Cairn Desktop

Cairn Desktop records a workflow in any Mac or Windows app and turns it into a step-by-step guide in your Cairn portal. Each click becomes a step with a screenshot; typing becomes a step that names the field, never what you typed.

It runs on macOS 26 or later and Windows 11. It lives in the menu bar (Mac) or the notification area (Windows).

Open Cairn Desktop and choose Sign in to Cairn.
Your browser opens your portal with a code. Check that the code matches the one in the app, then approve this computer.
If you belong to more than one workspace, pick the one your guides should go to. You can change it later in Settings › Account.

Your organisation may set the portal address for you; the app then shows it as set by IT.

Permissions (Mac)

macOS asks you to allow two things before Cairn can record:

Accessibility, so Cairn can tell which button or field you clicked.
Screen Recording, so each step can have a screenshot.

Cairn opens the right pane of System Settings for each. After you allow Screen Recording, macOS needs Cairn to restart; the app offers Quit & reopen. Windows needs no extra permissions.

Record a guide

Start a recording from the Start button, the menu bar or notification-area menu, or the shortcut (⌥⇧R on a Mac, Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows). A short countdown gives you time to switch to the app; you can turn it off in Settings › Recording.

While you record:

Steps appear in the window within a second: clicks, double-clicks, typing (one step per field, labelled with the field's name), scrolling and switches between apps. A blue ring marks each click on screen.
Pause (⌥⇧P or Ctrl+Shift+P) stops all capture until you resume.
Delete last takes back the newest step; Undo delete brings it back.
Add note inserts a step with your own words at that point.
Narrate records your voice; the portal uses it to write the steps. Your computer asks for the microphone the first time.
Collapse folds the window into a small pill you can drag anywhere.
Click a step's thumbnail to see its screenshot larger.

Choose Stop & save guide when you're done. Cairn uploads what's left (most steps are already uploaded while you record) and your portal builds the draft. Open in Cairn opens it in your browser. If you closed the window, a notification tells you when the guide is ready.

What Cairn never records

What you type. A typing step says which field, never the value.
Blocked apps. Your workspace can block apps (password managers, banking apps); you can add your own in Settings › Privacy. While one is in front, Cairn captures nothing and says so.
Cairn itself. Clicks on Cairn's windows are never steps, and its windows never appear in screenshots.
Anything while paused.

Screenshots are cropped to the window you're working in, plus a small margin you can change in Settings › Recording. Sensitive details your workspace blurs are blurred when the guide is built.

If something goes wrong

No connection, or the upload failed. The recording is saved on this computer and Cairn keeps trying. Choose Retry to try now. Nothing is deleted unless you choose Discard, which always asks first.
Cairn quit or crashed while recording. The next time it opens, it offers the unfinished recording: Upload or Discard. At most the last step is lost.
An admin signed you out. Your saved recordings stay on this computer and upload when you sign back in to that workspace.
A shortcut doesn't work. Another app may be using it. Choose a different one in Settings › Recording.

Settings