CleanShot API
CleanShot's only API is a documented macOS URL scheme, cleanshot://, driving captures, recordings, and OCR in the locally installed app. CleanShot Cloud has no REST or GraphQL API, no keys or OAuth, no webhooks, and no SDKs, so nothing works server-side or headless.
Frequently asked questions
CleanShot scores C on Supergood's API Report Card. CleanShot's only API is a documented macOS URL scheme, cleanshot://, driving captures, recordings, and OCR in the locally installed app. CleanShot Cloud has no REST or GraphQL API, no keys or OAuth, no webhooks, and no SDKs, so nothing works server-side or headless.
CleanShot has an official API, but teams routinely hit its limits: gated access, partial coverage, or paid tiers. Most end up supplementing it with exports or an unofficial API layer like Supergood. Site terms may apply to any integration approach, and how they apply is a determination each team makes for itself.
CleanShot X is a macOS-only screenshot and screen-recording application marketed at cleanshot.com (with the related cloud surface cleanshot.cloud / cleanshot.com/cloud).
Vertical: misc / end-user productivity. CleanShot is horizontal Mac-user productivity software; it does not map to any of Supergood's named verticals (Healthcare/EHR, Property Management, Fleet, Legal Practice Management, etc.). Bug reports & support tickets: capture an area or window, annotate with arrows/blur, drag the result into Linear/Jira/Zendesk.
Mid-tier within the Mac screenshot/screen-recording category. CleanShot X is consistently cited as a top-3 paid Mac screenshot tool alongside Snagit (TechSmith) and Shottr, and frequently recommended over Loom/Droplr for short async clips.
Captured media: screenshots, scrolling captures, screen recordings (MP4/GIF), and webcam-overlay video uploaded to CleanShot Cloud. Annotation overlays: arrows, text, blur, redaction, numbered steps drawn on top of captures.
CleanShot X (the modern product) launched 2019 and has shipped continuously since (see cleanshot.com/changelog).
No public REST or GraphQL API for CleanShot Cloud, automation is limited to the local-only `cleanshot://` URL scheme. No webhooks, cannot subscribe to upload-complete, link-viewed, or team-event notifications. Full sourced list under Sources below.
Common alternatives include Snagit (TechSmith), Loom (Atlassian), Shottr, Xnapper, Screen Studio, Jumpshare. Graded alternatives appear under "More from the report card" below.
Supergood's grades measure one thing: can a customer's engineering team get their own data out programmatically? Supergood checks six things (whether a real API exists, how access is gated, data coverage, auth quality, docs and developer experience, and stability) and rolls them into a letter grade. Supergood re-verifies grades, and they only move on evidence.
CleanShot has partial MCP support. No official MCP server from the CleanShot team, but an unofficial community server (jdorfman/cleanshot-mcp) controls CleanShot X on macOS with 17 tools for screenshots, recording, and annotation. It is a small project and vendor documentation does not mention MCP.
Partially. MCP support for CleanShot exists but is incomplete, so what MCP clients like Claude, Cursor, and Codex can reach depends on what the available server covers.