Your First Recording Session
This guide walks you through Pulse's structure and your first recording.
No Account Required
Pulse works entirely on your local machine. There is no sign-up, no login, and no cloud account. Just install and launch.
How Pulse Organizes Your Work
Pulse uses a three-tier hierarchy on Pro and a flat single-folder structure on Free.
Free — One Work folder of your choice. Use this to record a single project or to evaluate Pulse before upgrading.
Pro — Full Vault > Project > Work hierarchy:
Vault — A top-level workspace (typically one Vault for everything Pulse-related)
Project — A body of related work (e.g., "Commission for Client A", "Webcomic Volume 3")
Work — A single recordable session (e.g., "Sketch phase", "Coloring phase")
You can switch between Free and Pro at any time. Existing recordings are preserved.
On Free: Set Your Work Folder
Open Pulse for the first time.
Click Select folder in the main view and choose a folder anywhere on your Mac to use as your Work folder.
Pulse stores all recordings under a hidden
.pulse/subfolder inside that folder. Your other files in the folder are untouched.
You can change the folder later from the same Select folder button in the main view (Free only; recording must be stopped first).
On Pro: Set Up a Vault, Project, and Work
In the sidebar, click + → New Vault and pick any folder on disk (Obsidian-style — any folder works). Pulse stores Vault metadata in a hidden subfolder there.
Select the Vault in the sidebar, click + → New Project, and name it.
Inside the Project, click + → New Work and name it. The Work view opens.
Press Record
Click the large Record button at the top of the Work view.
Pulse begins capturing screenshots and input metrics at random intervals — between 10 and 70 seconds by default, configurable in Settings → Recording (allowed range: 10 to 180 seconds).
The Pulse menubar icon shows a recording indicator, and the tray menu shows "Recording: ".
You can also start and stop recording from the menubar tray: Pulse tray icon → Start Recording / Stop Recording.
Stop Recording
Click Stop in the Work view, or
Click the menubar indicator → Stop Recording.
Pulse hashes each capture with SHA-256, writes a JSON activity log, and submits the hash to OpenTimestamps for Bitcoin blockchain anchoring. The whole pipeline runs in under 3 seconds per capture.
What Pulse Captures
Each capture interval records:
A screenshot of the screen the active window is on (in JPG, PNG, or WebP — configurable in Settings)
Mouse activity (cursor distance in pixels and click count)
Keystroke count only — Pulse never records what keys you press or any text content
The active foreground app name (no window titles, no URLs, no document names)
An interval timestamp that gets anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain
If you prefer to record without screenshots (for example, on a screen with sensitive content), switch the capture mode to Metrics-only in Settings → Recording. You can also toggle this mid-recording — the next capture interval picks up the new mode.
Recording Stays Local
All raw recording data stays on your Mac. Only SHA-256 hash values (64-character hex strings) are sent to OpenTimestamps calendar servers. Your screenshots, app names, activity counts, and metadata never leave your device.
See Verifying Records for how the blockchain anchoring works.
Next Steps
Granting macOS Permissions — required for capture to work
Activating Your License — unlock Pro and Add-ons
Pulse Plans and Pricing — what you get with each tier