Momento

The lite way to record on Linux.

Instant replay and screenshots. Made for games, handy for anything. One line to install.

_{Game footage: SuperTuxKart by kimden STK, CC BY 3.0, edited.}

Momento quietly keeps the last 15 minutes of your game (up to 60). Something great happens? Press Super + Shift + G (or PS / Xbox + D-pad Down), pick how far back, and the clip is in ~/Videos/Momento seconds later.

Inspired by the PS5's Create button: the same "save what just happened" instant replay, now on your Linux PC or handheld.

Why Momento

Any game	Steam, non-Steam, emulators, browser games, GeForce NOW and other cloud gaming.
Save it after it happened	Momento keeps the last 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Save 15s, 30s, 1m, 3m, 5m, 15m, 30m or 60m of it.
Saves in the background	The bar closes at once. A sound and a notification tell you when the MP4 is ready. Plays and uploads anywhere.
Matches your screen	Records at 120 fps on a 120 Hz screen and 60 fps on a 60 Hz one, without you setting anything.
Just the game	Record one window, so chats and pop-ups stay out of your clips. Or the full screen.
Screenshots	One button. The bar gets out of the way first.
Gallery	Watch, browse and delete your clips and screenshots right in the bar.
Made for controllers	Open, pick and save without touching a mouse. Great on handhelds.
Lite	About 150 MB of memory, even with 60 minutes of replay. Quick to set up.
Local only	No account. Nothing is uploaded.

Install

Copy this into a terminal and press Enter. It shows you what it will install and asks first.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mehulchachada/momento/main/install.sh | bash

It installs the latest Momento for your user and starts it. That's it.

Your system	What to do
Bazzite, Aurora, Bluefin	The one-liner. Nothing extra needed.
Fedora	The one-liner, or the .rpm from the Releases page.
Arch, CachyOS, EndeavourOS, Manjaro	The one-liner, or the Arch package from the Releases page.
Ubuntu 25.04+, Debian 13+	The one-liner, or the .deb from the Releases page.
Ubuntu 24.04, Pop!_OS, Mint	The one-liner.*
openSUSE Tumbleweed	The one-liner.
SteamOS	Not yet.

* On Ubuntu 24.04 everything works except playing clips in the gallery, which needs Ubuntu 25.04 or newer.

Installed a package from the Releases page? Run this once so Momento starts when you log in:

systemctl --user enable --now momento.service

If your system needs one extra step for the smoothest recording, the installer tells you exactly what to run.

Install the parts yourself, update, or try the newest code

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mehulchachada/momento/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --check     # list what your system is missing
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mehulchachada/momento/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --no-deps   # install Momento, skip the system parts
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mehulchachada/momento/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --dev       # the newest test version
~/.local/share/momento/install.sh --update                                                                   # update to the latest release

--check names the exact packages for your system. Install them with your package manager, then use --no-deps.

First launch

1. Start your game and press Super + Shift + G. The bar opens.
2. Press play. Your desktop asks what to share, like when you share your screen on Discord.
3. Pick your game's window, tick Remember or Allow restoring if you see it, and click Share.

Momento now records in the background until you stop it or the game closes.

Using it

Keyboard and mouse

Do this	What happens
Super + Shift + G	Opens or closes the bar
Click a length (or 1–8)	Saves that much, ending right now. The bar closes right away; a sound and a notification tell you when the clip is ready
Camera button	Takes a screenshot
P or pause button	Pauses or resumes. What you have can still be saved
Stop button	Stops recording (asks first)
G or gallery button	Opens the gallery
S or gear	Opens settings
Esc	Closes the bar without saving

The Super key is the Windows / start-menu key.

While a clip saves, a small saving icon shows in the bar. Want another one right away? Save again: saves wait their turn.

With a controller

Hold PS (or Xbox / Home) and press D-pad Down to open or close the bar. Press PS first. Your game doesn't see the D-pad press.

Button	In the bar
D-pad or left stick	Move around
A	Save the selected length, or choose
B	Back, or close the bar
X	Pause or resume
Y	Settings
LB / RB	Jump between the gallery button, the lengths and the buttons

Buttons go by position, so on a PlayStation controller A is ✕, B is ○, X is □ and Y is △. The hints on screen show your own controller's symbols.

Steam Gaming Mode: works there too. Turn off Steam's own game recording, or give it a different shortcut.

