# ExoSnap 0.8.1 — Portable Release

Thanks for trying ExoSnap. This file is the quick-start guide for the portable
Windows build.

## What ExoSnap is

ExoSnap is a Windows-native screen / application / region recorder with a
high-performance NVIDIA NVENC pipeline, flexible container/codec profiles,
multi-track audio routing, a webcam overlay, and built-in diagnostics.

## Release status

This is **ExoSnap 0.8.1**, a **pre-v1 Windows preview**. It is not the final
1.0 release. Settings, presets, and recording-history file formats may change in
incompatible ways before 1.0.0. See `KNOWN_LIMITATIONS.md` for the full current
support boundary.

New in 0.8.1: **diagnostics as a feature** — a typed **`FixAction`** model
(Auto / Assisted / External) so each detected issue carries its safest remedy; a
**pre-flight readiness gate** that catches blockers before recording starts;
**live pipeline monitoring** (frame drops, A/V drift, disk-fill ETA) with
root-cause correlation such as VRR-vs-CFR judder; a **post-flight report card**;
an opt-in, elevation-gated **PresentMon** provider; and consent-gated **in-app
update** checks. Plus settings polish: reliable hover popovers, corner-anchored
compare hints, and a de-nested Hotkeys card.

## System requirements

- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit (Windows 11 recommended).
- An **NVIDIA GPU with supported NVENC** capability (RTX 20-series or newer
  recommended) and a current NVIDIA display driver. ExoSnap 0.8.1 requires
  NVIDIA NVENC for video encoding; AMD, Intel, and software encoding are not
  supported in this release.
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 x64 runtime (usually already installed). If the app
  fails to start with a missing-DLL error, install it from
  <https://aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe>.

## How to launch

1. Extract the entire `ExoSnap-0.8.1-windows-x64-portable` folder from the ZIP to a
   location of your choice.
2. Run `exosnap.exe` from the extracted folder.

There is no installer. Keep the folder intact — `exosnap.exe` depends on the Qt
runtime DLLs and the `plugins/` directory shipped alongside it. Windows
SmartScreen may warn on first launch because this build is not code-signed.

## Default Start/Stop hotkey

- **Alt+F9** starts and stops recording (global hotkey). Hotkeys are
  reconfigurable in the in-app Hotkeys view.

## Default output location

- Recordings are written to `%USERPROFILE%\Videos\ExoSnap` by default. You can
  change the output folder and filename pattern in the app.

## Where settings and history are stored

ExoSnap stores its configuration under your local application data directory:

- `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ExoSnap\settings.ini` — application settings
- `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ExoSnap\presets.toml` — recording presets
- `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ExoSnap\recording-history.json` — recording history

A best-effort startup diagnostics log is written to
`%TEMP%\exosnap-recorder-app-startup.log`. The in-app Logs view and the
Diagnostics view expose richer logging and a way to open the log folder.

## Supported output overview

- **Containers:** MKV, WebM, MP4.
- **Video:** H.264 (NVENC), AV1 (NVENC, where your GPU/driver expose it), and
  HEVC (NVENC), including a 10-bit (P010) SDR path for HEVC Main10 and AV1.
- **Audio:** AAC-LC (`AAC`), Opus, and lossless **PCM** and **FLAC** (MKV only).
- **Container rules:** MP4 uses H.264 or HEVC (`hvc1`) + AAC (Opus, PCM, and FLAC
  are not offered for MP4); WebM uses AV1 + Opus; MKV is the flexible default and
  the home for PCM and FLAC.

Exact availability depends on your GPU generation, driver, and the selected
container/codec combination. 10-bit output is SDR only (no HDR10); PCM and FLAC
are MKV-only.

## Recording split overview

- Split is supported for **MKV, WebM, and MP4** recordings (0.2.0).
- For MP4 sessions, each completed segment is remuxed to progressive MP4 in the
  background while recording continues. "Saved" is shown only when all remuxes
  complete. See `KNOWN_LIMITATIONS.md`.

## Updates and crash reporting

- **Update check:** the official build checks public GitHub Releases for a newer version and notifies
  you in-app (Stable and Preview channels). It never downloads or restarts on its own — it opens the
  releases page so you choose when to update. No GitHub token is used.
- **Crash reporting is opt-in.** If ExoSnap crashes, the next launch shows a privacy-scrubbed crash
  dialog. Nothing is sent unless you choose to: either an assisted GitHub issue (Stage 0) or an
  automated upload to Sentry with EU data residency (Stage 1). Recordings, file paths, machine names,
  and similar identifying data are scrubbed. See `PRIVACY.md` for the exact fields.

## Verifying your download

A SHA-256 checksum is published next to the ZIP as
`ExoSnap-0.8.1-windows-x64-portable.sha256`. To verify integrity in PowerShell:

```powershell
Get-FileHash .\ExoSnap-0.8.1-windows-x64-portable.zip -Algorithm SHA256
```

The printed hash must match the value in the `.sha256` file. The checksum
verifies download integrity only; it is not a publisher signature. Code signing
is planned for a later release.

## Reporting a problem

Please open an issue at <https://github.com/Exoridus/exosnap/issues>. Including
your Windows version, GPU model, NVIDIA driver version, and the startup log helps
a lot.

## Licenses

- ExoSnap is licensed under **GPL-3.0-or-later**; see `LICENSE`.
- Third-party component licenses are listed in `THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md`, with the
  full license texts under the `licenses/` directory.

## More information

For the complete current support boundary and known issues, read
`KNOWN_LIMITATIONS.md` (shipped in this folder).