The Tool Desk
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What Xcap captures
Xcap is a cross-platform screen-capture library written in Rust. It exposes separate APIs for monitors and windows, plus bounded rectangle capture within a monitor. Each capture returns an image buffer that can be saved through the image API’s save method.
| Capture goal | API entry point | How you choose the target | Typical failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire monitor | Monitor::capture_image() |
Enumerate monitors or select the primary monitor | No monitor or platform capture error |
| Rectangle | Monitor::capture_region(x, y, width, height) |
Coordinates relative to the selected monitor | InvalidCaptureRegion when the rectangle exceeds bounds |
| Window | Window::capture_image() |
Window title, application name, focus, or ID | Window is minimized or unavailable |
Window recording is a separate capability and is still marked as work to be developed; this guide covers still screenshots.
Install Xcap 0.9.8
Create a binary crate and add the currently documented release:
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[dependencies]
xcap = "0.9.8"Xcap uses the image crate for the returned image type. The normal image-format encoders are available through Xcap’s default setup; if your project disables defaults, enable the documented image feature as appropriate for your dependency configuration.
Linux native packages
On Debian or Ubuntu, install the development libraries before compiling:
apt-get install pkg-config libclang-dev libxcb1-dev libxrandr-dev
libdbus-1-dev libpipewire-0.3-dev libwayland-dev libegl-devAlpine and Arch require equivalent packages for pkg-config, Clang, XCB/XRandR, D-Bus, PipeWire, Wayland, and EGL. These are compile-time and native-integration prerequisites, not special capture hardware.
Capture every monitor as PNG
Monitor::all() returns the monitors visible to the platform backend. Iterate through them, capture each one, and save a numbered file:
use std::error::Error;
use xcap::Monitor;
fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
let monitors = Monitor::all()?;
for (index, monitor) in monitors.into_iter().enumerate() {
let image = monitor.capture_image()?;
image.save(format!("monitor-{index}.png"))?;
}
Ok(())
}Run it with cargo run --release. The files are written to the process’s current working directory. The returned image is an RGBA image, and the extension passed to save selects the encoder.
Capture only the primary monitor
Monitor ordering is not a portable way to identify the main display. Use the monitor metadata instead:
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use std::error::Error;
use xcap::Monitor;
fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
let monitor = Monitor::all()?
.into_iter()
.find(|m| m.is_primary().unwrap_or(false))
.ok_or("no primary monitor found")?;
let image = monitor.capture_image()?;
image.save("primary.png")?;
Ok(())
}If no monitor reports itself as primary, present a clear error or offer a monitor picker based on the metadata exposed by Xcap.
Capture a region of a monitor
Region coordinates are relative to the selected monitor, not to a virtual desktop that spans all displays. This example captures the top-left 400 by 300 pixels of the primary monitor:
use std::error::Error;
use xcap::Monitor;
fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
let monitor = Monitor::all()?
.into_iter()
.find(|m| m.is_primary().unwrap_or(false))
.ok_or("no primary monitor found")?;
let image = monitor.capture_region(0, 0, 400, 300)?;
image.save("region.png")?;
Ok(())
}Xcap validates the rectangle. If x + width or y + height goes beyond the monitor dimensions, the call returns an InvalidCaptureRegion error. Validate user-supplied values before calling it:
let x = 100;
let y = 80;
let width = 800;
let height = 600;
if x < 0 || y < 0 || width == 0 || height == 0
|| x as u32 + width > monitor.width()?
|| y as u32 + height > monitor.height()? {
return Err("capture rectangle is outside monitor bounds".into());
}
let image = monitor.capture_region(x, y, width, height)?;Use the exact integer types required by the version of the API in your build; the important rule is that the rectangle must be non-negative, non-zero, and wholly inside the selected monitor.
Capture a window
Enumerate windows, filter by metadata, skip minimized entries, and save the selected window:
use std::error::Error;
use xcap::Window;
fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
let window = Window::all()?
.into_iter()
.find(|w| {
!w.is_minimized().unwrap_or(true)
&& w.title().map(|t| t.contains("Editor")).unwrap_or(false)
})
.ok_or("window not found")?;
let image = window.capture_image()?;
image.save("editor.png")?;
Ok(())
}The window API exposes identifiers and state useful for a picker: id, pid, app_name, title, current_monitor, coordinates, z-order, dimensions, is_minimized, is_maximized, is_focused, and capture_image.
