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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.

Every recording and screenshot you take in Open Recorder is automatically registered as a project. The project library gives you a single place to find, open, and manage all your captures. Projects are sorted by recency so the things you touched most recently are always at the top.

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What is a project?

A project bundles together everything Open Recorder needs to reopen a capture:
  • The path to the recording (.mov) or screenshot file
  • A title and the name of the capture source (display or window)
  • Timestamps for when the capture was created, last updated, and last opened
  • Editor state: zoom regions, trim regions, annotation regions, clip split times, clip speeds, and background settings
The project metadata lives in a .openrecorder file stored separately from the media file itself. This separation means you can delete or move the media file in Finder without losing the project title or editor state — but Open Recorder will show a Missing warning until the media file is restored to its original path.
Project files are plain JSON with a .openrecorder extension. You can inspect them in any text editor if you need to verify paths or timestamps.

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Opening the library

Click Projects in the sidebar to open the library view. The library is split into two tabs:
  • Screen Recordings — lists all projects backed by a .mov recording file
  • Screenshots — lists all projects backed by a screenshot image
Each tab shows a count badge so you can see at a glance how many captures are in each category. Use the Refresh button in the top-right corner to resync the library with what is on disk if you have added or removed files in Finder.

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Opening a project

Click any row in the project list to open that project in the editor. The most recently touched projects appear at the top of the list, so your current work is always one click away. Each row shows the project title, capture source name, and the last-opened timestamp. You can also see the full path to the .openrecorder file on the right side of the row.
Clicking a row with a Missing indicator does nothing — Open Recorder cannot open a project whose media file no longer exists. Restore the file to its original path and click Refresh to clear the warning.

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Missing projects

If a recording or screenshot file has been moved or deleted from disk, Open Recorder marks the project with a red Missing badge. The project row is also dimmed to make missing entries easy to spot. The project metadata — title, editor state, timestamps — is fully intact. Only the media file is gone. If you move the file back to its original path (shown in the row) and click Refresh, Open Recorder will find it and clear the missing status.
Renaming a recording or screenshot file in Finder will also trigger the missing state, because Open Recorder stores the exact file path. Restore the original file name or use Remove from library and re-import the file under its new name.

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Removing a project from the library

To remove a project entry without deleting the underlying file, use the Remove from library option on any project row. This removes the entry from the project index and from the library view. The .openrecorder metadata file and the original recording or screenshot file are not deleted — only the library entry is removed. You can re-add the project at any time by opening the .openrecorder file directly from the Open project → Choose file action card at the top of the library. To permanently delete the media file, open it in Finder and move it to the Trash from there. The default locations are:
  • Recordings: ~/Movies/Open Recorder/
  • Screenshots: ~/Pictures/Open Recorder/
Use the Recordings folder or Screenshots folder action cards at the top of each tab to jump directly to these folders in Finder.

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Browsing by type

The library separates recordings and screenshots into distinct tabs. Use the Screen Recordings tab to find video captures and the Screenshots tab for still images. The count badge on each tab updates whenever you refresh the library, so you always have an accurate count without having to scroll the full list.