Use Luxel from first launch to final export.

Install Luxel

1. Install and launch Luxel.
2. Keep the app in a stable location before granting permissions.
3. Open Luxel from Finder or Launchpad.
4. Look for the Luxel status item in the macOS menu bar.

Current builds require macOS 26.0 or later. Luxel runs from the menu bar, so the menu bar item is the main place to start captures and open settings.

First capture

1. Open Luxel from the menu bar.
2. Choose a target from Target, or use Area to draw a custom region.
3. Enable System Audio, Microphone, or Camera only if the recording needs them.
4. Click Record Source, Record Area, or Record Audio.
5. Stop recording from the menu bar status controls, active recording controls, or shortcut.

Set up Replay Buffer

1. Open Settings > Replay Buffer.
2. Enable Replay Buffer and approve the first-use consent prompt.
3. Choose a length: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, or 5 minutes.
4. Choose 24 FPS or 30 FPS.
5. Turn on Include System Audio only when clips need Mac audio.
6. Choose whether clips open in the editor or use the quick export destination.

Use it from the menu

1. Start Replay Buffer from the menu bar control.
2. Wait until the status moves from starting to buffering.
3. Click Export to save the selected recent duration.
4. Use Start and Stop to arm or disarm the buffer.
5. Use the Clip Replay Buffer shortcut or luxel clip for the same action.

Draw a selection

Click Area to open the full-screen selection overlay. Drag to draw a region, resize it with handles, or use Full Display to select the display. The minimum selection is 32 by 32 pixels.

Size presets include 1280 by 720, 1920 by 1080, and 800 by 600. Aspect ratio choices include Free, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 9:16, and 21:9.

Useful controls

• Choose countdown, stop-after, audio, camera, ratio, and size controls.
• Toggle microphone and camera when permissions allow it.
• Use the loupe for precise edges.
• Dim other displays or restore the last selection from Presets settings.
• Open Focus settings from the notification reminder if you want fewer interruptions.

In the editor

1. Open a recording with audio in the editor.
2. Use the transcript preview to generate or review transcript text.
3. Search transcript text or select transcript spans to jump playback.
4. Leave Segment Transcript Turns enabled for automatic turn grouping.
5. Turn it off in Settings > Output for faster raw transcripts on long recordings.

From the command line

luxel transcribe demo.m4a > demo.txt
luxel transcribe demo.mp4 --output demo.json --json --overwrite
luxel transcribe demo.mp4 --locale en_US --semantic-turns

Plain text is printed to stdout by default. Use --json for full turn-segmented transcript data.

Install or repair

Open Settings > Command Line to install the bundled command. Luxel creates a symbolic link named luxel, defaulting to ~/.local/bin/luxel, and links the bundled manual page under share/man/man1/luxel.1 relative to the install root.

Use Repair after replacing or moving the app so the installed command points at the current signed Luxel app bundle. Use Copy PATH Command for zsh, bash, fish, or POSIX sh profile setup.

Common examples

luxel --version
luxel record --display main --fps display --countdown 3
luxel record --active-window --fps 120
luxel record --active-window --preset "Default" --save-to ~/Movies/Luxel
luxel toggle --last-area
luxel stop
luxel clip --seconds 30 --wait
luxel latest --reveal
luxel preferences
luxel record --last-area --print-url
luxel editor ~/Movies/demo.mp4
luxel convert demo.mp4 demo.webm
luxel convert demo.mp4 demo-av1.mp4 --format av1
luxel convert demo.mp4 demo.gif --start 2 --duration 5 --fps 15 --width 800 --height 450
luxel convert demo.mp4 demo.mov --format prores422 --quality high
luxel export request.json output.webm --overwrite --json
luxel transcribe demo.m4a > demo.txt
luxel transcribe demo.mp4 --output demo.json --json --overwrite

URL scheme

Luxel registers the luxel:// URL scheme. Starting captures and clipping the replay buffer can require confirmation unless a caller has been granted access; commands like stop, preferences, and latest are allowed by default.

luxel://record?target=display&display=main&fps=display&countdown=3
luxel://record?target=activeWindow&preset=Default
luxel://toggle
luxel://stop
luxel://clip?seconds=30
luxel://preferences
luxel://latest?reveal=true

x-callback URLs

Automation commands accept x-success and x-error callback URLs. Successful file-producing commands append filePath, recording starts append recordingID, and failures append errorMessage.

Use luxel record --last-area --print-url to inspect the URL the CLI would open.

Quick presets

Export presets can be added, duplicated, deleted, renamed, and assigned as the Quick Recording preset. Presets support format, size rule, frame rate, destination, and post-action. Preset destinations are Recordings Folder or Clipboard. Quick presets expose GIF, MP4, HEVC MP4, ProRes 422 MOV, ProRes 4444 MOV, and APNG; WebM and AV1 remain available from editor and CLI export.

Replay Buffer

Replay Buffer settings control the enable toggle, clip length, 24 or 30 FPS, system audio inclusion, Resume on Launch, and whether clips open in the editor or quick export destination.

Command Line

Command Line settings install, repair, or move the bundled luxel command and copy a PATH setup command for the selected shell.

System behavior

System settings cover the menu bar timer, notification reminders, launch at login, updates, and acknowledgements.

Supported locales

• English
• German
• Spanish
• French
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Vietnamese
• Simplified Chinese
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Portuguese (Portugal)

Localized system prompts

Luxel includes localized descriptions for camera, microphone, screen capture, and speech recognition access. These prompts explain that Luxel uses each permission only when the matching feature is enabled or a recording starts.

The app follows the current macOS language settings automatically.