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Focused-window utility
For a utility that follows the active window, repeatedly enumerate Window::all(), retain the entry whose is_focused() is true, and capture it. Treat a missing focused window as a normal retry condition rather than unwrapping an optional value.
Choose the right capture mode
Full monitor
Use this for desktop documentation, multi-application workflows, or a display-level snapshot. It is the least sensitive to window metadata but includes everything visible on that display.
Region
Use a region for a toolbar, chart, or fixed coordinate area. It avoids unrelated desktop content, but your UI must account for monitor size, scaling, and coordinate validation.
Window
Use a window when the application can move or resize and you do not want the desktop around it. Matching by title can break when titles change; a picker based on application name, process ID, or window ID is more robust. Minimized windows should be skipped in the documented workflow.
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Output formats and file handling
image.save("shot.png") infers PNG from the extension. You can choose another supported extension such as JPEG or WebP when the corresponding encoder is available in your image setup. PNG preserves lossless pixels and transparency; JPEG is smaller for photographic content but loses detail and does not preserve alpha. Check and handle the result from both capture and save so permission or filesystem errors are not hidden.
Platform support and permissions
- Windows: screen and window capture are marked as supported.
- macOS: screen and window capture are marked as supported. If capture fails, review the operating system’s Screen Recording privacy setting for the terminal or application running your binary. The exact prompt and menu sequence can vary by macOS release.
- Linux X11: screen and window capture are marked as supported. Install the native development packages before building.
- Linux Wayland: support exists but is not fully supported in some special scenarios. Test with the compositor and desktop environment used by your application; a result that works under X11 is not proof that every Wayland session will work.
Common errors and fixes
“Could not find” a monitor or window
Check that the session exposes a monitor, that the window still exists, and that your filter is not too strict. Log titles and application names before choosing one. For focused capture, retry when no focused entry is returned.
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InvalidCaptureRegion
The rectangle extends outside the selected monitor. Read the monitor dimensions, reject negative or zero sizes, and verify both right and bottom edges before calling capture_region.
Window capture returns an error for a minimized window
Skip entries where is_minimized() is true or report that the user must restore the window. Do not assume a minimized surface contains current pixels.
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Build fails on Linux
Install the Debian/Ubuntu packages shown above (or their Alpine/Arch equivalents), then run cargo clean and rebuild. Confirm that pkg-config and the native headers are visible to the same environment running Cargo.
Capture is blank or denied on macOS
Open the relevant Screen Recording privacy controls, grant access to the application that actually performs the capture, restart it if the operating system requests a restart, and try again.
Wayland behaves differently from X11
Reproduce the issue on the target compositor, test a full-monitor capture before a window or region capture, and provide a fallback or an explicit unsupported-session message when your deployment requires consistent behavior.
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No authoritative benchmark establishes a universal capture time for Xcap. Capture cost depends on display resolution, scaling, backend, compositor, and filesystem speed. For a responsive application:
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- Run capture and disk I/O off the UI thread.
- Reuse a selected monitor or window instead of enumerating repeatedly when your workflow permits it.
- Throttle repeated screenshots and avoid writing every frame when you need only occasional snapshots.
- Write to a temporary file and rename it after a successful save if another process reads the output.
- Do not log authorization headers, window content, or sensitive screenshots in diagnostic output.
- Re-enumerate after display hot-plugging, window closure, sleep, or resolution changes; stale metadata can become invalid.
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FAQ
Is Xcap a command-line screenshot tool?
No. It is a Rust Cargo library, so you call its APIs from your program and decide how to expose commands, hotkeys, or a service around them.
Can Xcap capture a monitor and a window in the same program?
Yes. Enumerate monitors and windows independently, then call the corresponding capture method for each target.
Does Xcap automatically capture videos?
This guide concerns still images. The project’s implementation table marks window recording as work to be developed, so do not treat screenshot support as a finished recording pipeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I capture a monitor that is not the primary display?
Yes. Use `Monitor::all()`, inspect each monitor’s metadata, and call `capture_image()` on the one you select.
Where are the generated files saved?
Unless you provide an absolute path, `image.save(…)` writes relative to the process’s current working directory.
What license does xcap use?
The currently documented xcap 0.9.8 package is licensed under Apache-2.0.
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