From a terminal (handy for your own key or button binds)

momento save 30s      # save without opening the bar (15s, 1m, 5m, 90s...)
momento screenshot    # save a picture
momento status        # is it recording, and how much is kept

Gallery

Press G, the gallery button, or move to it with your controller. It opens right above the bar, and clips start playing, muted.

It has three rows. Move between them with up / down; a white ring shows where you are.

Row	What's in it
Top	Filters: All, Clips, Screenshots
Middle	The clip or screenshot, with its controls
Bottom	Delete and Back

Do this	Controller	Keyboard
Browse	LB / RB	PgUp / PgDn
Skip 10 seconds (on a clip)	◀ ▶	← →
Play or pause a clip	A (✕)	Space
Sound on or off	X (□)	M
Full screen	Y (△)	F
Delete	the Delete button	Delete
Back to the bar	B (○)	Esc

• Delete asks first, and the file goes to the Trash.
• The hints at the bottom show your own controller's symbols, and change with where you are.
• In Full screen mode, recording pauses while the gallery is open so it doesn't end up in your clips, then picks up again.

Settings

Open with the gear (S, or Y on a controller), pick what you want, then Apply. Your replay is kept.

Tab	Setting	Choices (default in bold)
General	Record	Full screen, Window. The bar shows what it's recording, like Recording Ember Rift.
	Replay length	15 min, 30 min, 60 min. How far back you can save. Clip lengths longer than this are greyed out.
	Keep history	Off: stopping clears the replay. On: it's kept, and every full replay is also saved to Videos.
Video	Resolution	480p, 720p, 1080p, Native (your screen's shape, up to 1080p). 480p: smallest files, softest picture.
	Frame rate	Auto matches your screen (120 on a 120 Hz screen, 60 on a 60 Hz one). Smoothest for your game. Or always 60 fps or 120 fps.
	Quality	Standard, High, Ultra. Higher is sharper and takes more space.
	Format	Auto picks one your PC records well: H.264 on most PCs. Or pick one yourself:
		H.264: plays everywhere.
		H.265: smaller files. Some older devices can't play it.
		AV1: smaller files on newer graphics chips. Some older devices can't play it.
Audio	Sound	Your default output, a specific device, or Off
	Mic	Off, On (plus which mic)
	Menu sounds	On, Off. Soft sounds as you use the bar. They may be heard in a clip saved at that moment.
Controller	Controller	PS / Xbox + Down, Off
Misc	Hour warning	10, 5 or 3 minutes' notice before your replay is full
	Instant bar	On: the bar opens instantly (about 100 MB). Off: saves that memory.
	Problem?	Make a report for a GitHub issue; Open logs shows the log files

Clips are always MP4. Formats your PC can't record are greyed out. If a format stops working, Momento switches to another by itself and tells you.

See every tab

Disk space for a full replay at 1080p (Momento needs this plus 1 GB free to start). Frame rate Auto records at 60 or 120 fps, to match your screen:

Replay length	Frame rate	Standard (default)	High	Ultra
15 min (default)	60 fps	1.1 GB	1.7 GB	2.8 GB
15 min (default)	120 fps	1.7 GB	2.5 GB	4.3 GB
60 min	60 fps	4.5 GB	6.8 GB	11.2 GB
60 min	120 fps	6.8 GB	9.9 GB	17.1 GB

The replay never grows past its length. The free space in the bar turns yellow, then red, when it's getting tight, and you get a notification.

More settings (for tinkerers)

Every setting also works from a terminal: momento set fps auto, momento set format av1. See them all with momento settings.

A few extras live only in ~/.config/momento/config.toml. Restart Momento after editing it: systemctl --user restart momento.service.

Setting	Key	Default
Clip folder	[output] dir	your Videos folder + /Momento
Keyboard shortcut	[hotkey] trigger	LOGO+SHIFT+g (Super + Shift + G)

Tested on

Momento 1.0 was tested on this setup:

Device	ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme), 120 Hz screen
System	Bazzite, KDE Plasma 6.7
Game	Rematch, Full screen
Settings	1080p, Frame rate Auto (120 fps), Standard, H.264

What we checked	Result
Game FPS while recording	About 3–5 FPS lower, with only occasional small dips
Recording at 60 fps on the 120 Hz screen	More stutter than 120 fps. Auto avoids this by matching your screen.
Momento's memory	About 150 MB while recording
Steam Gaming Mode	Works

Not tested yet
NVIDIA, Intel and other AMD graphics
Steam Deck and other handhelds
GNOME, Hyprland and other desktops
Other distros

Tried it? Tell us how it runs. It takes 2 minutes.

