Framelit

A fast, always-on-top screen-region recorder for macOS and Linux. Frame a region, hit record, and get a clean GIF or MP4 — with inline preview and edit. Built in C++/Qt6 to feel like a utility, not an editor.

Features

• Region capture — draggable, resizable, always-on-top capture window.
• GIF / MP4 output — palette-quantized GIF (giflib) or CRF-quality MP4 (Qt Multimedia).
• Inline preview & edit — trim in/out points and review takes without leaving the app.
• Follow-mouse pan — the capture region can track the cursor while recording.
• Global hotkeys — grow/shrink and follow-mouse toggle without focusing the app.
• HiDPI, letterbox, and optional mic audio for MP4.

Install

Download the latest Framelit.dmg from Releases, drag Framelit to Applications, and launch.

On first launch macOS will prompt for Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions (System Settings → Privacy & Security). Both are required — screen recording for capture, accessibility for global hotkeys.

Build from source

cmake -B build && cmake --build build

Requirements:

• Qt ≥ 6.5 (the repo pins convenience paths for 6.11.0 in CMakeLists.txt)
• CMake ≥ 3.22, a C++20 compiler
• giflib — auto-detected from Homebrew (brew install giflib) or fetched/built via CMake FetchContent
• Linux only: libgif-dev, plus libxext-dev/libx11-dev (real click-through via XShape)

Run: open build/Framelit.app (macOS) · ./build/framelit (Linux)

Run tests: ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

macOS code signing

The signing identity defaults to a developer certificate but is overridable at configure time:

# Ad-hoc (local, no notarization):
cmake -B build -DFRAMELIT_CODESIGN_IDENTITY=-

# Your Developer ID (or set FRAMELIT_CODESIGN_IDENTITY in the environment):
cmake -B build -DFRAMELIT_CODESIGN_IDENTITY="Developer ID Application: …"

Global Hotkeys (macOS)

Requires Accessibility permission (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility).

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+Shift+=	Grow capture region
Cmd+Shift+-	Shrink capture region
Cmd+Shift+F	Toggle follow-mouse

Reset saved settings

Framelit stores preferences (capture rect, output dir, format) via QSettings under the Kushview / Framelit domain:

# macOS
defaults delete net.kushview.Framelit

Roadmap

Framelit's arc is capture → render → record → sync. Capture, render, and record ship today. Sync — cloud upload and shareable links — is planned and not yet implemented.

License

Copyright © Kushview. See repository for license details.