VideoDB Screen Recording Skill

Screen recording capabilities powered by VideoDB. Use this when the user asks for screen recordings, wants to search past activity, or needs transcripts.

Run commands from {baseDir} using npx tsx videodb.ts.

Prerequisites

1. Check API Key

Before using any commands, verify the API key is configured:

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If not set or empty:

• - Ask the user for their VideoDB API key
• If they provide it, set it for them:

  openclaw config set skills.entries.videodb-monitoring.env.VIDEODB_API_KEY 'sk-xxx'
  

• - If they don't have one, direct them to: https://console.videodb.io

2. Check Monitor is Running

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If not true, start the monitor:

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Verify it started:
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If you get a session ID (e.g., cap-xxxxxxxx-...), the monitor is ready.

Commands

Get Current Timestamp

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Returns current Unix timestamp (seconds since epoch).

Generate Stream URL

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Creates a playable recording URL for the time range.
If --title or --description is provided, the generated player share page uses that metadata.

Start Indexing

Start indexing only when the user asks for search, summaries, or transcripts:

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This starts:

• - transcript capture for system audio
• audio indexing
• visual indexing

You can also control them individually:

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Stop Indexing

Stop indexing as soon as it is no longer needed to save cost:

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Individual stop commands:

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Search Recordings

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Searches indexed screen activity for matching events. If no visual index exists yet, start indexing first.

Activity Summary

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Audio Transcripts

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Recording Workflow

When user requests screen recording of a task:

1. 1. Capture start time:

   cd {baseDir} && npx tsx videodb.ts now
   

Store this as start_time.

1. 2. Do the work (browser actions, file editing, etc.)

1. 3. Capture end time:

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1. 4. Generate stream URL:

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Optional player metadata:
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1. 5. Include URL in response:

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If the command prints a player page URL, prefer sharing that URL with the user.

Indexing is not started automatically by the monitor. If the user also wants search, summaries, or transcripts, start indexing explicitly before those commands and stop it afterwards.

Example

User: "Open example.com and send me the recording"

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Response:

Done! I opened example.com.

Screen recording: https://rt.stream.videodb.io/abc123

When to Use

User Request	Command
"Record my screen while you do X"	Use workflow above
"What did I do in the last hour?"

start-indexing, then summary --hours 1, then stop-indexing | | "Find when I opened the spreadsheet" | start-indexing, then search "opened spreadsheet" | | "What was said in that meeting?" | start-indexing, then transcript | | "Get the recording from 5 mins ago" | stream with timestamps | | "Record this and set the title/description" | stream with --title and --description |

Troubleshooting

If commands fail with "No capture session":

1. 1. Check if monitor is running: INLINECODE18
2. If not, start it (see Prerequisites above)
3. If it shows running but still fails, restart the monitor

If summary/search/transcript say no index or no transcript:

1. 1. Start indexing with INLINECODE19
2. Wait briefly for data to accumulate
3. Retry the command
4. Stop indexing with cd {baseDir} && npx tsx videodb.ts stop-indexing when done