btahir/reelbird

Reelbird is a free, open-source screen recorder for macOS that copies a share link the moment you stop recording, then lets you polish the same take with auto-zoom, a smooth cursor and captions without changing the link.

Website · Download · Compare · CLI · MCP · Sharing setup · Troubleshooting · Support

It's a native Swift app with no account needed and no telemetry: share links point at a storage bucket you own, such as Cloudflare R2, or, if you'd rather not set one up, at Reelbird Pro's hosting ($5 a month, with viewer analytics). It includes a command-line tool and an MCP server, so coding agents can record and share demos too. You can download it, signed and notarised by Apple, or build it from source, on macOS 15 or later.

Why not just use Loom or Screen Studio? Loom's free plan stops each video at 5 minutes and won't let you download it; Screen Studio costs $29 a month and gives you a link only after you export. Reelbird gives you the link when you stop and the auto-zoom polish later, under the same link, for free. How it compares.

1. Record. Pick a display, a window or an area, with camera, microphone and system audio if you want them. Press ⌥⇧R from any app. Press ⌥⇧M to drop a marker at a moment you want to find again.
2. Stop. The link is already on your clipboard. Reelbird streamed the take to your bucket (or to Reelbird Pro's hosting) while you recorded, so it plays in any browser a moment later. A small card in the bottom-left corner offers Copy video (an MP4 to paste into Slack, Messages or Finder), Save and Edit.
3. Polish it later. Open the same take. Reelbird has planned zooms on your clicks and typing, smoothed the cursor and levelled your voice. Trim, add captions, pick a background, then choose Update link. Everyone you sent the link to now sees the polished version.

Records what you need, as separate tracks. A display, a window or an area, plus camera, microphone and system audio, with no virtual audio driver. Camera and audio stay on their own tracks, so you can move the camera bubble or mute system sound after recording.

The camera goes where you put it. Drag the camera bubble while you record and the video follows: it starts where the bubble was and glides each time you moved it. In the editor, drag it anywhere on the preview (it snaps to the edges and centre lines), pick a corner, delete single moves or keep it in one place. Circle, rounded square or a 3:4 portrait tile.

The camera makes room for zooms. While the screen is zoomed in, the bubble shrinks (to 70% by default) on the same curve as the zoom, and if the zoomed cursor would pass under it, it glides to the nearest free corner and back. Both can be turned off in the Camera panel.

Camera layouts. For any part of the video, show only the camera, the screen and camera side by side (stacked on a 9:16 canvas), or only the screen, with a short spring between layouts. Add them on the Layouts lane of the timeline (press C), or switch while you record with ⌥⇧L: bubble, camera only, screen only. The editor starts with the layouts you switched to.

Blur what shouldn't be seen. Press B and drag over an email, a key or a customer's name: it is blurred (or pixelated) for as long as you want, on its own bar in the Overlays lane. Find Sensitive Info reads the text on screen on your Mac and suggests blurs for emails, API keys and tokens, card numbers and phone numbers (plus any words you add), following the text when it scrolls; keep each one, or Keep All. Blurs are anchored to the screen, so they stay on the content through zoom, crop and any aspect, and every strength leaves text unreadable: each cell keeps one averaged colour, so what was under it can't be recovered. Nothing is uploaded to find them.

Arrows, boxes, labels and highlights. Draw them on the preview, pick a colour, trim them on the timeline.

Keeps your take if the app quits. Every track is written to disk in 2-second segments from the first frame. If Reelbird crashes or quits mid-recording, the take is recovered the next time Reelbird opens, minus at most the last two seconds.

Warns you while it matters. If the microphone is recording silence, capture stalls, audio drifts, the disk is filling up or uploads fall behind, you see it during the recording, not after.

Auto-zoom and a smooth cursor. Reelbird logs clicks, typing, scrolls and pointer movement next to the video, then plans zooms that follow them. One slider sets how much it zooms, from subtle to punchy, and you can add, move or delete zooms on the timeline. The cursor is redrawn from that log, so it glides instead of jittering, and you can resize or hide it after the fact. Preview and export use the same Metal renderer, so the export looks exactly like the preview.

Speed up the slow parts. Play any part at 0.25× to 8× from the speed lane (R changes the speed of the selected part). Voices keep their pitch up to 2×; faster parts are silent unless you keep their sound. Speed Up Typing finds stretches of typing and of waiting with nothing happening, and offers to speed them all up in one click; each one stays on the timeline to change or remove.

Audio that sounds finished. Auto level brings your voice to a steady −16 LUFS with a true-peak limiter. Enhance voice removes background noise and evens out your voice on your Mac, with a strength control and a blend back to the original; the raw microphone track is never changed. Lower under voice turns system audio down while you talk.

