# Cap: Screen Recording, Sharing, and Video Collaboration

> Cap is an open-source screen recorder and async video platform. Cap Desktop records displays, windows, selected areas, screenshots, and camera-only video with supported camera, microphone, and system-audio inputs. Instant Mode creates a shareable Cap; Studio Mode creates a local editable project. Native releases are produced for Apple Silicon and Intel macOS, 64-bit Windows, and x86_64 Linux as a Debian package.

Website: https://cap.so · Source: https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap

Most of the repository is licensed under AGPLv3. The LICENSE file identifies a limited set of camera and screen-capture crates that use MIT. Distributed Cap Desktop binaries and commercial use have separate terms described at https://cap.so/docs/commercial-license.

For the expanded machine-readable reference, see https://cap.so/llms-full.txt.

## Recording Modes

- **Instant Mode** uploads recording data while recording and prepares a shareable Cap after stop and processing.
- **Studio Mode** saves a local `.cap` project for editing, local export, clipboard export, or a later shareable-link export.
- **Screenshot Mode** captures a display, window, or selected area.

Cap does not assign global recording shortcuts by default. Users configure supported actions in Settings > Shortcuts.

## Verified Product Surfaces

- Capture a display, window, selected area, or camera-only recording with supported camera, microphone, and system-audio inputs.
- Studio editing includes timeline changes, background styling, crop and frame controls, zooms, camera treatment, cursor treatment, captions, and other project-dependent overlays and audio.
- Standard exports support MP4 and GIF with format-dependent resolution, frame-rate, and quality controls. Specialized transparent or cursor-only workflows use their supported output format.
- Public, private, and password-protected Caps with browser playback and embeds.
- Signed-in timestamped comments, replies, and emoji reactions when effective viewer settings allow them.
- Organization roles, members, spaces, folders, branding, viewer settings, and aggregate analytics.
- Cap-managed storage, Google Drive for new uploads, and S3-compatible storage. Provider changes do not automatically move existing files.
- Single Loom imports, organization CSV imports up to 500 rows per self-serve batch, and a durable per-video agent import workflow.
- A developer REST API plus `@cap/sdk-recorder` and `@cap/sdk-embed`. A public customer webhook subscription API is not currently documented.

Captions, transcripts, titles, summaries, and chapters depend on the recording, processing state, plan, and effective organization settings. Do not promise that every recording has every AI field immediately.

## Teams, Storage, and Migration

- Working with your team: https://cap.so/docs/teams
- Google Drive storage: https://cap.so/docs/teams/google-drive
- Migrating to Cap: https://cap.so/docs/migrating-to-cap

Google Drive is a storage provider for new uploads, not a general Drive sync or existing-library importer. Personal connections use a private Cap folder. Organization owners and admins can select an organization-managed writable Drive location.

Cap has run organization migrations spanning hundreds of users and tens of thousands of recordings. A correct migration inventories unique source URLs, maps owner emails and single Cap space names, runs controlled batches, waits for terminal job results, reconciles every failure, and verifies playback, ownership, and location before the source is retired.

## Use Cap With an AI Agent

Cap can be operated through a shell-capable agent using the `cap` CLI or its MCP server.

- Overview and copyable prompt: https://cap.so/docs/agents
- Setup: https://cap.so/docs/agents/setup
- Workflows: https://cap.so/docs/agents/workflows
- Safety and troubleshooting: https://cap.so/docs/agents/safety
- Installed contract: run `cap guide --json`; do not guess command flags or output schemas.
- Safety: begin read-only, preview the exact change, obtain explicit confirmation before every mutation or paid action, wait for asynchronous jobs, and keep passwords, API keys, storage credentials, and newly issued developer secrets out of chat and MCP.

For Loom imports, `--space` takes one Cap space name rather than a folder path. Without `--wait`, preserve the returned operation ID and use `cap jobs wait <operation-id> --json` before reporting completion.

## Key Links

- Home: https://cap.so
- Current pricing: https://cap.so/pricing
- Features: https://cap.so/features
- Download: https://cap.so/download
- Docs: https://cap.so/docs
- Sharing: https://cap.so/docs/sharing/share-a-cap
- Self-hosting: https://cap.so/docs/self-hosting
- REST API: https://cap.so/docs/api/rest-api
- Source code: https://github.com/CapSoftware/Cap