# Screenshots > Bridge for viewing the user's own desktop when they're SSH'd in and can't paste images. Three modes — (1) fetch an existing screenshot from the user's screenshots dir, (2) take a fresh full-screen / region / active-window capture via ShareX CLI on a Windows target, (3) fall back to a PowerShell-only capture if ShareX isn't installed. Use when the user says "check my screenshot", "look at my screen", "latest screen", "take a screenshot of my desktop", "capture my screen", "show me my desktop", "screenshot this window", "grab a region of my screen", or similar references to seeing their own machine. Defaults target the user's Win11 box via `ssh steamy-wsl`; override `SCREENS_HOST` (and friends) if pointing at a different host. **For Chrome tab screenshots (any window state, including minimized), use the `chrome` skill instead — this skill is for desktop pixels.** - Skill: `dinglebear-ai/screenshots` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add dinglebear-ai/screenshots` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/dinglebear-ai/screenshots/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: dinglebear-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/dinglebear-ai) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/dinglebear-ai/screenshots --- # screenshots The user develops over SSH; their desktop is on another machine. This skill turns whatever's on that machine into a PNG and pipes it back so it can be `Read` inline. Primary tool is **ShareX** via its CLI; PowerShell fallback covers boxes without ShareX. ## Defaults (override via env vars) ```bash SSH_TARGET="${SCREENS_HOST:-steamy-wsl}" # ssh alias of the desktop machine SCREENS_BASE="${SCREENS_BASE:-/mnt/c/screens}" # root screenshots dir REMOTE_DIR="${SCREENS_REMOTE_DIR:-$SCREENS_BASE/$(date +%Y-%m)}" # current month subdir (ShareX saves to YYYY-MM folders) NATIVE_DIR="${SCREENS_NATIVE_DIR:-C:\\screens}" # same root in native Windows form POWERSHELL="${SCREENS_POWERSHELL:-/mnt/c/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0/powershell.exe}" SHAREX="${SCREENS_SHAREX:-/mnt/c/Program Files/ShareX/ShareX.exe}" # ShareX CLI path ``` Variable names match the prior `ss` skill so existing `~/.claude/settings.json` entries keep working. Paste this block at the top of any snippet. If the user mentions a different machine ("check my mac", "look at the work laptop"), set the matching `SCREENS_*` env vars for the session. ## Universal patterns - **Fetching any file**: `ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "cat \"$path\"" > "$dest"` — never use scp. Filenames have spaces; cat-over-ssh sidesteps the quoting hell. - **Local temp path**: `dest="${CLAUDE_JOB_DIR:-/tmp}/"`. Auto-cleaned. - **PowerShell output from bash**: PS emits `\r\n` line endings. Always `2>/dev/null` and `tr -d '\r\n'` when capturing into a bash var. - **Path translation**: `$REMOTE_DIR/foo.png` (POSIX) ↔ `$NATIVE_DIR\foo.png` (Windows). Scripts that run on Windows want native; bash fetches want POSIX. ## Mode 1 — fetch the latest screenshot Triggers: "check my screen", "look at the screenshot", "latest screen". ShareX saves to `C:\screens\YYYY-MM\` (month subdirs). Search the current month dir first, fall back to the whole tree if empty. ```bash dest="${CLAUDE_JOB_DIR:-/tmp}/screen-$$.png" latest=$(ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "ls -t $REMOTE_DIR/*.png 2>/dev/null | head -1") # fallback: search entire screens tree (catches shots from prior month near month boundary) [ -z "$latest" ] && latest=$(ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "find $SCREENS_BASE -name '*.png' -printf '%T@ %p\n' 2>/dev/null | sort -rn | head -1 | cut -d' ' -f2-") [ -z "$latest" ] && { echo "no screenshots found"; exit 1; } ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "cat \"$latest\"" > "$dest" echo "$dest" ``` List the 10 most recent: `ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "ls -lt $REMOTE_DIR/*.png 2>/dev/null | head -10"`. ## Mode 2 — fresh capture via ShareX (preferred) ShareX has a clean CLI for unattended captures and saves directly to a folder you control. Triggers: "take a screenshot", "capture my screen now", "snapshot the desktop", "grab a region", "screenshot this window". ShareX CLI flags relevant here: - `-FullScreen` — capture all monitors stitched together - `-Screen` — capture the primary monitor only - `-ActiveWindow` — capture only the foreground window (no terminal in the shot — focus the thing first) - `-RectangleRegion` — interactive region picker (needs user input; rarely useful unattended) - `-AutoCapture` — start the auto-capture flow (don't use unattended) - `-CustomUploader` — bypass