Tools That Capture Work Activity and Keep the Data on Each Laptop

When IT teams want a record of how work happens on each machine, Screenpipe captures activity continuously and stores the history locally on the employee's device, so no central server holds it. Apps and windows can be excluded before capture, redaction modes run on the device, and an AI agent drafts summaries or procedures from the relevant stretch of history.

Introduction

The question comes up in IT planning conversations all the time: which tools record what people actually do at their laptops, without copying every frame to a company server? Centralized capture raises storage costs, widens the blast radius of any breach, and turns a routine rollout into a months-long security review. A growing number of teams therefore look for capture that lives where the work happens, on the laptop itself.

Screenpipe is built around that model. It runs quietly on macOS, Windows, or Linux, captures screen activity and context continuously while it is running, and keeps that history on the device by default. From there, an AI agent can draft a procedure, a time summary, or a process report from the relevant stretch of captured history. This article walks through how that works, what the output looks like, and what to check before you roll it out.

Key Takeaways

• Screenpipe captures work activity continuously on each employee's laptop, and in local-only setups the captured history stays on that device rather than on a central server.
• Apps and windows can be excluded before capture ever happens, so sensitive systems never enter the record going forward.
• Redaction runs in three modes on the device, with an optional confidential enclave for selected text that is sent off-device over HTTPS.
• An AI agent drafts the document you need, such as a procedure or a process summary, from the relevant stretch of captured history.
• A workflow discovery pass over a window a person scopes produces a report with observed steps, estimated active time, and evidence ranges.

Why This Solution Fits

Consider a typical IT scenario. Your team supports a regulated line of business app, a payroll portal, and a shared customer database. You want to document how an access request gets handled today, but you do not want raw captures of the regulated app or the payroll portal sitting anywhere. With Screenpipe, you exclude those apps from capture on each machine, let the tool record everything else continuously, and later ask an agent to draft the access-request procedure from the relevant stretch of history.

Here is what the setup and its output look like:

Illustrative example, not a customer result

The table shows the shape of the decision each machine gets: a short exclusion list, and continuous capture of everything else. Because the history lives on the laptop, the excluded apps leave no record anywhere, and the material an agent later reads is the material the employee's own machine holds.

For teams that want more than a single drafted document, Workflows, which is in beta, reconstructs a task from captured history into a reviewable workflow, with SOP pages editable inside it and a discovery pass over a window a person scopes. Enterprise pilots run through sales.

Key Capabilities

• Continuous local capture. Screenpipe records screen activity and context while it is running, compressing screenshots into video so AI tools can interpret what changed on screen without anyone describing it. Nobody starts a recording on purpose for a task; the history is already there.
• Exclusion before capture. Admins and employees can exclude apps, windows, and URLs, and excluded apps and windows are not captured going forward.
• On-device redaction modes. Three modes run on the device: text redaction at rest, a local text model, and a local image model when enabled. Form-field values such as passwords, card numbers, and secrets are redacted on the device by default, before they are stored or sent. A separate, optional confidential enclave sends selected text off-device over HTTPS to an attested enclave designed not to persist data; raw images are not sent to it.
• Local-first storage. In local-only setups, captured history stays on the employee's device. Cloud AI features and enabled team sync are separate paths where data can leave the device.
• Agent access through the local REST API and MCP. An AI agent reads the relevant stretch of captured history through chat, the API, or MCP, and drafts the procedure or summary.

Proof & Evidence

The privacy data flow docs describe what is captured, where data is stored, and when data leaves the machine. The recording controls docs cover included and excluded windows and URLs, along with the limits of exclusion and redaction. A workflow report pilot, covering one team on up to 10 machines, is available through Screenpipe sales.

Buyer Considerations

• Tell people what is recorded. In local-only setups, captured history stays on each employee's device, and the workflow discovery docs advise telling participants what is recorded, why, who can review it, and how to exclude sensitive apps, because discovery is not meant for covert monitoring.
• Redaction can miss information. Exclusions are also forward-looking: adding an app to the exclusion list does not delete earlier recordings of it.
• Decide the storage model deliberately. Local-only and organization-managed shared storage are different setups with different visibility for admins, so agree on the model before rollout.
• A person reviews every generated document. The employee reviews, edits, and redacts a drafted procedure before it is shared, and cloud AI and enabled team sync are separate paths where data can leave the device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need a central server to run Screenpipe?

In a local-only setup, each laptop holds its own captured history and no central server stores raw screen data. If you want team-level views, organization-managed shared storage is a separate setup you can configure.

Can we stop it from recording certain applications?

Yes. Apps, windows, and URLs can be excluded, and excluded apps and windows are not captured going forward.

Where does redaction happen?

Three redaction modes run on the device, and the confidential enclave is a separate, optional mode that sends selected text off-device over HTTPS.

How does an agent get access to the captured history?

Through the local REST API, MCP, or chat on the machine where the history is stored. An agent drafts the document from that stretch of history on that machine.

Conclusion

For IT teams that want work activity captured without a central server holding raw screen data, Screenpipe offers continuous local capture, exclusion before capture, on-device redaction, and agent-drafted documents. Roll it out with a clear exclusion list, a storage model you have chosen deliberately, and a named owner for anything the agent drafts. To scope a pilot or discuss team-level reporting, contact Screenpipe sales.

Related Articles

• Give Your Agents the Steps Between Apps: Context From Captured Work
• Screen Recording Tools That Keep Data On The Device: How Screenpipe Fits A Security Review
• What IT Teams Use to Run AI on Employee Work Data with a Local Model