How do I install the Desktop Screen Capture skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add insightfulanalytics/desktop-screen-capture in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Desktop Screen Capture safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Desktop Screen Capture?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Desktop Screen Capture free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Desktop Screen Capture?

InsightfulAnalytics (@insightfulanalytics) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Desktop Screen Capture by insightfulanalytics

Name: Desktop Screen Capture
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: InsightfulAnalytics

Desktop Screen Capture

Screenshot what is actually on a Windows screen, the whole virtual desktop or one window located by title, and save a PNG the agent can Read. Use whenever you need to SEE a GUI, such as Power BI Desktop, a dialog, a driver or display symptom, or a browser. Use especially when `pbir desktop screenshot` or the connect-pbid Desktop Bridge is unavailable because the "Enable external tool access to Power BI Desktop through secure local APIs" preview is off. Triggers include "what's on screen", "screenshot Power BI", "look at my screen", "can you see the dialog", "screenshot that window".

File contents

Desktop screen capture

Captures the real screen on Windows and writes a PNG. Use the bundled script; do not hand-author Add-Type / Bitmap / CopyFromScreen inline. That was being rewritten from scratch every time, which is the entire reason this skill exists.

Windows only. There is no screen to capture on Linux or in a container, and no Power BI Desktop there either. To see a Power BI report headlessly, render it server-side instead: POST groups/{ws}/reports/{id}/ExportTo, poll, then GET the file, and convert the PDF to PNG with pymupdf. The sequence is in the fabric-cli:fabric-cli skill's references/reports.md. Note that fab api corrupts binary bodies, so fetch the file over raw HTTP with an az bearer token.

Usage

# whole virtual desktop (all monitors)
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/desktop-screen-capture/scripts/capture.ps1" -Out "shot.png"

# one window, matched on a substring of its title (case-insensitive)
... -File "<script>" -Title "Power BI Desktop" -Out "pbi.png"

# one window, matched by process name
... -File "<script>" -Process obsidian -Out "obs.png"

# list candidate windows without capturing
... -File "<script>" -List

Then Read the PNG path it prints.

Write captures to the session scratchpad, not the project. They are throwaway.

Flags

Flag	Meaning
`-Out <path>`	Output PNG. Default: `capture-<HHmmss>.png` in the current directory.
`-Title <substr>`	Capture the first visible window whose title contains this.
`-Process <name>`	Capture the main window of this process (no `.exe`).
`-List`	Print visible windows (PID, process, title, bounds) and exit. Use this first when a match fails.
`-NoActivate`	Skip bringing the window to the front. Default is to activate, because an occluded window captures whatever is drawn on top of it.
`-Scale <n>`	Downscale by factor n (2 = half size). Use on 4K captures to keep the image readable to the model.
`-Delay <ms>`	Wait before capturing. Use after activating something that animates or renders lazily.

Behaviour that matters

DPI: the script calls SetProcessDpiAwareness before measuring. Without it Windows reports the wrong coordinates on a scaled display and you capture a cropped or offset region. This is the most common cause of a screenshot that looks wrong.
Multi-monitor: -Out with no target captures the full virtual screen, including negative coordinates from a monitor placed left of or above the primary. It does not assume the primary display is the origin.
Activation: a window that is not foreground captures whatever is drawn over it. The script activates first and waits for the window to actually come forward rather than sleeping a guessed interval. -NoActivate opts out when you deliberately want the occluded state.
Minimised windows cannot be captured. The script restores them first, or errors clearly.

When NOT to use this

The Power BI report canvas, where the local-API preview is on. reports:pbi-verify-loop is better: it refreshes the canvas from disk and waits for a stable render instead of guessing a sleep. This skill is the fallback for machines where that preview is off, which is a per-machine toggle. Check pbir desktop list before assuming either way.
A published report in the Service. Render server-side with ExportTo as described above. No GUI needed and it works headless.
Web pages you control. Drive a real browser instead.

