diff --git a/kittens/clipboard/__init__.py b/kittens/clipboard/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/kittens/clipboard/main.py b/kittens/clipboard/main.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fcbb38782
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kittens/clipboard/main.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+# License: GPL v3 Copyright: 2018, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+import sys
+from kitty.cli import parse_args
+
+from ..tui.handler import Handler
+from ..tui.loop import Loop
+
+
+class Clipboard(Handler):
+
+    def __init__(self, data_to_send, args):
+        self.args = args
+        self.print_on_fail = None
+        self.clipboard_contents = None
+        self.data_to_send = data_to_send
+
+    def initialize(self):
+        if self.data_to_send is not None:
+            self.cmd.write_to_clipboard(self.data_to_send, self.args.use_primary)
+        if not self.args.get_clipboard:
+            self.quit_loop(0)
+            return
+        self.cmd.request_from_clipboard(self.args.use_primary)
+
+    def on_clipboard_response(self, text, from_primary=False):
+        self.clipboard_contents = text
+        self.quit_loop(0)
+
+
+OPTIONS = r'''
+--get-clipboard
+default=False
+type=bool-set
+Output the current contents of the clipboard to stdout. Note that this
+will hang if you have not enabled the option to allow reading the clipboard
+in kitty.conf
+
+
+--use-primary
+default=False
+type=bool-set
+Use the primary selection rather than the clipboard on systems that support it,
+such as X11.
+'''.format
+
+
+def main(args):
+    msg = '''\
+Read or write to the system clipboard.
+
+To set the clipboard text, pipe in the new text on stdin. Use the --get-clipboard option \
+to output the current clipboard contents to stdout. Note that you must enable reading of clipboard in kitty.conf first. '''
+    args, items = parse_args(args[1:], OPTIONS, '', msg, 'clipboard')
+    if items:
+        raise SystemExit('Unrecognized extra command line arguments')
+    data = None
+    if not sys.stdin.isatty():
+        data = sys.stdin.buffer.read()
+        sys.stdin = open('/dev/tty', 'r')
+    loop = Loop()
+    handler = Clipboard(data, args)
+    loop.loop(handler)
+    if loop.return_code == 0 and handler.clipboard_contents:
+        sys.stdout.write(handler.clipboard_contents)
+        sys.stdout.flush()
+    if handler.print_on_fail:
+        print(handler.print_on_fail)
+        input('Press Enter to quit')
+    raise SystemExit(loop.return_code)
+
+
+def handle_result(args, data, target_window_id, boss):
+    pass
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main(sys.argv)
diff --git a/kittens/tui/handler.py b/kittens/tui/handler.py
index 3c71cf9c1..c552dd38c 100644
--- a/kittens/tui/handler.py
+++ b/kittens/tui/handler.py
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ class Handler:
     def on_kitty_cmd_response(self, response):
         pass
 
+    def on_clipboard_response(self, text, from_primary=False):
+        pass
+
     def write(self, data):
         if isinstance(data, str):
             data = data.encode('utf-8')
diff --git a/kittens/tui/loop.py b/kittens/tui/loop.py
index b87445fcc..c8661b0ee 100644
--- a/kittens/tui/loop.py
+++ b/kittens/tui/loop.py
@@ -265,7 +265,15 @@ class Loop:
         pass
 
     def _on_osc(self, osc):
-        pass
+        m = re.match(r'(\d+);', osc)
+        if m is not None:
+            code = int(m.group(1))
+            rest = osc[m.end():]
+            if code == 52:
+                where, rest = rest.partition(';')[::2]
+                from_primary = 'p' in where
+                from base64 import standard_b64decode
+                self.handler.on_clipboard_response(standard_b64decode(rest).decode('utf-8'), from_primary)
 
     def _on_apc(self, apc):
         if apc.startswith('K'):
diff --git a/kittens/tui/operations.py b/kittens/tui/operations.py
index 59a20875a..a5784e7a9 100644
--- a/kittens/tui/operations.py
+++ b/kittens/tui/operations.py
@@ -231,6 +231,17 @@ def set_default_colors(fg=None, bg=None) -> str:
     return ans
 
 
+def write_to_clipboard(data, use_primary=False) -> str:
+    if isinstance(data, str):
+        data = data.encode('utf-8')
+    from base64 import standard_b64encode
+    return '\x1b]52;{};{}\x07'.format('p' if use_primary else 'c', standard_b64encode(data).decode('ascii'))
+
+
+def request_from_clipboard(use_primary=False) -> str:
+    return '\x1b]52;{};?\x07'.format('p' if use_primary else 'c')
+
+
 all_cmds = tuple(
         (name, obj) for name, obj in globals().items()
         if hasattr(obj, '__annotations__') and obj.__annotations__.get('return') is str)