A new option to clear selections when they no longer reflect the contents of the clipboard

kitty/options/definition.py

@@ -603,6 +603,17 @@ clipboard.
 '''
     )
 
+opt('clear_selection_on_clipboard_loss', 'no', option_type='to_bool', long_text='''
+When the contents of the clipboard no longer reflect the current selection, clear it.
+This is primarily useful on platforms such as Linux where selecting text automatically
+copies it to a special "primary selection" clipboard or if you have :opt:`copy_on_select`
+set to :code:`clipboard`.
+
+Note that on macOS the system does not provide notifications when the clipboard owner
+is changed, so there, copying to clipboard in a non-kitty application will not clear
+selections even if :opt:`copy_on_select` is enabled.
+''')
+
 opt('paste_actions', 'quote-urls-at-prompt,confirm',
     option_type='paste_actions',
     long_text='''

kitty/options/parse.py

@@ -119,6 +119,9 @@ class Parser:
     def clear_all_shortcuts(self, val: str, ans: dict[str, typing.Any]) -> None:
         clear_all_shortcuts(val, ans)
 
+    def clear_selection_on_clipboard_loss(self, val: str, ans: dict[str, typing.Any]) -> None:
+        ans['clear_selection_on_clipboard_loss'] = to_bool(val)
+
     def click_interval(self, val: str, ans: dict[str, typing.Any]) -> None:
         ans['click_interval'] = float(val)
 

kitty/options/types.py

@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ option_names = (
     'box_drawing_scale',
     'clear_all_mouse_actions',
     'clear_all_shortcuts',
+    'clear_selection_on_clipboard_loss',
     'click_interval',
     'clipboard_control',
     'clipboard_max_size',
@@ -500,6 +501,7 @@ class Options:
     box_drawing_scale: tuple[float, float, float, float] = (0.001, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0)
     clear_all_mouse_actions: bool = False
     clear_all_shortcuts: bool = False
+    clear_selection_on_clipboard_loss: bool = False
     click_interval: float = -1.0
     clipboard_control: tuple[str, ...] = ('write-clipboard', 'write-primary', 'read-clipboard-ask', 'read-primary-ask')
     clipboard_max_size: float = 512.0