Scrawl 0.3.10

Scrawl 0.3.10 makes the Mac's Settings window switch panes instantly. A sidebar row is selected when the mouse goes down, and the new pane appears on the next frame, with no fade between panes. (#38)

It also includes everything from 0.3.9, 0.3.8 (hold ⌥⇧S opens the picker) and 0.3.7 (the fix for the blank welcome window on Windows, and more).

The Windows build is still unsigned, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.

Scrawl 0.3.9

Scrawl 0.3.9 removes the "Esc" badge that appeared under ✕ and Cancel when you hovered them on the Mac's recording capsule. Esc doesn't do anything there, so the hint was wrong. (#34)

It also includes everything from 0.3.8 (hold ⌥⇧S opens the picker) and 0.3.7 (the fix for the blank welcome window on Windows, and more).

The Windows build is still unsigned, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.

Scrawl 0.3.8

Scrawl 0.3.8 changes what holding the shortcut does.

• Hold ⌥⇧S (Alt+Shift+S on Windows) opens the picker; click what to record. It opens on the mode you used last and stays open after you let go, so you can click a mode, a window or the screen, or drag an area. Esc closes it. A tap still records the screen at once. Holding S no longer steps through Screen, Window and iPhone, and an S still held after the picker opens can't start a recording by itself. (#32)

Everything from 0.3.7 is included, among them the fix for the blank welcome window on Windows.

The Windows build is still unsigned, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.

Scrawl 0.3.7

Scrawl 0.3.7 fixes the blank welcome window on Windows and a set of smaller bugs on both systems. Thanks to everyone who sent a fix.

Windows

• The welcome window opens with its content again. In 0.3.6 it showed only its background because it expected a field the onboarding state no longer sends. Fixed by @moinmir in #28, with a test that runs the real onboarding flow through the window so the two can't drift apart again.
• Settings no longer cuts off its content at the right edge: long captions wrap and the buttons stay inside the window. Fixed by @EdderTalmor in #26.
• Show in File Explorer opens the capture's folder instead of quitting Scrawl. Fixed by @prathamdby, who found all three causes, in #31 (#30).
• The build is still unsigned, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.

Mac

• Launch at login stays available when macOS reports Scrawl's login item as not found. Fixed by @brndnblck in #23 (#20).
• A capture is on the clipboard as soon as it's built. Working out which OpenCode session it goes to happens afterwards, so a slow or missing OpenCode server no longer holds up the paste. (#35)

Both

• Hex transcription has a language setting (Settings › Recording on the Mac, or "hexLanguage" in the config file), so Dutch, Ukrainian and other languages aren't sent to Hex as English. Added by @rickheere in #18 (#17).
• A ⇧-click pin is a short pulse on screen instead of a red dot that stays for the rest of the recording, and a ⇧-click right after drawing no longer drops a pin by accident. Click marks on keyframes are lighter, and keyframe images no longer carry numbered mark badges; agents can look a mark up with scrawl zoom --mark N. (#33)

Scrawl 0.3.6

Scrawl now runs on Windows. Luke Parker (@Hona) ported it in #3: the same capsule, picker, ink overlay, review window, welcome tour and Settings as on the Mac, with Alt+Shift+S to record and Ctrl+V to paste. Thanks, Luke.

Windows (preview)

Download Scrawl-0.3.6-windows-x64.zip below or from scrawl.kitlangton.com, unzip it and run scrawl.exe. It needs Windows 10 (2004) or later on x64.

• The build isn't code-signed yet, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.
• Speech is transcribed on your PC with Parakeet. If Hex has installed a model, Scrawl uses it. Otherwise the first launch downloads the 730 MB model in the background and checks its SHA-256, and captures made before it finishes get their transcript once it arrives.
• It doesn't update itself yet, so check back here for new versions. The cabled iPhone and video export are Mac-only.

Code signing and automatic updates for Windows come next.

Mac

• Scrawl installs Apple's speech model by itself at launch, so the first capture on a new Mac has a transcript. Captures made while it downloads are transcribed once it's ready.
• macOS's question about bypassing the private window picker now comes up during onboarding instead of over your first recording.
• Onboarding comes back in front of System Settings after you grant a permission.

The Mac app updates itself, or download Scrawl-0.3.6-arm64.dmg below.

Scrawl Linux preview 1

An early Linux build of Scrawl for testing before the Linux release. Based on Scrawl 0.3.10.

Built from 2e8c86b2a61a9c29391bcb5ea8d9b1e8f3841412. macOS, Windows and Linux checks and both AppImage builds passed.

Install and run

Download the AppImage for your computer: x86_64 for Intel/AMD, or aarch64 for ARM64. These builds target Ubuntu 24.04 or newer.

