Features Screen Recording

Screen Recording

Deskbrid v0.11.0 adds PipeWire-based screen recording capabilities via the GNOME ScreenCast portal, with a real-time web dashboard for monitoring and control.

Overview

Screen recording uses the PipeWire multimedia framework and GNOME ScreenCast portal for secure, permission-based capture. Features include:

• Real-time video capture via PipeWire
• Web dashboard at http://localhost:4199 for monitoring and control
• Event broadcasting on the subscription bus for real-time updates
• MCP tools for remote control via AI agents

Start Recording

deskbrid screencast.start { output_path: "/tmp/recording.mp4" }

Parameters

• output_path: File path for the recording (required). Supports strftime format specifiers like %Y%m%d_%H%M%S.
• audio: Whether to capture audio (boolean, default: false)
• camera: Whether to include camera feed (boolean, default: false)
• cursor: Whether to show cursor (boolean, default: true)

Stop Recording

deskbrid screencast.stop

Web Dashboard

When screen recording is active, a web dashboard is available at:

• URL: http://localhost:4199
• Features:
  • Real-time preview of the capture
  • Recording status and duration
  • Controls to stop recording
  • Audio levels visualization
  • Frame rate and resolution info

The dashboard binds to 0.0.0.0 by default for LAN access (can be changed via configuration).

Events

Screen recording broadcasts events on the subscription bus:

• screencast.started - When recording begins
• screencast.stopped - When recording ends
• screencast.frame - Periodic frame metadata (timestamp, resolution, etc.)
• screencast.error - If an error occurs during capture

Example Event

{
  "type": "event",
  "event": "screencast.started",
  "data": {
    "output_path": "/tmp/recording.mp4",
    "width": 1920,
    "height": 1080,
    "fps": 30
  }
}

MCP Tools

The following MCP tools are available for screen recording control:

• screencast_start - Start recording
• screencast_stop - Stop recording
• screencast_status - Get recording status

Python Example

from deskbrid import Deskbrid
import time

client = Deskbrid()

# Start recording with audio
client.screencast_start(
    output_path="/tmp/desktop_recording_%Y%m%d_%H%M%S.mp4",
    audio=True,
    cursor=True
)

print("Recording started... (will run for 10 seconds)")
time.sleep(10)

# Stop recording
client.screencast_stop()
print("Recording saved!")

# Check status via events (simplified example)
# In practice, you'd subscribe to screencast.* events

Configuration

The web dashboard port can be configured via environment variable:

DESKBRID_WEB_PORT=8080 deskbrid daemon

Notes

• Requires PipeWire and GNOME ScreenCast portal dependencies
• On first use, you'll be prompted to grant screen recording permission
• The web dashboard is intended for monitoring and light control - heavy processing should be done elsewhere
• Audio capture requires additional setup depending on your system (PipeWire configuration)