---
title: Teach Recorder
---
# Teach Recorder

## What it is

A built-in, **off-by-default** feature for recording what you do on Windows — clicks,
keystrokes, and screen state — and turning that recording into a reusable AI skill that
agents can replay on your behalf.

### What it does

Record a demonstration of a repetitive task. When you stop, Omniscio captures the ordered
sequence of actions (with app/window context and element names). Tap **Generate skill** to
send the recording to the AI, which produces a parameterized `GeneratedSkill` — a title,
summary, named parameters, and numbered replay steps — that an agent can run.

## Where to find it

Enable it in **Settings → Lab**, then open the **Teach Recorder** entry in the **Automation** group of the sidebar.

## How it behaves

### How to use it

1. Enable via **Settings → Lab** → *Teach-by-Demonstration Recorder* (or set
   `AMC_SHOW_TEACH_RECORDER=1`).
2. Open the **Teach Recorder** entry in the sidebar (Automation group).
3. Click **Start recording** — a small always-on-top indicator pill appears over your other
   apps. Perform your task, then **Pause/Resume** or **Stop** right from the pill (or Stop from
   the panel).
4. Select the recording from the list and click **Generate skill**.
5. Review the generated skill (title, params, steps) — the skill is stored with the
   recording and can be referenced or exported.

### Notes

- **Always-visible indicator with pause/stop:** while recording, a floating pill (a
  recording/paused dot + elapsed timer + Pause/Resume + Stop) stays on top of whatever app
  you're in, so you never forget a recording is running and can control it without returning to
  Omniscio. **Pausing fully stops all capture** — clicks, keystrokes, and screenshots — until you
  resume, a real privacy pause. The pill is hidden from screen capture, so it never appears in
  your recording. (Global pause/stop keyboard shortcuts are a planned follow-up.)
- **Desktop-only (Windows):** uses WinHook and UI Automation for element capture; not
  available on mobile or macOS.
- **Generate sends screenshots to the cloud AI:** each step with a captured frame is
  included in the vision call. A clear disclosure is shown before generation starts.
- **Click screenshots are marked at the click point:** before a click frame is sent, a
  high-contrast marker (ring + crosshair, plus the element's box when Windows named it) is
  drawn on a copy at the exact click location, and the click coordinates + element bounds are
  added to the text the AI reads — so it knows *which* element was clicked even on web/canvas
  content Windows UI Automation can't name. Your stored screenshots are never modified, and no
  typed text is ever included. If marking fails for any reason, the plain screenshot is sent.
- **API key required:** generation uses the Anthropic API key configured in Settings →
  API Keys. If no key is configured, a prompt to add one is shown.
- **Deleting a recording deletes its screenshots — but not instantly.** Each recorded action
  keeps a **full-screen JPEG of your desktop** on disk, so the screenshots behind a recording are
  the same thing as a recording of whatever was on your screen at the time. Deleting a recording
  marks it deleted and hides it at once; the **frames themselves are erased later by the
  retention sweep**, once the recording is older than your **data-retention window** (30 days by
  default, set at Settings → Data & Storage) — the sweep removes the recording's *whole*
  directory, not just its database row. So a deleted recording stops being visible immediately and
  stops existing on disk within your retention window. To have frames gone sooner, shorten the
  retention window; erase-all clears them too.
- In-development — reveal via Settings → Lab or `AMC_SHOW_TEACH_RECORDER=1`.

## Related

Use Skills is where a recorded skill is then run, and the skills overhead alert covers what happens when too many skills load into every conversation at once.