Relic

Product Introduction

1. Definition: Relic is a cross-platform, end-to-end encrypted clipboard manager and productivity vault. It operates as a background utility that automatically captures, indexes, and syncs copied data—including text snippets, files, images, and links—across a user's devices.
2. Core Value Proposition: Relic exists to solve digital information fragmentation and short-term memory loss in computing. Its primary value is providing a private, unified, and searchable long-term memory for everything a user copies, eliminating the need to manually save items or retrace steps to find previously copied content.

Main Features

1. Universal, Automatic Capture: Relic integrates at the operating system level on desktop platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux) to silently log every copy action (Ctrl+C/Cmd+C) without user intervention. On mobile (Android, iPhone), capture is manual via the system share sheet or shortcuts. It supports a wide data spectrum: plain text, formatted text, files (documents, images, code), and screenshots.
2. On-Device AI-Powered Semantic Search: Search functionality operates entirely locally. It uses on-device machine learning models for: Semantic Search (finding items by meaning, not just keywords), Optical Character Recognition (OCR) (extracting searchable text from images and screenshots), Natural Language Date Parsing (converting phrases like "last Tuesday" into date filters), and Automatic Tagging (identifying and labeling content types like #address, #code, #link).
3. End-to-End Encrypted (E2EE) Sync: All data is encrypted with a user-held key (derived locally) before leaving the device using authenticated encryption. The Relic sync server only stores and transmits the ciphertext, making the data unreadable to the service provider. Sync maintains vault consistency across up to 3 devices (Free) or 10/unlimited devices (Pro/Max).
4. Mid-Keystroke Picker (Quick Paste): A system-wide hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+Space by default) summons a searchable overlay directly at the text cursor. Users can search and paste items without switching windows or applications, streamlining workflow.
5. Self-Hosting & Open Source: The entire codebase—including client applications, sync server, and cryptography library—is publicly available under AGPL-3.0 and Apache 2.0 licenses on GitHub. Users can deploy their own sync server via Docker, ensuring complete data sovereignty and eliminating reliance on Relic's cloud service.

Problems Solved

1. Pain Point: The loss of context and information trapped in the transient, single-device clipboard. Users frequently lose copied items (links, codes, references) after a new copy action or system reboot, leading to repetitive searching and productivity loss.
2. Target Audience: Knowledge Workers & Developers who constantly copy code snippets, API keys, and error messages. Researchers & Students compiling information from multiple sources. Project Managers & Administrators handling numerous links, documents, and credentials. Privacy-Conscious Individuals who require tooling that respects data sovereignty.
3. Use Cases: Recovering a staging API key copied months prior via semantic search. Finding a screenshot of an error message using OCR text search. Pasting a long URL from a phone into a desktop browser via encrypted sync. Securely storing and accessing sensitive codes with auto-masking and clipboard clearing. Building a personal knowledge vault of copied research material across devices.

Unique Advantages

1. Differentiation: Unlike cloud-based clipboard managers (e.g., Paste, Clipboard Managers) that may store data in plaintext or with provider-held keys, Relic's mandatory end-to-end encryption and on-device AI processing create a zero-trust architecture. Unlike simple local history tools (e.g., Ditto), it offers seamless cross-platform sync and advanced semantic search without sending data to external servers.
2. Key Innovation: The combination of mandatory, user-held-key E2EE with fully local AI processing (semantic search, OCR, tagging). This architecture guarantees privacy not as an optional feature but as the foundational default, while still delivering powerful cloud-like search and sync capabilities. The fully open-source model provides unparalleled verifiability and self-hosting freedom.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Is Relic's AI search really private? Yes. Relic's semantic search, OCR, and tagging AI models run entirely on your local device (on-device inference). No data from your clipboard or vault is ever sent to cloud-based AI services like OpenAI or Google.
2. What happens to my data if Relic's servers go down? Your primary vault data is stored locally on each of your devices. If using the official sync service, you can export encrypted backups. Furthermore, the sync server is open-source (AGPL-3.0), allowing you or the community to self-host indefinitely, ensuring permanent access to the sync functionality.
3. How does Relic's end-to-end encryption work? When you create an account, a unique encryption key is generated on your device and never leaves it. Every piece of data (text, file, image) is encrypted with this key before it is sent to Relic's sync servers. The servers only handle the encrypted ciphertext, which is meaningless without your local key.
4. Can I use Relic for free, and what are the limits? Yes. The free tier includes automatic capture on desktop, search, sync across 3 devices, on-device AI, and E2EE encryption. It stores the last 500 copied items plus 25 manually pinned "keepsakes," with a total storage limit of 250 MB. Older items are automatically archived but can be restored if you upgrade.
5. How does Relic handle sensitive data like passwords? Relic employs several protections: a) It respects system flags, ignoring copies marked as "sensitive" by apps like password managers. b) It automatically recognizes and masks passwords/keys in your vault. c) A copied secret is automatically cleared from the system clipboard after 30 seconds. d) All data is protected by the core E2EE.