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Code editor

The PasteBase code editor is powered by Monaco, the same editor engine behind Visual Studio Code. It brings professional-grade code editing to your paste library with syntax highlighting, line numbers, and support for dozens of programming languages. If you're saving code snippets, configuration files, shell commands, or any technical content, the code editor makes it readable and easy to work with.

Syntax highlighting

When you create a code paste, you can select a programming language from the language dropdown. Monaco will then apply the correct syntax highlighting — keywords, strings, comments, and other language constructs are color-coded so you can quickly scan and understand the code. This is especially helpful when you're storing complex snippets that you need to review before copying.

Supported languages

The code editor supports a wide range of languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, C, C++, C#, PHP, Ruby, SQL, HTML, CSS, JSON, YAML, Markdown, Shell/Bash, Dockerfile, and many more. If your language isn't listed, you can use plain text mode and still benefit from the monospaced font and line numbers.

Common use cases

• Code snippets — Save frequently used functions, utility scripts, or boilerplate code that you copy into projects regularly.
• Shell commands — Store complex CLI commands, Docker commands, or deployment scripts so you don't have to remember them or dig through your shell history.
• Configuration files — Keep templates for nginx configs, Docker Compose files, environment variables, or any config you set up repeatedly.
• SQL queries — Save commonly used database queries for reporting, debugging, or data management tasks.
• API examples — Store curl commands, request/response examples, or API endpoint documentation for quick reference.

Copying code pastes

When you copy a code paste, PasteBase copies the raw text without any syntax highlighting markup. This means you can paste directly into your terminal, IDE, text editor, or configuration file and get exactly the code you saved — no cleanup needed.

Tips for code pastes

Give your code pastes descriptive titles that include what the code does and where you'd use it. For example, "Nginx reverse proxy config for Node app" is much more findable than "Config". Use categories to group related code pastes together — "Docker", "Database", "API", or whatever groupings make sense for your workflow.

If you're sharing code pastes with a team, consider adding a brief comment at the top of the code explaining what it does and any variables that need to be changed before use.