Show HN: Xray – A minimal screenshot tool for developers (Rust/Tauri)
I built Xray because I was frustrated with existing screenshot tools that were either too bloated, required accounts, or didn't play well with multiple monitors and high-DPI scaling.
Xray is a lightweight, open-source screenshot utility built with Rust and Tauri. The goal was to create a tool that stays out of the way but provides precise control when needed.
Key Technical Specs: Core: Built with Rust to ensure memory safety and low overhead.
Frontend: Minimalist UI using Tauri (React/TS), keeping the binary size significantly smaller than Electron-based alternatives.
Performance: Optimized for quick startup and low latency during capture.
Why I built it: Most tools focus on social sharing or cloud storage. I wanted something that focused on the local workflow: capture, annotate (arrows, text, blur), and copy-to-clipboard or save. I also wanted to ensure it handles complex display setups without the common "offset" bugs found in many cross-platform screenshot libraries.
What’s different: Native Feel: It uses system-native APIs via Tauri’s backend.
Privacy: No telemetry, no cloud sync, no accounts. Everything stays on your machine.
Clean Codebase: The project is structured to be easily extendable for those who want to add custom post-processing scripts.
The project is still in its early stages. I'm looking for feedback on:
Performance on various Linux window managers (Wayland vs X11).
UX/UI improvements for the annotation toolset.
Any features that are missing for a developer-centric workflow.
Github: https://github.com/wlswo/xray
I'll be around to answer any questions about the implementation or the tech stack. Does this work on Wayland or just X11? That's where every screenshot tool I've tried falls apart on Linux. The whole xdg-desktop-portal + PipeWire dance for getting capture permissions is a different world from X11 and I'm curious if Tauri abstracts any of that or if you had to roll your own. The multi-monitor DPI handling is what caught my eye honestly. I run a 4K + 1080p setup and Flameshot constantly captures the wrong region or shifts everything by a few pixels on the scaled display. If this actually gets that right it already solves my biggest annoyance. One thing I'd love to see: global hotkey → region select → clipboard. That's 95% of my screenshot workflow and the reason I haven't been able to ditch Flameshot despite how janky it is.