# Skill Recorder

**Record yourself doing a task once, then turn it into a skill your AI agent can repeat.**

> [!TIP]
> **Want to install Skill Recorder? [Go to the latest release](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/releases/latest).**
> Scroll to **Commit-pinned installation** and copy the complete command for your
> operating system. It is ready to paste: you do not need to edit it or download
> the source code yourself. [Step-by-step instructions below](#install-it).

Skill Recorder captures a real work session on your screen: the clicks, the app and
window switches, the pages you visit, commands/output from its optional recorded terminal,
and (if you want) your spoken narration. It then uses
the **GitHub Copilot CLI** to reconstruct *what you actually did* as a clear **intent plus
an ordered list of steps**. From there, one step turns that single run into something an
agent can reuse:

- a **Skill**: a `SKILL.md` procedure an agent runs on demand, or
- an **Automation**: the same procedure on a schedule or trigger.

Both prefer the agent's **native tools** (like the `gh` CLI or `web_fetch`) over replaying
UI clicks, and generalize from your one example, so recording yourself submitting *one*
form can teach the agent to submit *all* of them.

<p align="center">
  <img src="docs/images/recorder.png" alt="Skill Recorder capture window: a record button, timer, an optional narration toggle with language and microphone settings, and readiness checks" width="420">
  &nbsp;&nbsp;
  <img src="docs/images/library.png" alt="Skill Recorder sessions view: recorded sessions on the left, the reconstructed intent and ordered steps on the right" width="520">
</p>

## How it works

1. 🔴 **Record.** Hit record (or `⌘⇧R` / `Ctrl+Shift+R` from anywhere) and just do your
   task. Skill Recorder captures your screen and activity locally, in the background.
2. 🎛️ **Control.** While recording, a small always-on-top bar shows capture,
   microphone, and recorded-terminal state. Open the session-scoped terminal, mute,
   unmute, or switch mics, then finish or discard with confirmation.
3. 🧠 **Analyze.** Click Analyze and GitHub Copilot reconstructs one overall intent and
   an ordered list of steps. Review and edit until it reads right.
4. ✨ **Create.** From an approved analysis, generate a reusable **Skill** and/or a
   scheduled **Automation**.

For skills, **Review SKILL.md** optionally shows the complete, read-only file text
(including frontmatter) before installation or export. Preparing a preview writes
no skill files. Close and reopen it without regenerating; Add/Export from either
surface uses that exact preview. Editing the plan discards the preview. You can
still choose Add/Export directly without reviewing or adding a confirmation step.
Review provides visibility into the generated instructions, not a security guarantee.

## Get started

Skill Recorder is published as a **source release**: one command downloads a pinned Node.js
runtime, builds the exact release commit on your machine, and adds a **Skill Recorder (Source)**
app you can relaunch anytime. Nothing is installed globally. You'll need a GitHub account with
**Copilot access**; the Copilot CLI ships with the app.

macOS is the primary target. Windows 11 (x64 and ARM64) is supported too (see
[`WINDOWS-VALIDATION.md`](WINDOWS-VALIDATION.md)).

### Install it

Open the **[latest release](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/releases/latest)** and
follow these steps:

1. On the release page, scroll to **Commit-pinned installation**. Find **Windows 11
   x64 or ARM64** or **macOS or Ubuntu**, then copy the **entire command** in that
   section using the copy button at the top-right of the code block.
2. Open **PowerShell** from the Windows Start menu, or **Terminal** on macOS or
   Ubuntu. Paste the command and press **Enter**.
3. Keep that window open while installation completes. The installer downloads
   what it needs, builds the app on your computer, creates shortcuts, and launches
   Skill Recorder. The first installation can take several minutes.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Copy the command from the release page, not a template from the technical docs.**
> The release command already contains the correct version identifier; there is
> nothing to replace. Do not paste commands containing
> `<40-character-release-commit>` literally.
> You do **not** need Git, a separate Node.js installation, or the **Manual developer
> setup** instructions. The **Source code (zip)** and **Source code (tar.gz)** links
> under **Assets** are not app installers.

To review the script before running it, follow the release page's
**inspect-first instructions** instead. Installation remains subject to your
organization's policies.

**Open it again later:** use **Skill Recorder (Source)** on your Windows desktop or
Start Menu; on macOS, find it in `~/Applications`, Spotlight, or Launchpad; on
Ubuntu, use the matching application entry. You do not need to reinstall each time.
Advanced options, including running in the background on macOS or Ubuntu, are in
[`INSTALL.md`](INSTALL.md#commit-pinned-one-line-installation).

### Then record

1. **Grant Screen Recording.** On first launch, macOS asks for Screen Recording permission;
   grant it and you're ready to record.
2. **Record, Analyze, Create.** Do your task, then Analyze. The first time you Analyze,
   Skill Recorder offers **Sign in to Copilot** if you aren't signed in yet. Finish
   authorization in your browser; the app verifies sign-in and automatically retries
   the interrupted analysis once. There is no login terminal window to close.
   Canceling sign-in or leaving that analysis prevents the automatic retry.

On Windows, a local Microsoft Entra tenant hint can offer a choice between
**Microsoft Enterprise SSO** and a **Personal GitHub account**. This is only a
routing hint, not proof of employment. Microsoft sign-in has two separate steps:
finish SSO in the browser, then authorize the GitHub Copilot app. When SSO lands on
`github.com/enterprises/microsoft`, close that tab, return to Skill Recorder, and
choose **Authorize Copilot**. SSO alone does not authorize the app. Use the same
browser profile and Microsoft-linked GitHub account for both steps.
Without a hint, and on macOS/Linux,
sign-in goes directly to the standard GitHub flow. No work-email prompt is required.

