Links get copied from browsers, Messages, Slack, email, terminals, and native apps. A browser extension only sees one part of that. PlainLink watches the macOS clipboard and removes known tracking parameters before the URL is pasted anywhere else.
The menu bar app is native Swift/AppKit, while the cleaning engine, clipboard watcher, installer, diagnostics, and restore functionality are written in Rust. It runs locally, makes no network requests, requires no account, and does not depend on a browser extension.
The part I cared most about was avoiding broken links. PlainLink only removes parameters explicitly covered by a rule. Unknown parameters stay untouched, including parameters that may belong to invite links, signed URLs, checkout sessions, playlists, timestamps, or password resets.
Before changing the clipboard, it stores the original URL so it can be restored from the menu. Rule behaviour is also covered by fixtures, and the rules themselves are intended to remain readable enough for community contributions.
The longer-term goal is an ad-block-list-style community ruleset for copied-link tracking parameters, but with conservative behaviour by default.
The current build is an Apple Silicon developer preview. It is ad-hoc signed rather than Apple-notarized, so the README documents the Gatekeeper installation step. Building from source is also supported.
I’d especially value reports of false positives, services or parameters I’ve missed, and opinions on whether clipboard-level cleaning is the right layer for this.