, expansion is cancelled.
Sync and permissions
Snippets sync as one setting when Cloud Sync is enabled; concurrent edits on different devices follow the normal whole-setting conflict behavior. The automatic expansion switch is local, so enable it separately on each device.
Automatic expansion requires access to keyboard input and focus information. On macOS, grant Wox accessibility access. On Linux, applications normally need to expose the focused editable control through accessibility services; on Hyprland, Wox can fall back to the active window if control information is unavailable. This fallback cannot identify password fields or distinguish an integrated terminal from an editor. Wayland also needs access to /dev/input and /dev/uinput. Some applications, input methods, and desktop sessions cannot provide enough context for expansion. The Snippets settings show a status message when access is unavailable.
Some expansion paths temporarily use the clipboard. Clipboard restoration depends on the platform and can be affected by simultaneous clipboard changes; on Wayland, the expanded text may remain on the clipboard.