Screencast.to

A local-first Mac screen recorder for demos, walkthroughs, and bug reports.
Record the work. Skip the monthly bill.

Website · Bundle preview · Security · Contributing

Release status: the website, Cloudflare service, and both Mac distribution targets are implemented. Direct checkout remains disabled until the first Developer ID-signed, notarized DMG and Sparkle feed are published.

What it does

• Records a full display or a selected region from the macOS menu bar.
• Mixes optional camera, microphone, and system audio.
• Supports pause/resume, live zoom, camera layouts, and a local teleprompter.
• Saves a normal movie to a user-selected location through the standard macOS Save dialog.
• Uploads only after an explicit sharing action; core recording is local.
• Uses no Screencast account, advertising SDK, or behavioral analytics.

Requires macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon or Intel.

Architecture

Area	Implementation
Mac app	Swift and SwiftUI, with ScreenCaptureKit and AVFoundation
Product site	Static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in checkout/
Hosted service	One Cloudflare Worker in worker/
Temporary sharing	StoreKit entitlement verification plus lifecycle-managed R2 storage
Direct sales	Stripe Checkout with purchaser-only downloads from private R2 storage
Standalone updates	Sparkle 2 with an EdDSA-signed, token-gated private feed
App Store updates	Apple-managed; the App Store target contains no Sparkle framework

Production uses screencast.to, www.screencast.to, and share.screencast.to. See the architecture guide for the request flows and trust boundaries.

Repository layout

• screencast/ — macOS application source and resources.
• screencast.xcodeproj/ — App Store and standalone build targets.
• checkout/ — product site, policies, browser code, and private-release publishing client.
• worker/ — Cloudflare APIs, sharing pages, commerce, and R2 access.
• scripts/ — App Store and Developer ID release scripts.
• LICENSES/ and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md — current and historical license records.

Development

Requirements: macOS 15+, Xcode 26+, and Node.js 24+.

Build the Mac targets without signing:

xcodebuild -project screencast.xcodeproj -scheme screencast \
  -configuration Debug -destination 'platform=macOS' \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO build

xcodebuild -project screencast.xcodeproj -scheme screencast-standalone \
  -configuration Debug -destination 'platform=macOS' \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO build

Check the website and Worker:

npm --prefix checkout ci
npm --prefix checkout test
npm --prefix checkout run build

npm --prefix worker ci
npm --prefix worker run check
npm --prefix worker test
npm --prefix worker run smoke

Run npm --prefix checkout start for a safe static preview. It deliberately keeps checkout disabled. Use npm --prefix worker run dev when testing the Cloudflare APIs and static assets together.

Distribution

Screencast.to has two independent release channels:

• The Mac App Store build is sandboxed, uses Apple for purchases and updates, and may use the first-party temporary-sharing service.
• The website build is Developer ID-signed and notarized, is sold through Stripe as a one-time purchase, and receives signed Sparkle updates.

Pushing a valid vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH tag starts the private standalone release workflow. It builds and notarizes the DMG, generates the signed appcast, and publishes immutable release objects to private Cloudflare R2 storage. It does not create a public GitHub Release.

Local release commands and required credentials are documented in scripts/.env.example, checkout/README.md, and worker/README.md.

Privacy and security

Recordings remain local unless the user chooses to upload one. Public source builds have first-party hosted sharing disabled by default. Self-hosted builds must use their own Worker, R2 bucket, routes, and credentials.

Do not commit environment files, signing identities, App Store transaction proofs, service tokens, Stripe keys, Sparkle private keys, or private recording links. Report vulnerabilities through the process in SECURITY.md.

Contributing

Bug reports and focused pull requests are welcome. Contributions require the additional grant described in CONTRIBUTING.md so the project owner can continue distributing both public-source and paid builds.

License

Current project-owned source is publicly available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. This is a source-available license, not an OSI-approved open-source license: personal and other permitted noncommercial uses are allowed, while commercial use requires separate permission.

Earlier snapshots retain the licenses granted at the time; those historical MIT, Apache-2.0, and PolyForm Shield grants are not revoked. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and TRADEMARKS.md.