Retrace

Retrace continuously records the macOS screen in the background, storing each capture locally in a SQLite database. It extracts text from screenshots with on‑device OCR, allowing the entire history to be indexed for instant, natural‑language search without any cloud services or user accounts. The application compresses the recorded data by roughly 4000 ×, keeping months of activity within 10–15 GB of storage.

The tool is aimed at users who need a private, searchable log of everything they have seen on their screen, such as developers, researchers, or anyone who wants to retrieve past visual information without relying on online services. Its timeline view lets users scroll through past recordings and jump directly to a specific moment, while the search interface lets them locate content by text extracted from the images.

Retrace is a locally‑first, open‑source solution released under the MIT license, compatible with macOS 13.0+ on Apple Silicon. It offers a migration path for data from Rewind AI and can be installed via Homebrew or a direct download, emphasizing privacy by keeping all data on the user’s machine.