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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openrecorder.xyz/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

This page walks you through building Open Recorder from source and getting it running on your Mac. Open Recorder is a native Swift app backed by a Rust service, so the build process compiles both components before packaging them into a single .app bundle.

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System requirements

  • macOS — any version that supports Swift 6.2 and the required APIs
  • Apple Silicon or Intel Mac
  • Xcode command-line tools with Swift 6.2 or later
  • Rust 1.93 or later
  • pnpm (for dependency setup)

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Install from source

1

Install prerequisites

Install the Xcode command-line tools if you haven’t already:
xcode-select --install
Install Rust via rustup:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
Confirm your Rust version is 1.93 or later:
rustc --version
2

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/imbhargav5/open-recorder.git
cd open-recorder
3

Install dependencies

This command installs locked JavaScript dependencies and prefetches Rust crates:
pnpm run setup
4

Build and package the app

Build the Swift app and the Rust service together:
make build-macos
Then package the result into an .app bundle:
make package-macos
This creates Open Recorder.app in /Applications with bundle identifier dev.openrecorder.app.
5

Launch the app

Open /Applications/Open Recorder.app from Finder, or run:
make dev-macos
make dev-macos builds, installs, and launches Open Recorder Dev.app — a separate development build that keeps its macOS privacy permission records isolated from the production app, so development and production installs don’t interfere with each other.

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After installation

The first time you open Open Recorder, an onboarding screen guides you through granting the two macOS permissions the app needs before you can start recording. See Permissions for step-by-step instructions.