Getting Started

What is CodeThis?

CodeThis is a fast, minimal paste and code-sharing service. Paste code, markdown, logs, or any text — get a shareable link instantly. No account required to get started.

Creating Your First Paste

Navigate to codethis.dev/new (or click New Paste in the navigation). You'll see the editor with:

• A language selector — choose from 100+ supported languages, or leave it as plaintext
• An optional title — set a filename like app.tsx and the language is auto-detected from the extension
• The editor — paste or type your content

Before you submit, pick a visibility — Public (shareable + discoverable), Unlisted (link-only), or Private (saved to your dashboard, no public link). New pastes default to Public. Signed-in users can use all three; anonymous pastes are capped at Unlisted since there's no account to return to for a Private one.

When you're ready, click Share to publish. Public and Unlisted pastes land at /doc/abc12345; Private ones open in your dashboard file tree. See Sharing & Expiration for the full visibility matrix.

Auto-detection from file extension

If you set a title with a known extension, CodeThis automatically picks the right language:

Anonymous vs. Registered Users

You don't need an account to create pastes. But signing up unlocks more:

Anonymous pastes expire after 7 days. Once you register, new pastes default to 30 days (Free) or forever (Pro).

Signing Up

Click Sign Up in the top-right corner. You can register with an email and password, or use a social login.

After signing up, you're taken to the dashboard — your personal file tree where all your pastes live.

Navigating the Dashboard

The dashboard at /dashboard shows all your pastes organized in a folder tree. From here you can:

• Browse pastes by folder (or see all in /pastes by default)
• Search for a paste by title or content
• Create folders to organize your work
• Open any paste in the editor to view or edit it
• Share a paste to generate a public link
• Delete a paste (soft-deleted, not immediately purged)

Editor view

Click any paste to open it in the editor at /app/[documentId]. From the editor you can:

• Edit and save changes
• Publish a new public link (creates a fresh slug with a new expiry)
• View the rendered markdown preview (for .md files)
• Copy the paste content or URL

Viewing a Paste

Any published paste is accessible at /doc/[slug]. The viewer shows:

• Syntax-highlighted code for code pastes
• Fully-rendered markdown (with all MDC components) for markdown pastes
• A Copy button for the raw content
• Paste metadata: language, size, expiry date

The viewer is public — anyone with the link can read the paste (unless it's password-protected).

Markdown Live Preview

When you create or edit a paste with language set to Markdown, the editor shows a split-pane live preview. As you type, the right panel updates in real time with the rendered output — including all MDC components like alerts, code groups, and steps.

See the Markdown & MDC guide for the full list of supported components.

Keyboard Shortcuts

What's Next?

• Markdown & MDC — use rich components in your pastes
• Sharing & Expiration — control who can see your paste and for how long
• API Reference — create and fetch pastes programmatically
• MCP Server — use CodeThis directly from Claude and other AI tools