Instant share links to your own bucket. With Share while recording on, Reelbird uploads a 1080p stream as you record and copies the link the moment you stop. After editing, Update link replaces the video and keeps the URL. Links to your own bucket are free; setup is in docs/SHARING.md. Or skip the setup with Reelbird Pro ($5 a month), which hosts your links and shows how many people watched and where they stopped.

Captions on your Mac. Captions come from Apple's on-device speech recognition. Burn them into the export, or let viewers turn them on from the share page. Cut Long Silences removes the pauses in one go. From the command line, reelbird suggest writes a title and chapters with Apple's on-device model on Macs with Apple Intelligence. No API keys. Markers you drop while recording show as flags on the timeline, and Use Markers as Chapters turns them into the chapter list on the share page.

Clean frames. Backgrounds, padding, rounded corners, aspect ratios for every platform, and Hide Browser Toolbar to crop the tabs and bookmarks bar off a browser window.

Exports the usual formats. MP4 (H.264), HEVC and ProRes with hardware encoding, plus GIF.

Works with agents. The reelbird command-line tool and its MCP server let Claude Code, Codex or Cursor list screens, record a demo of the change they just made, export it and hand you the link.

Open project format. A recording is a .reelbird folder of standard MP4 files, JSON and an event log, with relative paths. Nothing is locked in. See docs/FORMAT.md.

Checked 12 October 2026 on each vendor's own pages: Loom pricing, Loom downloads, Screen Studio, Cap pricing, OpenScreen. Loom is the better team tool and runs everywhere; Screen Studio has the more mature editor; Cap and OpenScreen run on Windows and Linux. More detail, plus CleanShot X, Tella and Screenity, at reelbird.app/compare.

Download Reelbird 0.2.3 for Apple silicon Macs on macOS 15 or later (7.4 MB).

Unzip it, drag Reelbird to your Applications folder and open it. It's signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so it opens like any other app, and macOS keeps your permissions across updates. The SHA-256 of each zip is listed on its release page.

To update, download the new zip, quit Reelbird and drag the new copy to Applications to replace the old one; your recordings, settings and permissions stay. The app never checks for updates itself, so watch the changelog (it has an RSS feed) or GitHub Releases. If you built from source, git pull and make install again.

Building it yourself takes a few minutes and needs no Xcode.

You need:

• macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon. It also compiles for Intel Macs that run macOS 15, but it hasn't been tested on one yet.
• The Command Line Tools for Xcode 26 or later (xcode-select --install), which bring Swift 6.2 and the macOS 26 SDK. They install on macOS 15.6 and later. Xcode 26 works too but isn't required.

git clone https://github.com/btahir/reelbird.git
cd reelbird
make install

make install builds a release copy of the app and copies it to /Applications, asking first if Reelbird is already there. Then open it:

open /Applications/Reelbird.app

Reelbird lives in the menu bar. Look for the robin. To update a build from source later, run git pull, then make install again.

Some Command Line Tools installs ship a stale SwiftPM file that breaks every Package.swift. The scripts detect this and work around it on their own (see scripts/env.sh), so you don't need to do anything. Run make to see every target.

The welcome tour asks for each permission in turn. You can change them later in Settings… → Permissions or in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Screen Recording takes effect only after Reelbird reopens. After you turn it on, choose Quit & Reopen in Reelbird (or quit it from the menu bar and open it again).

By default the app is signed ad hoc. That signature changes with every build, so macOS forgets the Screen Recording permission each time you rebuild. If you build often, create a local signing certificate once:

scripts/dev-signing.sh
export RB_SIGN_IDENTITY="Reelbird Local Signing"   # add this to your ~/.zshrc
make install

The script creates a self-signed certificate named "Reelbird Local Signing" in your login keychain and does nothing if it already exists. Every build signed with it has the same identity, so the permission sticks. The first build asks whether codesign may use the key. Choose Always Allow. scripts/dev-signing.sh --remove deletes the certificate. It never leaves your Mac and isn't trusted for anything except signing your own builds.

These work in every app. Change them in Settings… → General; Reelbird refuses keys another of its shortcuts or another app already uses.

After you stop, the quick actions card closes by itself after about 12 seconds unless the pointer is on it; × closes it sooner. It never takes keyboard focus, so you can paste the link straight away. Settings… → General → After recording chooses between the card (the default), opening the editor, or nothing.

While picking what to record, Return starts and Esc closes the picker. During the countdown, Return, Space or a click skips it and Esc cancels. When selecting an area, Return records and Esc cancels.

In the editor:

Elsewhere: ⌘N starts a new recording, ⇧⌘L opens the library, ⌘O opens a .reelbird project, ⇧⌘E shares or copies the link, ⇧⌘R shows the recording in Finder, ⌘⌫ moves it to the Trash, and ⌘, opens Settings.