The authorization step opens the default browser using the CLI's web OAuth flow,
not a device code. Keeping the same browser profile lets GitHub reuse the session
from SSO, so you can approve the GitHub Copilot app without entering a code.
If GitHub asks you to sign in again, check that you are using the same browser profile.
After authorization, close that tab and return to Skill Recorder; the app verifies
access before continuing.

Skill Recorder pins Copilot CLI 1.0.78, which supports web OAuth without a terminal,
and runs `--no-auto-update login --web-flow` so sign-in does not depend on a
different CLI version in the user's auto-update cache. Older bundled versions
such as 1.0.71 do not support `--web-flow`.

Sign-in can be canceled and times out after five minutes. If browser login fails,
the app shows an error and a manual command for the bundled CLI (use PowerShell on
Windows). After manual sign-in, retry the analysis yourself. Signing in from a skill
or automation builder does not automatically repeat a build or installation.

To inspect the script before running it, set install options, update, or uninstall, see
[`INSTALL.md`](INSTALL.md).

> ⚠️ **Keep secrets out of your recordings.** Don't record, type, paste, or narrate
> passwords, tokens, API keys, or other confidential info. Choosing *Analyze* sends
> recording data to GitHub's cloud. Skill Recorder reminds you before every recording.
> Details in [What gets captured](#what-gets-captured).

---

*Everything below is for people who want the details, or want to hack on the code.*

## What gets captured

Recording, storage, frame extraction, and optional narration transcription all happen
**on your computer**; nothing leaves while you record. Only when you choose **Analyze**
does Skill Recorder send the event timeline (window/document titles, URLs, clipboard
previews, and terminal commands), extracted screen images, narration text, and bounded
terminal-output excerpts requested during analysis to GitHub's cloud for Copilot to process.
When protection is enabled, terminal commands and the complete local terminal transcript
participate in the same on-device secret/PII scan before any requested excerpt is returned.

The in-app "Records your screen and activity" panel spells out exactly what's collected:

- **Window tracking:** active-app / window switches.
- **Browser URLs:** the page you're on (macOS).
- **Screen video:** recorded by Chromium; low-rate snapshots are kept only when the
  screen changes or a heartbeat is due.
- **Clipboard:** short previews of copied text that tie steps together.
- **Narration** *(optional)*: spoken commentary, transcribed **on-device** in any of
  Whisper's 99 supported languages (a one-time ~252 MB model download on first use).
- **Recorded terminal** *(only when opened from the floating recording bar)*: command,
  cwd, shell, exit status, duration, and the complete terminal output. The transcript
  has no app-imposed size cap and counts toward the saved session's storage. It captures
  only the app-owned terminal for that recording—there are no global hooks, profile
  edits, background command monitors, or observation of existing terminals.

> ⚠️ **Please don't capture secrets.** Passwords, access tokens, API keys, credentials, and
> other confidential information should never be recorded, typed, pasted, shown, copied,
> or narrated during a session.

## Develop from source

**For developers changing the code, not for installing the app.** To use Skill
Recorder, follow [Install it](#install-it) instead.

Requires **Node.js 24**. After checking out a release revision:

```bash
npm ci
npm run compliance:licenses
npm run dev
```

`npm run dev` starts Vite and launches the Electron app with hot-reload; `⌘⇧R` (macOS) /
`Ctrl+Shift+R` (Windows) toggles recording from anywhere. Full manual setup, the build and
`dist` scripts, and the licensing boundary between local source builds and redistributable
packages are in [`INSTALL.md`](INSTALL.md). Maintainers changing versions, dependencies,
assets, or releases must follow [`RELEASING.md`](RELEASING.md).

## Evals

The Copilot **describer** and **builders** have a fixture-based eval suite; see
[`evals/README.md`](evals/README.md).

```bash
npm run eval            # score the describer against synthetic recordings
npm run eval:terminal   # score indexed terminal-output use and redaction
npm run eval:builder    # score the skill/automation generalization
```

## Documentation

- **[INSTALL.md](INSTALL.md):** install options, inspect-first install, updating,
  uninstalling, and manual developer setup.
- **[RELEASING.md](RELEASING.md):** maintainer release runbook.
- **[evals/README.md](evals/README.md):** the describer / builder eval harness.
- **[THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md](THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md):** licenses for bundled dependencies.

## Security

Please don't report security vulnerabilities through public GitHub issues. See
[`SECURITY.md`](SECURITY.md) for Microsoft's coordinated-disclosure process and reporting
channels.

## Support

File bugs and feature requests through
**[GitHub Issues](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/issues)** (search existing issues
first to avoid duplicates). Support is limited to the resources described in
[`SUPPORT.md`](SUPPORT.md).

## License

[MIT](LICENSE)

## Contributing

This project welcomes contributions and suggestions.  Most contributions require you to agree to a
Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us
the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit [Contributor License Agreements](https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com).

When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide
a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions
provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.

This project has adopted the [Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/).
For more information see the [Code of Conduct FAQ](https://opensource.microsoft.com/codeofconduct/faq/) or
contact [opencode@microsoft.com](mailto:opencode@microsoft.com) with any additional questions or comments.

## Trademarks

This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft
trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow
[Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines](https://www.microsoft.com/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general).
Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship.
Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.