The script below does the job with applications that use Ctrl+V to paste text. It is important to know that it will not work in the gnome-terminal* for example.

I tested it on a.o. Firefox, Thunderbird, Libreoffice, Sublime Text and Gedit without any problem.

How it works

When the script is called, a window appears, listing snippets you defined. Choose an item (or type its number) and the text fragment will be pasted in the frontmost window of any application that is Ctrl+V "-compatible":

Adding / editing snippets

When you choose manage snippets, the script's folder in ~/.config/snippet_paste opens up in nautilus. To create a new snippet, simply create a text file with your snippet's text. Don't mind the name you give the file; as long as it is plain text, it is ok. The script only uses the file's content and creates a numbered list of all the files ('content) it finds.

If the snippets directory (~/.config/snippet_paste) does not exist, the script creates it for you.

How to use

• first install xdotool and xclip, if it is not installed on your system:

  
  

  sudo apt-get install xdotool
  
  

  
  

  and

  
  

  sudo apt-get install xclip
  
  

  
  



• Copy the script below, save it as paste_snippets.py, run it by the command:

  
  

  python3 /path/to/paste_snippets.py
  
  

  
  

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3



import os

import subprocess



home = os.environ["HOME"]

directory = home+"/.config/snippet_paste"

if not os.path.exists(directory):

    os.mkdir(directory)

# create file list with snippets

files = [

    directory+"/"+item for item in os.listdir(directory) 

         if not item.endswith("~") and not item.startswith(".")

    ]

# create string list

strings = []

for file in files:

    with open(file) as src:

        strings.append(src.read())

# create list to display in option menu

list_items = ["manage snippets"]+[

    (str(i+1)+". "+strings[i].replace("

", " ").replace

     ('"', "'")[:20]+"..") for i in range(len(strings))

    ]

# define (zenity) option menu

test= 'zenity --list '+'"'+('" "')

      .join(list_items)+'"'

      +' --column="text fragments" --title="Paste snippets"'

# process user input

try:

    choice = subprocess.check_output(["/bin/bash", "-c", test]).decode("utf-8")

    if "manage snippets" in choice:

        subprocess.call(["nautilus", directory])

    else:

        i = int(choice[:choice.find(".")])

        # copy the content of corresponding snippet

        copy = "xclip -in -selection c "+"'"+files[i-1]+"'"

        subprocess.call(["/bin/bash", "-c", copy])

        # paste into open frontmost file

        paste = "xdotool key Control_L+v"

        subprocess.Popen(["/bin/bash", "-c", paste])

except Exception:

    pass

If you are not using nautilus

If you are using another file browser, replace the line (29):

subprocess.Popen(["nautilus", directory])

by:

subprocess.Popen(["<your_filebrowser>", directory])

Putting the script under a shortcut key combination

For more convenient use, you can create a shortcut to call the script:

• System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts

  
  



• Click + to add your command:

  
  

  python3 /path/to/paste_snippets.py
  
  

  
  

The script is also posted on gist.gisthub.

*EDIT

The version below automatically checks if the (gnome-) terminal is the frontmost application, and changes the paste command automatically into Ctrl+Shift+V instead of Ctrl+V

Usage and set up is pretty much the same.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3



import os

import subprocess



home = os.environ["HOME"]

directory = home+"/.config/snippet_paste"

if not os.path.exists(directory):

    os.mkdir(directory)

# create file list with snippets

files = [

    directory+"/"+item for item in os.listdir(directory) 

         if not item.endswith("~") and not item.startswith(".")

    ]

# create string list

strings = []

for file in files:

    with open(file) as src:

        strings.append(src.read())

# create list to display in option menu

list_items = ["manage snippets"]+[

    (str(i+1)+". "+strings[i].replace("

", " ").replace

     ('"', "'")[:20]+"..") for i in range(len(strings))

    ]

# define (zenity) option menu

test= 'zenity --list '+'"'+('" "')

      .join(list_items)+'"'

      +' --column="text fragments" --title="Paste snippets" --height 450 --width 150'



def check_terminal():

    # function to check if terminal is frontmost

    try:

        get = lambda cmd: subprocess.check_output(cmd).decode("utf-8").strip()

        get_terms = get(["xdotool", "search", "--class", "gnome-terminal"])

        term = [p for p in get(["xdotool", "search", "--class", "terminal"]).splitlines()]

        front = get(["xdotool", "getwindowfocus"])

        return True if front in term else False

    except:

        return False



# process user input

try:

    choice = subprocess.check_output(["/bin/bash", "-c", test]).decode("utf-8")

    if "manage snippets" in choice:

        subprocess.call(["nautilus", directory])

    else:

        i = int(choice[:choice.find(".")])

        # copy the content of corresponding snippet

        copy = "xclip -in -selection c "+"'"+files[i-1]+"'"

        subprocess.call(["/bin/bash", "-c", copy])

        # paste into open frontmost file

        paste = "xdotool key Control_L+v" if check_terminal() == False else "xdotool key Control_L+Shift_L+v"

        subprocess.Popen(["/bin/bash", "-c", paste])

except Exception:

    pass