!! this is still maintained, i just need issues to work on. if you face issues or have feature requests, don't hesitate to open issues and ping me !!

waytator is a one stop shot for screenshotting and recording on supported wlroots based compositor. It is also a lightweight image and video editor.

Using niri or GNOME? See Desktop-specific notes.

Get it from the AUR:

yay -S waytator

Waytator is in nixpkgs, though it can lag a release or two behind:

nix run nixpkgs#waytator

To get new releases the day they're out, use this repo's flake:

nix run github:faetalize/waytator/stable

To follow master instead:

nix run github:faetalize/waytator

On NixOS, add it as a flake input:

# flake.nix
inputs.waytator = {
  url = "github:faetalize/waytator/stable";
  inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
};

To follow master instead, use url = "github:faetalize/waytator";.

Then add the package to your system:

# configuration.nix
environment.systemPackages = [
  inputs.waytator.packages.${pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.system}.default
];

OCR is included. For a smaller install without it, use .default.override { withOcr = false; } instead of .default.

1. Required build dependencies:

meson - ninja - pkg-config - gtk4 - libadwaita-1 - gtk4-layer-shell - wayland - wayland-protocols - ffmpeg - pipewire - rubberband - libdrm - gcc/clang/any C compiler

2. Required runtime dependencies:

wl-clipboard for clipboard support

3. Recommended runtime dependencies:

tesseract for OCR support

gifski for better looking GIFs

4. Install into ~/.local:

meson setup build --buildtype=release --prefix="$HOME/.local" # Override the prefix if needed
meson compile -C build
meson install -C build

DONE! Waytator is now installed and is usually detected by launchers instantly.

Result:

• the waytator binary: ${HOME}/.local/bin/waytator
• the desktop entry: ${HOME}/.local/share/applications/dev.faetalize.waytator.desktop
• the app icon: ${HOME}/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/dev.faetalize.waytator.svg

The app's identifier is dev.faetalize.waytator. If you have an older version of the app installed with a different identifier (e.g. dev.waytator.Waytator), make sure to remove it first to avoid conflicts.

If ~/.local/bin is not already on your PATH, add it in your shell profile. For example, add the following line to ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

If launchers fail to start waytator after installing from source, make sure your graphical session includes ~/.local/bin in PATH, not just your shell configuration.

Open a screenshot or any other image to mark it up, then copy or save it:

waytator path/to/image.png          # open an image
grim -g "$(slurp)" - | waytator     # open an image piped in
waytator                            # open the app empty

Add --name "Screenshot.png" to name a piped image.

Tools have single-key shortcuts, shown on their buttons, and [ and ] change the size. They can all be changed in Preferences → Shortcuts.

Open a screen recording or any other video to edit it, then copy or save it:

waytator path/to/recording.mp4      # open a video
cat recording.mkv | waytator        # open a video piped in

Available functions: cropping, trimming, rotation, horizontal and vertical flipping, splitting, deletion of segments, muting, audio gain changes, pitch, speed changing, joins.

There's a timeline track for 'objects', it isn't used yet, but it will be in the future for video annotations.

waytator can take the screenshot itself and open it for annotating straight away:

waytator --screenshot               # select an area of the screen
waytator --screenshot screen        # screenshot a whole screen
waytator --screenshot --notify      # save and copy without opening the editor, but show a notification that lets you edit it

While you pick what to screenshot, the bar on screen switches between area and screen, waits a few seconds first, and turns on a magnifier for pixel-exact selections. Hold Shift to slow the cursor down. Esc or a right click cancels. The app itself has the same Screenshot and Record buttons.

Screenshots are saved to your Screenshots folder and copied to the clipboard. Both can be changed in Preferences.

To prevent the editor from spawning after every screenshot, turn off Open in the editor in Preferences → Screenshots. --notify still lets you choose each time.

A few more options:

waytator --screenshot --delay 3       # wait 3 seconds first
waytator --screenshot --screen DP-1   # screenshot that screen straight away

Bind these to keys in your compositor to screenshot and annotate in one step. On some desktops, the first screenshot asks for permission.

Run waytator --help for every option, including overriding shortcuts for one launch.

waytator --record               # record an area of the screen
waytator --record screen        # record a whole screen
waytator --record window        # record a window
waytator --record --notify      # save and copy without opening the editor, but show a notification that lets you edit it

Run the same command again to stop. Recordings are saved to your Screencasts folder, copied to the clipboard and opened in the editor. Copying and opening the editor can be turned off in Preferences → Recordings, and the folder changed there.

To keep Waytator running in the background as a GLib application service ("daemon"), run:

waytator --gapplication-service

This will keep Waytator loaded in memory, allowing it to load faster in subsequent command invocations.

Screenshots are tested on niri and GNOME.

Keybinds that screenshot and annotate in one step:

// in your config.kdl, in the binds section
Print { spawn "waytator" "--screenshot"; }
Shift+Print { spawn "waytator" "--screenshot" "screen"; }
Ctrl+Print { spawn "waytator" "--screenshot" "--notify"; }

To keep niri's own screenshot UI instead, bind your screenshot key to scripts/screenshot-to-waytator.sh. Screenshots you save or copy there then open in waytator:

// in your config.kdl, in the binds section
Print { spawn <path-to-screenshot-to-waytator.sh>; }

Floating waytator windows work best:

// in your config.kdl
window-rule {
    match app-id=r#"^dev\.faetalize\.waytator$"#
    open-floating true
}

niri blurs only the wallpaper behind layer surfaces unless told otherwise. So that the recording bar and the countdown blur what's really behind them:

// in your config.kdl
layer-rule {
    match namespace="^waytator-(recording|countdown)$"
    background-effect {
        xray false
    }
}

Taking a screenshot opens GNOME's own screenshot tool, and waytator edits the result. --screen doesn't work there.

GPL-3.0-or-later.