VMSS is a native Linux screen recorder for creating demos, tutorials, product walkthroughs, bug reports, and video lessons. Record your screen with an optional webcam picture-in-picture, microphone, system audio, and a floating teleprompter, then save the result as an MP4 file.
It is built for Linux users who want a focused desktop recording workflow without configuring a full live-streaming studio.
Free and open source. VMSS runs locally on your computer: no account, subscription, or cloud upload is required.
- Record a full screen on X11/Xorg.
- Record a screen or window on Wayland through the desktop’s secure screen sharing picker.
- Capture microphone and system audio together.
- Add a V4L2 webcam as a picture-in-picture overlay.
- Use a draggable native teleprompter with formatted text, auto-scroll, hover pause, speed control, minimize/maximize, and standalone mode.
- View a low-latency live preview while preparing a recording.
- Browse, play, open, and delete saved recordings.
- Use custom in-app playback controls and open videos in an external fullscreen player.
- Diagnose capture problems with built-in logs and audio/video timing details.
- Save per-device audio-sync calibration settings.
| Session | Capture method | Status |
|---|---|---|
| X11 / Xorg | FFmpeg x11grab |
Supported |
| Wayland | XDG Desktop Portal + PipeWire + GStreamer | Supported; available screen/window choices depend on the desktop portal backend |
On Wayland, VMSS asks the desktop for permission before recording. You select the monitor or window in the system picker; VMSS never attempts to capture arbitrary desktop pixels without that permission.
Global X11 hotkeys are not guaranteed on Wayland. The normal in-app controls and floating recording indicator remain available.
- Ubuntu or another Debian-based Linux distribution with
apt - Python 3 and PyGObject
- GTK 3 and WebKitGTK
- FFmpeg
- PulseAudio or PipeWire’s PulseAudio compatibility service
- For Wayland: XDG Desktop Portal, a desktop-specific portal backend, PipeWire,
GStreamer, and the
pipewiresrcGStreamer plugin - Optional webcam support: a V4L2-compatible
/dev/video*device
The included installer installs the required Ubuntu/Debian packages.
Clone the repository and run the installer:
git clone https://github.com/web-master00/VMSS.git
cd VMSS
bash install.shThe script installs VMSS system-wide and creates an app-menu entry. Launch it from the application menu or run:
screen-recorderTo run directly from a cloned checkout during development:
python3 -m screen_recorder- Select the screen, camera, microphone, and system-audio sources you need.
- Optionally open the Teleprompter tab and paste a formatted script.
- Choose an output folder.
- Click Start recording.
- On Wayland, select the screen or window in the system sharing dialog.
- Stop recording from the app or the floating recording indicator.
- Open the Library to play, reveal, or delete the saved MP4.
Recordings are saved by default to:
~/Videos/Screen Recorder
Check your current session:
echo "$XDG_SESSION_TYPE"For Wayland, verify that the portal, PipeWire, and GStreamer PipeWire source are available:
systemctl --user status xdg-desktop-portal --no-pager
systemctl --user status pipewire --no-pager
gst-inspect-1.0 pipewiresrcIf your desktop only offers monitor selection, that is a limitation of its portal backend rather than VMSS. Keep the portal backend supplied by your desktop environment installed—for example, GNOME’s or KDE’s portal backend.
VMSS logs recording startup, FFmpeg inputs, device details, and timing information here:
less ~/.local/share/vmss/vmss.logFollow logs while reproducing an issue:
tail -f ~/.local/share/vmss/vmss.logUseful additional commands are documented in COMMANDS.md.
From the cloned project directory:
bash uninstall.shBug reports and pull requests are welcome. When reporting a capture issue, please include:
- Linux distribution and version
- Desktop environment and
XDG_SESSION_TYPE - Whether the issue happens on X11 or Wayland
- Camera/audio devices involved
- Relevant lines from
~/.local/share/vmss/vmss.log
VMSS is released under the MIT License. You may use, copy, modify, and distribute it, including for commercial purposes, as long as the license and copyright notice are included.
VMSS is actively evolving. The X11 capture path is established; Wayland capture uses the standard Portal and PipeWire architecture, but should be tested on the specific GNOME, KDE, or other Wayland desktop environment you use.