Captail

<p align="center"> <img src="docs/banner.svg" alt="Captail — instant replay that stays on" width="920"> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/FaulMit/captail/actions/workflows/ci.yml"><img src="https://github.com/FaulMit/captail/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg" alt="Build"></a> <a href="https://github.com/FaulMit/captail/releases"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/FaulMit/captail?include_prereleases&sort=semver&color=65d9bd" alt="Latest release"></a> <a href="LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-GPL--2.0--or--later-65d9bd" alt="GPL-2.0-or-later"></a> <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Windows%2010%2F11-252b2e" alt="Windows 10/11"> </p> <p align="center"> <a href='https://ko-fi.com/Q4E824D8J4' target='_blank'><img height='36' style='border:0px;height:36px;' src='https://storage.ko-fi.com/cdn/kofi3.png?v=6' border='0' alt='Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com' /></a> </p> <p align="center"> <strong>Save what just happened.</strong><br> Lightweight, open-source instant replay for Windows — built to stay recording. </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/FaulMit/captail/releases/latest"><img src="docs/readme-download.svg" alt="Download latest Captail release for Windows" width="286"></a> <a href="https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PKVNVLKPTPS"><img src="docs/readme-store.svg" alt="Get Captail from Microsoft Store" width="286"></a> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://faulmit.github.io/captail/">Visit the Captail website</a> · <a href="https://github.com/FaulMit/captail/issues/new/choose">Report a problem</a> </p>

Captail is a focused alternative to NVIDIA ShadowPlay Instant Replay. It keeps the latest seconds or minutes in a rolling buffer, then saves them when you press a hotkey. No scenes, streaming setup, account, cloud upload, analytics, or telemetry.

[!WARNING] Captail v0.1.x is an early public preview. Recording works, but bugs and hardware-specific problems are expected. NVIDIA RTX 40 and RTX 50 series are tested; other GPUs need broader public testing.

Is Captail for me?

Captail is for Windows players who want instant replay without running a full streaming suite or wondering whether recording silently stopped.

It is a good fit if you want:

• one hotkey to save recent gameplay;
• desktop capture that automatically switches to a fullscreen game;
• a game-only mode that never records the desktop;
• real high-frame-rate capture for slow motion;
• system/game and microphone audio, mixed or separated;
• automatic recovery after recoverable capture, game, or driver failures;
• local files that stay on your PC.

Captail is not a streaming application, scene compositor, DRM bypass, or cloud clip service.

What does it look like?

<p align="center"> <img src="docs/captail-main.png" alt="Captail main window showing replay status, audio sources, recording format, disk space, and recent replays" width="420"> </p> <p align="center"> <img src="docs/captail-settings-video.jpg" alt="Captail video settings: source, codec, bitrate, monitor, resolution, and frame rate" width="390"> <img src="docs/captail-settings-audio.jpg" alt="Captail audio, storage, and hotkey settings" width="390"> </p> <p align="center"> <img src="docs/captail-editor.png" alt="Captail clip editor with a video timeline, separate audio tracks, trim range, and media details" width="820"> </p>

How do I install it?

Install Captail from Microsoft Store, or open GitHub Releases and choose a package:

| Package | Choose it when | Installation | | --- | --- | --- | | Microsoft Store | You want Microsoft-managed installation and automatic updates | Open the Store listing and select Install. | | Captail-x.y.z-Setup-win-x64.exe | You want the normal Windows experience | Run Setup. It installs Captail for your Windows account and adds an uninstaller to Windows Settings. | | Captail-x.y.z-Portable-win-x64.zip | You want a movable, self-contained folder | Extract the entire ZIP, then run Captail.exe inside it. Do not run it from the archive. | | SHA256SUMS.txt | You want to verify the download | Compare the package SHA-256 with the published value before running it. |

Every Captail package includes .NET, libobs, FFmpeg, and the embedded preview player. You do not need to install OBS Studio or extra runtimes.

[!NOTE] Release binaries are not Authenticode-signed yet. Windows SmartScreen may show “Unknown publisher.” Verify SHA256SUMS.txt and GitHub build provenance if you want to confirm the download.

[!IMPORTANT] Already using Captail 0.1.3 or 0.1.4? Their updater contains a Windows file-lock bug. Download and run the 0.1.5 Setup EXE manually once. In-app updates work normally starting with 0.1.5.

