# Skill Recorder review

> Skill Recorder is a desktop app that records your on-screen work session and turns it into a reusable agent Skill or Automation.

Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/microsoft-skill-recorder/

## TL;DR

Skill Recorder captures a task you perform once on screen, then uses the GitHub Copilot CLI to reconstruct it as an intent plus ordered steps. It is for people who want an AI agent to repeat a task. It generates a SKILL.md procedure or a scheduled Automation that prefers native tools over replaying clicks.

## Skill Recorder at a glance

- **Category:** [Coding agents](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/coding-agents/)
- **Maintained by:** Microsoft (organization, [@microsoft](https://github.com/microsoft) on GitHub)
- **License:** MIT
- **Language:** TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS
- **Repository:** [github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder)
- **Latest release:** [v0.7.0](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/releases/tag/v0.7.0) on GitHub, Sep 21, 2026
- **First published:** Jul 29, 2026

## What Skill Recorder does

- Skill Recorder captures clicks, app and window switches, visited pages, optional recorded terminal commands and output, and optional spoken narration.
- Skill Recorder uses GitHub Copilot to reconstruct one overall intent and an ordered list of steps, which you can review and edit.
- Skill Recorder generates a Skill, a SKILL.md procedure an agent runs on demand, or an Automation that runs on a schedule or trigger.
- Skill Recorder generalizes from one example, so recording one form submission can teach the agent to submit all of them.
- Skill Recorder transcribes narration on-device in any of Whisper's 99 supported languages.
- Skill Recorder offers an optional Review SKILL.md view showing the complete read-only file, including frontmatter, before install or export.

### How it works

Skill Recorder is an Electron desktop app. You start recording with a button or Ctrl+Shift+R, and capture happens locally. A floating bar controls the microphone and the recorded terminal. When you choose Analyze, the event timeline, screen images, and narration go to GitHub's cloud for Copilot to process. Output targets Microsoft Autopilots such as Scout, Microsoft Copilot Cowork, or Copilot Studio.

### Requirements

- A GitHub account with Copilot access
- macOS (primary target), Windows 11 x64 or ARM64, or Ubuntu
- Node.js 24 only for developing from source; the installer downloads a pinned Node.js runtime
- Screen Recording permission on macOS

### First steps

1. Copy the Commit-pinned installation command for your OS from the latest release page and run it in PowerShell or Terminal.
2. On first launch on macOS, grant Screen Recording permission.
3. Record your task, then click Analyze and sign in to Copilot in your browser if prompted.
4. Review the steps, then create a Skill or Automation and add or export it.

## Who Skill Recorder is for

- Users of Microsoft Autopilots like Scout, Copilot Cowork, or Copilot Studio who want reusable skills
- Turning a repetitive task done once by hand into an agent procedure

### Limitations

- Skill Recorder sends recording data to GitHub's cloud when you choose Analyze, so secrets must stay out of recordings.
- Skill Recorder releases are source-only; the installer builds the app on your machine, and the first install can take several minutes.
- Skill Recorder captures browser URLs only on macOS.
- Skill Recorder's Review SKILL.md shows the generated instructions but is not a security guarantee.

## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026)

- Board rank: #14 overall, #6 in Coding agents, momentum score 94
- New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: 605; Aug 16: 208; Aug 23: 327; Aug 30: 163; Sep 6: 75; Sep 13: 88; Sep 20: 121; Sep 27: 58; Oct 4: 37; Oct 11: 30; Oct 18: 567; Oct 25: 807

## Skill Recorder alternatives

| Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | [Cindy](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/makecindy-cindy/) | 8.8k | – |
| #2 | [OpenMausBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/milind-soni-openmausbot/) | 9.6k | – |
| #3 | [Orca](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/stablyai-orca/) | 111.7k | – |
| #4 | [OpenBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/copilotkit-openbot/) | 9.1k | – |
| #5 | [Agent Reach](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/panniantong-agent-reach/) | 107.2k | – |
| #7 | [ARTEMIS](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/google-artemis/) | 15.9k | – |

## Skill Recorder FAQ

### Is Skill Recorder free and open source?

Yes. Skill Recorder's source code is on GitHub (microsoft/skill-recorder) under the MIT license, so you can use it for free.

### Is Skill Recorder still maintained?

Yes. The microsoft/skill-recorder repository was last updated on Oct 31, 2026, and the latest release, v0.7.0 on GitHub, came out on Sep 21, 2026.

### How popular is Skill Recorder?

Skill Recorder has 5.6k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 807 new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 257 a week. That made it #6 among AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board.

### What are the best alternatives to Skill Recorder?

Other AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: Cindy (#1), OpenMausBot (#2), Orca (#3), OpenBot (#4), Agent Reach (#5). The alternatives table above has their numbers.

### What data does Skill Recorder send to the cloud?

Skill Recorder sends nothing while you record. When you choose Analyze, it sends the event timeline, extracted screen images, narration text, and bounded terminal-output excerpts to GitHub's cloud for Copilot. The timeline includes titles, URLs, clipboard previews, and terminal commands.

### Does Skill Recorder monitor my existing terminals?

No. Skill Recorder captures only the app-owned terminal opened from the floating recording bar. It uses no global hooks, profile edits, or background command monitors, and it does not observe existing terminals.

### What is the difference between a Skill and an Automation?

A Skill is a SKILL.md procedure an agent runs on demand. An Automation is the same procedure run on a schedule or trigger. Both prefer the agent's native tools, such as the gh CLI, over replaying UI clicks.

### How does sign-in work in Skill Recorder?

Skill Recorder uses a browser-based web OAuth flow through its bundled Copilot CLI 1.0.78, not a device code. On Windows, Microsoft sign-in has two steps: SSO first, then authorizing the GitHub Copilot app. Sign-in times out after five minutes.

### Is narration transcription done locally?

Yes. Skill Recorder transcribes narration on-device with Whisper. It needs a one-time model download of about 252 MB on first use.

## Sources

1. [microsoft/skill-recorder on GitHub](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder)
2. [Skill Recorder README](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/blob/main/README.md)
3. [Release v0.7.0 (Sep 21, 2026)](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/releases/tag/v0.7.0)
4. [Release v0.6.2 (Sep 16, 2026)](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/releases/tag/v0.6.2)
5. [Release v0.6.1 (Sep 16, 2026)](https://github.com/microsoft/skill-recorder/releases/tag/v0.6.1)
6. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)