ClipForge

Linux-first game recording with instant replay, hardware encoding, and a built-in library.

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Screenshot

Overview

ClipForge is a lightweight, native game recording tool for Linux. It uses hardware-accelerated encoding (VA-API, NVENC, QSV) to capture gameplay with minimal performance impact and keeps a rolling replay buffer in shared memory so you can save the last 30 seconds at any time.

It ships as both a desktop app (Tauri + React) with tray controls and global hotkeys, and a headless CLI for streaming setups or remote machines.

Features

• Hardware-accelerated recording -- X11 screen capture with VA-API, NVENC, or QSV encoding, falling back to software x264
• Instant replay buffer -- Ring-buffer segments in /dev/shm for zero-disk-overhead replay saves
• Desktop audio capture -- Automatically resolves the active PulseAudio/PipeWire monitor source
• Recording library -- FTS5-indexed SQLite database with auto-generated thumbnails and metadata
• Export presets -- YouTube, Shorts (9:16 crop), Trailer, and High Quality with loudnorm normalization
• System tray & hotkeys -- Start/stop recording and save replays without leaving your game
• CLI interface -- Record, replay, export, and diagnose from the terminal
• System doctor -- Built-in diagnostics for FFmpeg, GPU drivers, audio, and display server

Requirements

Dependency	Version	Notes
Linux	X11 or XWayland	Wayland-native capture is on the roadmap
FFmpeg	5.0+	With x11grab and pulse input support
PipeWire or PulseAudio	--	PipeWire recommended
Rust	1.75+	For building from source
Node.js	18+	For the desktop UI
Yarn	1.x	Package manager for the UI

Getting Started

Install system dependencies

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install -y ffmpeg libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev libsoup-3.0-dev \
  libjavascriptcoregtk-4.1-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk-3-dev \
  libappindicator3-dev librsvg2-dev patchelf

# Fedora
sudo dnf install -y ffmpeg webkit2gtk4.1-devel libsoup3-devel \
  gtk3-devel libappindicator-gtk3-devel librsvg2-devel patchelf

Build and run

git clone https://github.com/alexanderwanyoike/clipforge.git
cd clipforge

# Install UI dependencies
yarn --cwd ui install

# Development (hot-reload)
cargo tauri dev

# Production build
cargo tauri build

CLI Usage

The standalone CLI binary works without the desktop UI:

# Record your screen (Ctrl+C to stop)
clipforge record --fps 60

# Start a 30-second replay buffer
clipforge replay --seconds 30

# Save the last 30 seconds from a running buffer
clipforge save-replay --seconds 30 --out highlight.mkv

# Export with a preset
clipforge export --input recording.mkv --preset youtube --out final.mp4

# List available encoders and audio devices
clipforge devices

# Run system diagnostics
clipforge doctor

Project Structure

crates/
  clipforge-core/     Core library: capture, encoding, replay, library, export
  clipforge-cli/      Standalone CLI binary
src-tauri/            Tauri desktop app with commands and state management
ui/                   React + TypeScript frontend

Configuration

Settings are stored in ~/.config/ClipForge/config.json and created automatically on first run.

Path	Default Location
Recordings	~/Videos/ClipForge/recordings/
Replays	~/Videos/ClipForge/replays/
Exports	~/Videos/ClipForge/exports/
Replay cache	/dev/shm/clipforge-replay/
Thumbnails	~/.cache/clipforge/thumbnails/
Database	~/.local/share/clipforge/library.db

Development

# Run all tests
cargo test --workspace

# Run core library tests only
cargo test -p clipforge-core

# Lint
cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings

# Format
cargo fmt --all

License

MIT