How do I save my first replay?

1. Launch Captail. It stays available from the system tray.
2. Open Settings and choose Desktop or Game Capture.
3. Choose buffer length, codec, resolution, FPS, and audio sources.
4. Leave Instant Replay enabled.
5. Play normally.
6. Press Ctrl+Shift+F10, or click Save, when something worth keeping happens.

Default hotkeys:

| Action | Default | | --- | --- | | Save recent footage | Ctrl+Shift+F10 | | Enable or disable Instant Replay | Ctrl+Shift+F9 |

Both hotkeys are configurable. Double-click the tray icon to reopen Captail.

What does each capture mode record?

| Mode | When no game is detected | When a fullscreen game appears | Audio source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Desktop | Records the selected monitor | Automatically switches to direct Game Capture | Selected Windows output device | | Game Capture | Waits without recording the desktop | Captures the detected game directly | Detected game audio |

The replay buffer stays armed in both modes. Use Desktop when you want continuous coverage; use Game Capture when privacy outside games matters more.

What happens when capture breaks?

Captail supervises the recording pipeline instead of assuming that a successful start means it will remain healthy forever.

| Situation | Expected behavior | | --- | --- | | Game closes or crashes | Desktop mode returns to desktop capture. Game Capture mode waits for another game. | | You switch between game and desktop | Desktop mode follows the active capture source without stopping the buffer. | | A capture source temporarily disappears | Captail keeps the pipeline supervised and retries recovery. | | Graphics driver restarts | Video may pause or go black temporarily; the watchdog attempts a controlled restart with retry delay. | | Recovery cannot complete | Captail reports the failure and retries instead of silently claiming that replay is active. | | DRM-protected video appears | Protected regions may be black. Captail does not bypass DRM and is designed to keep the buffer running. |

Recovery reduces lost footage; it cannot guarantee frames that Windows, a game, an anti-cheat system, or a failed driver never delivered.

Where is the rolling buffer stored?

The live replay buffer stores compressed video and audio packets in RAM. Only saved replays are written to your selected folder.

• Buffer length controls how much recent time Captail tries to keep.
• Buffer limit caps compressed replay data in RAM. If it is reached first, available replay time becomes shorter.
• Bitrate, resolution, FPS, and codec affect both memory use and saved file size.
• The dashboard shows free space on the drive containing your replay folder.

After a successful save, Captail starts a new replay segment. Saving again five minutes later produces roughly five minutes of new footage instead of duplicating the previous clip.

Which codec should I choose?

Captail detects the current GPU and driver, then hides unavailable hardware codecs.

| Codec | Best for | Trade-off | | --- | --- | --- | | AV1 | Best compression on supported modern GPUs | Newest format; some older players and editors may not support it. Hardware support commonly includes GeForce RTX 40/50, Radeon RX 7000, and Intel Arc. | | HEVC / H.265 | Good compression with broader modern-GPU support | Compatibility is better than AV1 but still weaker than H.264 in older software. | | H.264 / AVC | Easiest playback, editing, and sharing | Larger files or lower quality at the same bitrate. |

Unsure? Start with H.264 for compatibility. Use AV1 when your GPU and editor support it and file efficiency matters.

Does 240 FPS mean 240 real frames?

Captail requests real frames from the capture source; it does not generate duplicates to make a file report a higher FPS.

• Game Capture: can record distinct high-rate frames when the game, GPU, encoder, and capture path can sustain them.
• Desktop capture: limited by how often Windows and the monitor present new desktop frames.
• Slow motion: 120–240 FPS is useful only when the source actually produces that many distinct frames.

Higher FPS raises GPU load, RAM use, and file size. Captail supports 30, 60, 120, 144, and 240 FPS.

How does audio work?

You can record system or detected-game audio, a microphone, or both.

• Change system and microphone volume independently.
• Add up to +20 dB microphone boost when 100% is still too quiet.
• Use One mixed track for maximum player compatibility.
• Use Separate tracks to keep system/game audio and microphone independent for editing.
• Choose AAC in fragmented MP4 or Opus in MKV.

Some media players play only one track from a multi-track file. Captail's clip editor previews the available tracks together and lets you keep or remove each track from the trimmed result.

Can I manage and trim replays inside Captail?

Yes. The main window lists supported files from the selected replay folder in a scrollable li