Screenpipe

Screenpipe is a program that runs in the background and constantly saves images of your own screen. In addition, it optionally also records the microphone and the computer’s audio. From these recordings it extracts the text that was visible or audible at the time. This gradually creates a searchable archive of your own workday. Programs that automatically write texts or answer questions can then access this archive. The basic idea: the computer should remember what you did, so you don’t have to search for it yourself.

Why a memory for the screen is needed at all

A chatbot normally only knows what you write to it at that moment. It knows neither yesterday’s email nor this morning’s video conference. That is precisely the biggest weakness of many AI assistants in everyday use. Screenpipe tries to close this gap by giving the assistant access to your own screen history.

This makes it possible to solve tasks that were previously tedious. One example: you’re looking for a number that briefly appeared in a table three weeks ago. Anyone who hasn’t remembered the file name or folder will search for a long time. A screen archive finds the spot via the text that was visible at the time.

The second point is data protection. Screen recordings contain passwords, private messages, and company secrets. Screenpipe therefore advertises that the data stays local, i.e. on your own device. The source code is open for inspection, which allows experts to verify the claim. A residual risk nevertheless remains: anyone who gains access to the computer also gains access to the entire archive.

From screen recording to searchable text

The first step is a kind of continuous screenshot. The program regularly saves an image of the screen, usually several times per second. These images are compressed so that the hard drive doesn’t fill up within a few days. In parallel, recordings from the microphone and speaker run alongside.

In the second step, text is generated from images. This uses text recognition, known in English as OCR: software reads letters out of an image, similar to a scanner at school. For audio, this is handled by speech recognition, which turns spoken sentences into written ones. Together, both produce a long list of text snippets with timestamps and program names.

This list ends up in a database on the hard drive. Other programs can query it via an interface. An interface is a defined way in which software requests data from other software. Screenpipe also supports small add-on programs, so-called pipes, which work on the data. Such a pipe can, for example, generate a summary of the workday every evening.

Screenpipe compared to Recall and similar tools

The idea became best known through Microsoft. Their Recall feature does essentially the same thing on newer Windows computers. The announcement triggered fierce criticism from security researchers in 2024 because the data was poorly protected. Microsoft delayed the launch and reworked the feature. Screenpipe is often mentioned as an open alternative to it.

Typical users so far are developers and people who do a lot of research on the computer. Sales teams have conversation notes generated automatically. Others use the archive to track working hours or write reports. In companies, its use is tricky: in Germany, an employer is not allowed to simply monitor employees permanently; the works council has a say here.

In news reports, Screenpipe usually appears in connection with the buzzword AI agents. This refers to programs that carry out tasks independently instead of just responding. Such agents need context, i.e. knowledge about the user’s situation. Screen recording is one way to provide this context. Whether it catches on depends less on the technology than on users' trust.