Verify

scripts/capture.ps1 -SelfTest captures the desktop to a temp file, asserts the PNG is non-trivial (over 10 KB, decodes, dimensions match the requested region), deletes it, and prints PASS or FAIL.

---name: desktop-screen-capturedescription: Screenshot what is actually on a Windows screen, the whole virtual desktop or one window located by title, and save a PNG the agent can Read. Use whenever you need to SEE a GUI, such as Power BI Desktop, a dialog, a driver or display symptom, or a browser. Use especially when `pbir desktop screenshot` or the connect-pbid Desktop Bridge is unavailable because the "Enable external tool access to Power BI Desktop through secure local APIs" preview is off. Triggers include "what's on screen", "screenshot Power BI", "look at my screen", "can you see the dialog", "screenshot that window".---# Desktop screen captureCaptures the real screen on Windows and writes a PNG. Use the bundled script; do **not** hand-author`Add-Type` / `Bitmap` / `CopyFromScreen` inline. That was being rewritten from scratch every time,which is the entire reason this skill exists.**Windows only.** There is no screen to capture on Linux or in a container, and no Power BI Desktopthere either. To see a Power BI report headlessly, render it server-side instead: `POSTgroups/{ws}/reports/{id}/ExportTo`, poll, then `GET` the file, and convert the PDF to PNG with`pymupdf`. The sequence is in the `fabric-cli:fabric-cli` skill's `references/reports.md`. Note that`fab api` corrupts binary bodies, so fetch the file over raw HTTP with an `az` bearer token.## Usage```powershell# whole virtual desktop (all monitors)powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/desktop-screen-capture/scripts/capture.ps1" -Out "shot.png"# one window, matched on a substring of its title (case-insensitive)... -File "<script>" -Title "Power BI Desktop" -Out "pbi.png"# one window, matched by process name... -File "<script>" -Process obsidian -Out "obs.png"# list candidate windows without capturing... -File "<script>" -List```Then `Read` the PNG path it prints.Write captures to the session scratchpad, not the project. They are throwaway.## Flags| Flag | Meaning ||---|---|| `-Out <path>` | Output PNG. Default: `capture-<HHmmss>.png` in the current directory. || `-Title <substr>` | Capture the first visible window whose title contains this. || `-Process <name>` | Capture the main window of this process (no `.exe`). || `-List` | Print visible windows (PID, process, title, bounds) and exit. Use this first when a match fails. || `-NoActivate` | Skip bringing the window to the front. Default is to activate, because an occluded window captures whatever is drawn on top of it. || `-Scale <n>` | Downscale by factor n (2 = half size). Use on 4K captures to keep the image readable to the model. || `-Delay <ms>` | Wait before capturing. Use after activating something that animates or renders lazily. |## Behaviour that matters- **DPI**: the script calls `SetProcessDpiAwareness` before measuring. Without it Windows reports the wrong coordinates on a scaled display and you capture a cropped or offset region. This is the most common cause of a screenshot that looks wrong.- **Multi-monitor**: `-Out` with no target captures the full virtual screen, including negative coordinates from a monitor placed left of or above the primary. It does not assume the primary display is the origin.- **Activation**: a window that is not foreground captures whatever is drawn over it. The script activates first and waits for the window to actually come forward rather than sleeping a guessed interval. `-NoActivate` opts out when you deliberately want the occluded state.- **Minimised windows** cannot be captured. The script restores them first, or errors clearly.## When NOT to use this- **The Power BI report canvas, where the local-API preview is on.** `reports:pbi-verify-loop` is better: it refreshes the canvas from disk and waits for a stable render instead of guessing a sleep. This skill is the fallback for machines where that preview is off, which is a per-machine toggle. Check `pbir desktop list` before assuming either way.- **A published report in the Service.** Render server-side with `ExportTo` as described above. No GUI needed and it works headless.- **Web pages you control.** Drive a real browser instead.## Verify`scripts/capture.ps1 -SelfTest` captures the desktop to a temp file, asserts the PNG is non-trivial(over 10 KB, decodes, dimensions match the requested region), deletes it, and prints PASS or FAIL.

Frequently asked questions