Skill Recorder

Skill Recorder: Desktop application that records on-screen work sessions and uses the GitHub Copilot CLI to reconstruct procedural steps into reusable AI agent skills.

Skill Recorder captures on-screen work sessions including window switches, browser URLs, screen snapshots, clipboard previews, optional spoken narration, and terminal output. It processes the recording locally before sending data to GitHub's cloud for Copilot analysis. The app reconstructs the workflow into an intent and ordered steps, generating SKILL.md procedures or scheduled automations. It is designed for developers and teams wanting to automate repetitive tasks using AI agents. It runs primarily on macOS with support for Windows 11 and Ubuntu.

Skill Recorder at a glance

Best for: Founder, Software engineer
Runs on: macOS, Windows, Linux
Pricing: Free
Released: July 2026
Category: AI productivity tool
Website: github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder

Key features

Record screen activity, window switches, and browser URLs locally
Record optional spoken narration transcribed on-device via Whisper
Capture terminal commands, outputs, and durations
Analyze recordings using GitHub Copilot CLI to generate structured steps
Generate SKILL.md procedures for AI agents on demand
Create scheduled or triggered automations from recorded sessions
Review complete read-only skill text before installation or export

Use it for

Turn repetitive manual workflows into reusable AI agent skills
Automate form submissions across multiple systems using one recorded example
Generate scheduled automations from a single recorded work session
Share standardized operational procedures with AI agents

Companions

Tools that articles about Skill Recorder recommend using with it, each with its job.

GitHub Copilot — Built to work with GitHub Copilot.
GitHub MCP Server — Issues, pull requests and CI runs inside Copilot chat.
Context7 — Current, version-specific docs for accurate suggestions.
Playwright MCP — End-to-end testing from Copilot agent mode.
Firecrawl — Turns reference pages into clean Markdown for the agent.
MCP Toolbox for Databases — Connects Copilot to Postgres for schema and SQL work.

Alternatives to Skill Recorder

GenOffice — Free, open-source desktop office suite with built-in AI file editing.
Screenpipe — It provides long-term memory for teams and AI agents while keeping raw history local.
ASu skills — It provides nine structured entry points for every stage of the job search process.
Raycast — It combines system commands, extensions, and AI into one fast keyboard launcher.
skillsync.com — Searches all past AI sessions before each prompt to prevent repeating work.
BasicOps — Unifies tasks, chat, docs, and AI agents in one single workplace.
Koi — Dictates offline in 100 languages with an all-in-one Mac tool.
Claudian — Turns an Obsidian vault into a functional directory for AI agents.
Lucid — Converts dictated text into structured notes and diagrams using a local model.
Talkhawk — Speech recognition runs locally on your PC so your audio never leaves your computer.
Google Workspace CLI — Dynamically builds commands from Google's Discovery Service with JSON output.
Listener — On-device transcription and summaries using Apple Intelligence with no cloud servers

All Skill Recorder alternatives