uploaders, just save locally - `-silent` — no toasts/UI Capture pattern — ShareX writes to its configured Screenshots folder; ask it to print the path: ```bash shot() { local mode="${1:-Screen}" # Screen | ActiveWindow | FullScreen ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "'$SHAREX' -$mode -silent" 2>/dev/null # ShareX writes to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\ShareX\Screenshots\\... by default; # picking the newest PNG anywhere under that tree is the most robust fetch. local latest_win=$(ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "$POWERSHELL -NoProfile -Command \" \\\$d = Join-Path \\\$env:USERPROFILE 'Documents\\ShareX\\Screenshots'; Get-ChildItem -Path \\\$d -Filter *.png -Recurse | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty FullName \"" 2>/dev/null | tr -d '\r\n') [ -z "$latest_win" ] && { echo 'no shot found'; return 1; } local latest_posix=$(echo "$latest_win" | sed 's|\\|/|g; s|^C:|/mnt/c|') local dest="${CLAUDE_JOB_DIR:-/tmp}/$(basename "$latest_posix")" ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "cat \"$latest_posix\"" > "$dest" echo "$dest" } shot Screen # primary monitor shot ActiveWindow # just the foreground window (warn user to focus what they want) shot FullScreen # all monitors ``` **Configuring ShareX for unattended use** (run once on a fresh install): 1. Open ShareX once via noVNC / desktop (`agent-os` skill helps for the sandbox host). 2. Settings → Image → After capture tasks: disable "Copy image to clipboard" (optional but cleaner). 3. Settings → Paths → Custom Screenshots folder path: set to whatever's in `$REMOTE_DIR` if you want everything in one place — otherwise the default `Documents\ShareX\Screenshots\` is fine. 4. Settings → Advanced → DisableHotkeys: true (don't fight the user's keybinds). ShareX is silent on success and noisy on failure; check exit code if a shot doesn't appear. ## Mode 3 — PowerShell fallback (no ShareX needed) For hosts where installing ShareX is more trouble than it's worth. ```bash name=$(ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "$POWERSHELL -NoProfile -Command \" Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms,System.Drawing; \\\$b = New-Object Drawing.Bitmap([Windows.Forms.Screen]::PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Width, [Windows.Forms.Screen]::PrimaryScreen.Bounds.Height); [Drawing.Graphics]::FromImage(\\\$b).CopyFromScreen(0,0,0,0,\\\$b.Size); \\\$n = 'shot-' + (Get-Date -f yyyyMMdd-HHmmss) + '.png'; \\\$b.Save('$NATIVE_DIR' + \\\$n); [Console]::Out.Write(\\\$n) \"" 2>/dev/null | tr -d '\r\n') dest="${CLAUDE_JOB_DIR:-/tmp}/$name" ssh "$SSH_TARGET" "cat \"$REMOTE_DIR/$name\"" > "$dest" echo "$dest" ``` Captures **primary monitor only**, **current contents** — including the terminal if it's on top. Warn the user to focus what they want first. For all-monitors: swap `PrimaryScreen.Bounds` for the union of `[Windows.Forms.Screen]::AllScreens.Bounds`. ## Chrome tabs This skill does **not** screenshot Chrome tabs anymore — that moved to the `chrome` skill which uses CDP and works even when the tab is minimized or behind other windows. Use: ```bash # See the chrome skill for CDP setup and `../chrome/scripts/cdp-shot.ps1`. ``` ## Adapting to another machine **Best path — persist via `~/.claude/settings.json`.** Claude Code injects the `env` block into every session it spawns, so these reach the Bash tool reliably: ```json { "env": { "SCREENS_HOST": "workbox", "SCREENS_REMOTE_DIR": "~/Pictures/Screenshots", "SCREENS_NATIVE_DIR": "", "SCREENS_POWERSHELL": "", "SCREENS_SHAREX": "" } } ``` Restart Claude Code (or start a new session) for the change to take effect. Per-project overrides go in `/.claude/settings.json` (or `.claude/settings.local.json` for personal/uncommitted ones). **One-shot override** — set inline before the snippet: ```bash SCREENS_HOST=workbox SCREENS_REMOTE_DIR=~/Pictures/Screenshots ``` For a **macOS** target, Mode 1 works as-is. For fresh captures use `screencapture` instead of ShareX/PS — a future mode if it comes up. ## Notes - If ssh itself fails, sanity-check with `ssh "$SSH_TARGET" true`. - ShareX has region/window/scrolling/timed/text-OCR modes that aren't wired into the shot() helper. Add a branch in the helper if a session keeps asking for one specific mode. - ShareX vs PS Mode 3 vs NirCmd's `savescreenshot`: ShareX is the most flexible (modes, post-processing, OCR), PS works without any third-party install, NirCmd is the lightest but can only do full-screen. The `nircmd` skill covers NirCmd if needed. - For multi-monitor with PS Mode 3: `[Windows.Forms.Screen]::AllScreens | ForEach-Object { ... }` — see PS docs.