The reelbird tool ships inside the app. Put it on your PATH:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -sf /Applications/Reelbird.app/Contents/Helpers/reelbird ~/.local/bin/reelbird

reelbird sources                               # displays, windows, microphones and cameras, with IDs
reelbird record --display 1 --duration 30      # 30 seconds of the main display
reelbird record --window 1234 --share          # a window by ID from `sources`; Ctrl-C stops
reelbird list                                  # recent recordings
reelbird edit latest --set zoom.intensity=0.7 --trim 0:05-end
reelbird edit latest --set camera.x=0.5 --set camera.y=1 --clear-camera-moves   # camera bottom centre, in one place
reelbird edit latest --speed 0:12-0:20@2       # play 12–20 s at 2× (1 = normal speed again)
reelbird speedup latest --apply                # speed up typing and idle stretches
reelbird edit latest --layout camera@0:00-0:04 --layout split@0:30-0:45         # camera layouts for parts of the video
reelbird edit latest --set camera.sizeWhileZoomed=0.6 --set camera.smartFraming=false
reelbird edit latest --set zoom.regions.auto-3.enabled=false   # turn one zoom off (ids are in `edit latest --json`)
reelbird edit latest --set zoom.regions.*.instant=true         # every zoom cuts in and out, no animation
reelbird blur latest --rect 0.1,0.2,0.3,0.05 --from 0:05 --to 0:12   # blur an area (0–1 of the screen, or pixels)
reelbird redact latest --auto                  # find emails, keys, card and phone numbers on screen (masked list)
reelbird redact latest --auto --keep-all       # ...and blur them all (or --keep ID)
reelbird annotate latest --add arrow --arrow 0.8,0.8,0.55,0.45 --from 3 --to 6
reelbird annotate latest                       # list overlays; --remove ID or --clear
reelbird export latest --format mp4 --height 1080
reelbird captions latest                       # captions.vtt, made on this Mac
reelbird enhance latest --strength medium      # clean up the voice; the raw mic is kept
reelbird markers latest                        # markers dropped while recording
reelbird markers latest --as-chapters          # make them the chapters on the share page
reelbird share latest                          # upload and print the link
reelbird share latest --polished               # render the edit, same link
reelbird cloud login                           # Reelbird Pro: sign in in the browser instead of setting up a bucket
reelbird cloud links                           # your hosted links with view counts (cloud stats PROJECT for one)
reelbird help record

A project can be a .reelbird path, a name from reelbird list, or latest. Every command takes --json for machine-readable output and --library DIR to use another folder (the default is ~/Movies/Reelbird, or $REELBIRD_LIBRARY).

Sharing settings made in the app are used by the CLI too. To set them from the terminal, run reelbird config share --help for your own bucket, or reelbird cloud --help for Reelbird Pro (scripts and agents can set REELBIRD_CLOUD_TOKEN).

When you record from a terminal, macOS asks for Screen Recording permission for the terminal app (Terminal, iTerm, your editor), not for Reelbird.

reelbird mcp runs an MCP server over stdio. Agents get tools to list sources, start and stop recordings, drop and list markers (add_marker, list_markers), list and inspect projects, edit (including crop, camera placement, camera layouts and speed), blur regions, find and blur sensitive info, add and remove overlays, export, caption, enhance the voice, find silences, speed up typing, suggest chapters, and share or unshare.

Claude Code

claude mcp add reelbird -- /Applications/Reelbird.app/Contents/Helpers/reelbird mcp

Codex

codex mcp add reelbird -- /Applications/Reelbird.app/Contents/Helpers/reelbird mcp

or in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.reelbird]
command = "/Applications/Reelbird.app/Contents/Helpers/reelbird"
args = ["mcp"]

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "reelbird": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/Applications/Reelbird.app/Contents/Helpers/reelbird",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Then ask: "Record a 20-second demo of the settings page you just changed and give me the share link."

Recording through an agent needs Screen Recording permission for the app that runs the agent (your terminal or editor).

Sharing is optional; recording, editing and exporting work without it, with no watermark. Share links point at a storage bucket you own, for free, or at Reelbird Pro ($5 a month): sign in under Settings › Sharing › Reelbird Pro and Share works with nothing to set up, plus anonymous analytics on how many people watched and where they stopped (details). When you share to your own bucket, Reelbird uploads a small viewer page and the video to https://<your public URL>/r/<id>/, signed with your own keys; with Pro the link is https://watch.reelbird.app/r/<id>/. Anyone with the link can watch in a browser, and the link never changes, even after Update link.

