Shot2

Screenshots that don't waste your tokens.
A tiny macOS menu bar app built for developers who vibe code with LLMs.

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The Problem

You're screenshotting your screen to paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot. Sounds simple. Except:

• macOS screenshots are PNG by default. A single full-screen capture is 1.3 MB. That's a lot of tokens for "look at this error message."
• Area screenshots have no compression control. Cmd+Shift+4 gives you a PNG. Period. No settings, no compression, no options.
• Every screenshot you paste costs tokens. Vision models charge per-image based on size. Bigger files = more tokens = slower responses = higher bills.

LLMs don't need retina-quality PNGs to read your stack trace. They need just enough pixels to understand what's on screen.

The Fix

Shot2 compresses by default. Every screenshot is JPEG-compressed before it hits your clipboard, so when you paste it into your AI chat, you're sending 3x fewer tokens with zero loss in comprehension.

That's the same screen. Same content. Same readability for an LLM. Just 3x less cost.

Features

• Clipboard-first — screenshots go straight to your clipboard, ready to paste
• Aggressive compression — JPEG at 40% quality by default (LLMs can't tell the difference)
• Four quality levels — Original PNG, Compressed (80%), Ultra Compressed (40%), Ludicrous (10%)
• Global hotkeys — Cmd+Shift+1 (full screen) and Cmd+Shift+2 (area select), configurable
• Optional disk save — save to a folder if you want, skip if you don't
• Menu bar only — no dock icon, no windows, no clutter
• Zero dependencies — native Swift, no Electron, no frameworks, ~200KB app

Install

Clone and build with Xcode:

git clone https://github.com/devadutta/shot2.git
cd shot2
open shot2.xcodeproj

Build and run (Cmd+R). The camera icon appears in your menu bar.

Usage

Action	Default Shortcut
Capture full screen	Cmd+Shift+1
Capture area	Cmd+Shift+2
Open settings	Click menu bar icon → Settings

All shortcuts are configurable in Settings → General → Keyboard Shortcuts.

Settings

• Save to Disk — toggle file saving on/off, pick your save folder
• Clipboard Quality — Original, Compressed, Ultra Compressed, or Ludicrous
• Keyboard Shortcuts — click to record custom key combos for each action

Why "Shot2"

Shot2 — your second shot at screenshots. Better, smaller, smarter.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Built by Devadutta Ghat.