Framebolt
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macOS 15 Sequoia or later

Screenshot and screen record straight into your AI chat

Framebolt is a native Mac screenshot and screen recorder that saves every capture to a dated local library and copies it immediately. Capture, clarify, and paste without opening Finder: ⌘⇧S then ⌘V.

  • Copies to the clipboard on every capture
  • Arrows and callouts that make the target unambiguous
  • Real GLSL framing for stills and video
Check release statusWatch the demo

Every on-device feature is free. Optional Cloud hosting will be the only paid subscription.

Preview status

Two responsive checks need attention

Viewport

1280 × 720

overflows the card

⌘⇧S⌘V≈ 3 seconds
Illustrative UI showing a focused annotation workflow.

Thirty seconds, forty times a day

Framebolt started as a complaint. The built-in macOS tool saves a file and leaves the clipboard empty, so every screenshot you wanted to show an AI assistant turned into a scavenger hunt through Finder. Removing that one step changed how often screenshots got used at all — and annotations turned vague questions into precise ones.

Built-in macOS screenshot

≈ 30s

  1. ⌘⇧4
  2. drag
  3. file lands on the desktop
  4. switch to Finder
  5. locate it
  6. drag into the chat
  7. delete it later

Framebolt

≈ 3s

  1. ⌘⇧S
  2. drag
  3. ⌘V

Forty captures a day is the difference between twenty minutes and two — and, more to the point, the difference between including a screenshot and deciding it is not worth the hassle.

The whole workflow, start to finish

Four shipped steps, playing automatically. Jump from capture to annotation, framing, or the final paste.

FinderFileEditView
09:41

Acme Dashboard — Settings

Preview build

Check the latest interface before merging.

Branch

fix/toolbar-layout

Preview status

Two responsive checks need attention

Viewport

1280 × 720

520 × 281
Capture
esc to cancel
⌘⇧Sopens region select from anywhere

Press ⌘⇧S, drag, done

The selection starts empty and stays adjustable — move it, resize it from any of eight handles, watch the live pixel readout. The raw file is saved and copied to your clipboard the moment you confirm.

Two keystrokes, end to end

Everything below happens without opening a window, naming a file, or touching Finder.

  1. 01⌘⇧S

    Grab the region

    The overlay opens instantly from whatever app you were in. Drag a box, nudge it from any of eight handles, confirm with the red Capture button.

  2. 02auto

    It is already on your clipboard

    Framebolt writes the raw file to a dated folder and copies it at the same time. Nothing to name, nothing to find, nothing to clean up.

  3. 03click

    Annotate only when it helps

    A ten second preview sits in the corner. Ignore it and you keep a clean raw capture; click it and the editor opens with arrows, shapes and text ready.

  4. 04⌘V

    Paste into Claude, Codex, Slack, a PR

    Two keystrokes end to end. Cheap enough that you include the screenshot instead of writing a paragraph describing it.

Everything Framebolt does today

Native capture, editable annotation, screen recording with system audio, and shader framing — all free on macOS.

Capture, paste, keep going

Every capture lands on your clipboard the moment it is taken. No save sheet, no Finder detour, no dragging files into a chat window.

Clipboard-first captures

The raw capture is written to your Pictures capture library and copied to the clipboard in the same breath. Hit ⌘V wherever you were already typing.

ShareX-style global shortcuts

⌘⇧S opens region select, ⌘⇧D grabs the whole desktop, ⌘⇧E opens the editor. All three are rebindable and validated against macOS system shortcuts.

Lives in the menu bar

A background accessory with no Dock icon and no stray editor window. Shortcuts stay registered as long as Framebolt is running.

Notch controls

On notched MacBooks a black control strip extends the physical notch — Image on the left, Record on the right, with an animated indicator. Other displays get a centered pill.

Adjustable region select

Left-drag to create the box, then move it or resize from eight handles with live pixel dimensions. Escape or Backspace cancels.

Dated library, automatically

Screenshots land in Pictures/YYYY-MM-DD, recordings in Recordings/YYYY-MM-DD. A ten second preview lets you jump straight into the editor.

Coming soon

Framebolt Cloud, for when you are not on the machine

Cloud is in development and will be the only paid monthly plan. Every capture, annotation, recording and shader feature that runs on your Mac stays free; the subscription pays only for hosted storage, links and shared infrastructure.

The waitlist is not open yet. This page will show a working signup form when Cloud development reaches private testing.

  • The clipboard stops at the SSH boundary

    Remote container, dev box, a machine you only reach through a terminal — a copied image never makes it back to the chat you are typing in.

  • Planned: a link that travels anywhere

    The planned flow turns a capture into a short hosted URL so it can move between machines and clients.

  • Planned: history you can search

    The roadmap includes hosted history, expiry rules, access controls, and shared team workspaces.

Questions people actually ask

The first public build is being prepared

Every on-device feature will be free. Check the release page for the Developer ID-signed, notarized build and its checksum.

Check release statusReplay the demo