Cloudflare R2 is the recommended host: no download (egress) fees, and the free tier includes 10 GB of storage. Setup takes about ten minutes, once:

1. Create a bucket. Cloudflare dashboard → R2 object storage → Create bucket, for example reelbird. (R2 asks for a payment method even on the free tier.)
2. Give it a public URL. Bucket → Settings → either Custom Domains → Add (a subdomain such as video.example.com, recommended), or Public Development URL → Enable for a quick https://pub-….r2.dev URL (rate-limited; fine for trying it out).
3. Create an API token. R2 → Manage API Tokens → Create Account API token with Object Read & Write, limited to that bucket. Copy the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key (the secret is shown once).
4. Connect Reelbird. Menu bar icon → Settings… → Sharing:

Choose Test Connection, which uploads a test file and reads it back through your public URL, then Save. The secret is kept in your macOS Keychain, and the reelbird CLI uses the same settings (reelbird config share --help).

Then turn on Share while recording in the picker, and the link is on your clipboard when you stop. Or share any recording later from the editor. AWS S3, Backblaze B2 and MinIO work too. The full walkthrough, costs, privacy notes and CI setup are in docs/SHARING.md.

Reelbird says Screen Recording is off, but the switch is on. Quit and reopen Reelbird; the permission only applies after a restart. If it still fails, you probably rebuilt an ad-hoc signed copy, and macOS is holding the permission for the old build. Remove Reelbird from the Screen Recording list (select it, then the minus button), reopen Reelbird and allow it again. To stop this happening on every rebuild, set up local signing.

macOS asks again every month whether Reelbird may record your screen. That prompt comes from macOS, not Reelbird. Since macOS 15, the system asks you now and then to confirm apps that record the screen. Choose to keep allowing it.

A Keychain prompt asks to use "app.reelbird.share". That's your sharing secret. It appears when the CLI reads a secret the app saved, or after a rebuild changed the app's signature. Enter your login password and choose Always Allow. Local signing makes the answer stick across rebuilds. For CI, set REELBIRD_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY instead (see docs/SHARING.md).

Keystrokes don't show up. Recording key presses needs Input Monitoring as well as Accessibility. Turn on Reelbird under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring (add it with the plus button if it isn't listed), then reopen Reelbird. Keystrokes are only recorded when Record keystrokes is on before you start.

Captions say they need a newer macOS. On macOS 26 and later, captions use Apple's SpeechAnalyzer and download the language model on first use. On macOS 15 they need on-device speech recognition for your language and the Speech Recognition permission.

The app quit while recording. Is the take lost? Open Reelbird again. It finishes the take from the segments on disk. From the terminal, reelbird recover PROJECT does the same.

• Recordings, edits, captions and transcripts stay on your Mac, in ~/Movies/Reelbird unless you choose another folder.
• Find Sensitive Info reads the screen with Apple's on-device text recognition. Findings stay on your Mac; the command line and MCP show only masked previews (sk-p…F2, •••• 4242).
• A link shared while recording plays that raw take until you Update link, so update it after adding blurs. The editor reminds you.
• Captions and titles are made on-device by Apple's frameworks. No API keys and no cloud services. (On macOS 26, macOS downloads Apple's speech model the first time you make captions.)
• Nothing is uploaded unless you share. Shares go only to the bucket you configured, signed with your own keys, or to Reelbird Pro if you sign in to it. The secret key lives in your macOS Keychain.
• No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting, no update checks. The app only contacts a Reelbird server if you sign in to Reelbird Pro. Pro's viewer analytics use no cookies and store no IP addresses (privacy page).
• The shared viewer page plays the polished MP4 directly. While a share still has only the live stream, browsers without built-in HLS (Chrome, Firefox) load the hls.js player from jsDelivr, pinned to a version and integrity-checked.

• Joining clips. The project format can already append other takes; the editor doesn't have a UI for it yet.
• Focus-follow zoom. Zooms that follow the text field you're typing in. Today zooms follow clicks.
• Titles and chapters in the app. Available from the CLI and MCP today.
• Windows and Linux are not planned. Reelbird is built on Apple frameworks from top to bottom.

Seven Swift modules with no third-party dependencies: capture (ScreenCaptureKit, AVFoundation), render (Metal), share (S3 uploads, HLS, viewer page), AI (Speech, Foundation Models), a shared core, the app and the CLI. docs/ARCHITECTURE.md explains the recording pipeline, sharing flow and renderer. docs/FORMAT.md documents the project format.

Bug reports, fixes and features are welcome. CONTRIBUTING.md covers building, tests and pull requests.

MIT.

Reelbird is free and always will be. The best way to support it is Reelbird Pro, which hosts your links for $5 a month. If you don't need that, you can give once or monthly. Stars, bug reports and pull requests help too.

_{The Reelbird website is hosted on ShipTiffin, which puts all your apps on one server you own. It's open source too: shiptiffin/tiffin.}