For x86_64:

chmod +x Scrawl-0.3.10-linux-x86_64.AppImage
./Scrawl-0.3.10-linux-x86_64.AppImage app

On ARM64, use Scrawl-0.3.10-linux-aarch64.AppImage instead.

If it reports a missing libfuse.so.2, install FUSE support on Ubuntu 24.04:

sudo apt install libfuse2t64

Or run without FUSE:

./Scrawl-0.3.10-linux-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run app

SHA256SUMS contains checksums for both downloads. With it and the AppImages in the same directory, check your download with sha256sum --check --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS.

On Wayland, clicks and Shift ink need access to input devices:

sudo usermod -aG input "$USER"

Log out and back in, then reopen Scrawl. Settings → Permissions checks whether the devices are readable. Without this access, Scrawl can record the screen and voice but cannot reliably capture clicks or Shift ink over other apps.

Scrawl downloads its roughly 731 MB speech model on first launch unless Hex already has it. Settings → Recording shows progress.

Try a capture

Tap Alt+Shift+S to start recording and tap it again to finish. Hold it to open the target picker. Hold Shift and move the pointer to draw. Use Alt+Shift+V to paste the capture into your agent. On Wayland, the desktop may ask permission for screen sharing or paste control.

Desktop coverage

The Linux implementation was tested in Ubuntu 24.04 ARM64 VMs with GNOME 46 and KDE Plasma 5.27.12. Those desktop recordings predate this rebase onto 0.3.10; CI checks the rebased code and both packaged AppImages.

• GNOME Wayland: screen/area capture, shortcuts, clicks, Shift ink, transcription, contact sheets, Settings, onboarding and paste into Text Editor.
• GNOME X11: display/window capture, shortcuts, clicks, ink, transcription, contact sheets, target picker, Settings, onboarding and paste.
• KDE Wayland: screen/area capture with saved portal selection, shortcuts through KGlobalAccel on Plasma 5, clicks, ink, transcription, contact sheets, Settings, onboarding and paste into native Kate. Cancelling a pending sharing dialog also works.

Known limits

• Click positions over native Wayland apps can be wrong with a relative mouse or touchpad. Click timing is retained. Absolute-pointer devices used by the VMs do not have this limitation.
• On Wayland, the Window picker lists only XWayland windows. Use Screen or Area for native Wayland apps.
• On KDE Wayland, ink hides from the desktop between Shift strokes so clicks can reach the app below it. The saved bundle retains the ink.
• Scrawl's pill can appear in recordings. Keyframe selection ignores its changing timer when looking for activity.
• GNOME 48+ and Plasma 6 portal shortcuts, physical mouse/touchpad input and multi-monitor layouts still need testing. Scrawl's own windows use XWayland.

Report a problem

Open a GitHub issue with the linux label. Include your distro, desktop version, X11 or Wayland session, architecture, what you tried, and what happened. Include the output of:

scrawl inspect latest

Settings → Agents can install the scrawl command. You can also inspect directly with the downloaded AppImage:

./Scrawl-0.3.10-linux-x86_64.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run inspect latest

Review the output before posting; it can contain your transcript and local paths. If no capture finished, say that in the issue.

Scrawl 0.3.5

You can now choose your microphone in Settings › Recording (#10). The list has System default first, which follows whatever macOS uses, then every connected input, with a level meter. Scrawl remembers the device you pick. If it isn't plugged in when you record, Scrawl records from the default and says so under the menu. A device that drops out partway through a recording no longer loses the audio heard up to that point. From the terminal, scrawl mic list and scrawl mic set do the same.

⇧-click drops a numbered pin again (#9). A ⇧-click inside the recording, released within a second and moved less than about 12 pt, puts the next numbered pin where you pressed. A ⇧-drag still draws, and ⌘⇧-click still counts as a click.

Install with brew install --cask kitlangton/tap/scrawl, download the DMG below, or update from the menu with Check for Updates….

Scrawl 0.3.4

Scrawl no longer crashes when you draw or point with the laser for a while. In 0.3.3 a recording longer than about 30 seconds with ink on screen could take the app down and lose the capture. Thanks to @gsimone (#8) and Miller Bath (@bath, #11) for the fixes.

Also in this release:

• Scrawl works on any display when you have more than one monitor. The picker, overlay and capsule follow the display you're using, and each capture records at that display's own scale.
• No Dock icon.
• Keyboard fixes in the picker, Settings and the review window. Keys act once, ⌘W closes, and focus goes back to the app you were using.
• scrawl send is much faster when you have thousands of OpenCode sessions (#6).
• An agent skill for reading captures. Install it with bunx skills add kitlangton/scrawl. Settings › Agents can put the scrawl command on your PATH.
• A short demo during onboarding shows how a recording works, with a mark you can try.

Install with brew install --cask kitlangton/tap/scrawl, download the DMG below, or update from the menu with Check for Updates….