Use Captures as local appshot infrastructure.

Captures lives in the macOS menu bar. It captures the active app, writes PNG plus readable context to the clipboard, and keeps a local folder that agents can cite when the clipboard is not enough.

Install

Download the current macOS build, open it once, then grant the permissions shown in Settings. Spotlight and permission identity require the installed app bundle, not a SwiftPM run.

open https://captures.creative-int.com/downloads/Captures.zip

Capture

Use the menu bar item or the configured double-modifier shortcut. Captures tracks the last non-Captures app so the menu can stay open without becoming the captured target.

Order of operations: save local history, write the pasteboard bundle, then optionally focus a target app.

Files

Every saved appshot is plain local state under Application Support.

screenshot.pngpixel state

capture.jsonnormalized envelope

context.jsonsemantic summary

metadata.jsonsource and provenance

updates.jsonlevent trail

ax.txtaccessibility text

Targets

Settings can focus Codex, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Chrome after capture. This is a clipboard-first handoff: Captures does not claim private prompt-attachment insertion unless a public automation route is verified.

Agents

Agents should use Captures when native visual state and AX context are the proof surface. The headless package route remains available for command-line handoff.

pnpm -C /Users/luke/Developer/packages/core/appshots build
node /Users/luke/Developer/packages/core/appshots/dist/cli.js capture --save --clipboard --json

Limits

V1 is local-only. There is no account, upload, cloud sync, shared web history, or iOS client in this build. The docs should stay as literal as the app.