How it compares

	Momento	Steam recording	OBS replay	GPU Screen Recorder
Works with any game	✓	Steam games only	✓	✓
Pick the length when you save	15 s – 60 min	Trim on a timeline	Whole replay	Whole, 1 or 10 min
Memory for an hour at 1080p	~150 MB	Kept on disk	~6.8 GB	~6.8 GB (RAM mode)
Replay kept after a restart	✓	Not documented	✗	✗ (RAM mode)
Controller-friendly overlay	✓	✓	✗	✓
Steam Gaming Mode	✓	✓	Not designed for it	Not documented
Longest replay	60 min	120 min	6 h	24 h

Good to know

• Notifications keep you posted: when a clip or screenshot is saved, a few minutes before your replay is full, and when disk space runs low.
• Screenshots come from the recording, so they work while Momento is recording (not paused or stopped).
• With Keep history off, stopping clears your replay. So does the game closing. Save first.
• Full screen records everything, including the bar and notifications. Use Window to keep them out.
• Any sound you hear is recorded, like Discord or music, unless you pick another output under Sound.
• "Recording Window" instead of the game's name? Some desktops don't share the name. Recording works the same.
• Steam may react to the PS / Xbox button too. If it gets in the way, turn the controller shortcut off in settings and use the keyboard.
• On GNOME, use borderless or windowed fullscreen so the bar can show over your game.

FAQ

Where are my clips and screenshots?

Clips are in ~/Videos/Momento, screenshots in ~/Videos/Momento/Images. The notification after each save shows the exact file, and the gallery shows them all.

Does it lower my FPS?

A little. On our ROG Ally it was about 3–5 FPS in Rematch at 1080p with Frame rate Auto and Standard quality, with only occasional small dips. See Tested on. Different PC? Tell us how it runs.

Is there a PS5-style instant replay for Linux?

Yes, that's Momento. Like the PS5's Create button (or ShadowPlay / Xbox Game Bar on Windows), it keeps the last minutes of your game in the background, so you can save a clip after something great happens. It works on Linux desktops, handhelds like the ROG Ally, and with Steam, emulators and cloud gaming.

Can I use it outside games?

Yes. Record one window or the whole screen: a bug you just hit, the last minutes of a call or a stream. Everything works the same.

Does it work in Steam Gaming Mode?

Yes. Turn off Steam's own game recording, or give it a different shortcut.

Why did recording stop?

In Window mode, recording stops when the game closes. It also stops if your disk gets almost full. A notification tells you which. Press play in the bar to start again.

My controller doesn't open the bar

Press PS / Xbox / Home and D-pad Down together (PS / Xbox first is easiest). Check that Controller isn't Off in settings. To see what Momento gets, run momento controller --watch and press the buttons.

Super + Shift + G does nothing

Check that momento status says it's running. On KDE, look for Momento under System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts, where you can also change the key. On other desktops, add a custom shortcut that runs momento overlay.

My clip is black or shows the wrong thing

The wrong thing was picked when sharing. In Window mode, press stop, then play, and pick again. In Full screen mode, reset it:

rm ~/.local/state/momento/portal_token
systemctl --user restart momento.service

My clip has no sound

Momento records your default sound output. If the game plays through another device, make that the default or pick it under Sound in settings.

Will it wear out my SSD?

At the default settings it writes about 4.5 GB per hour of play (6.8 GB at 120 fps), a small part of a typical SSD's rated life. Pick a lower resolution to write less.

Running momento starts a different program

An unrelated tool has the same name. This app lives in ~/.local/bin/momento: put ~/.local/bin first in your PATH, or use the full path. The shortcut and app menu are not affected.

Something wrong?

1. Make a report: in the bar, Settings → Misc → Make a report, or run momento report. It saves a file in your Home folder, with nothing personal in it.
2. Tell us what happened and attach that file.
3. To look yourself, run momento logs.

Logs are in ~/.local/state/momento/logs/.

Uninstall

~/.local/share/momento/install.sh --uninstall   # removes Momento, keeps settings and clips
~/.local/share/momento/install.sh --purge       # also removes settings and the replay

Your saved clips and screenshots are never deleted.

Roadmap

• Testing and support on more devices and systems, with your help
• Your own controller shortcut (any two buttons)
• 1440p and 4K recording
• Microphone on its own audio track
• A richer gallery:
  • Mark favourite clips
  • Folders and playlists to organise them
  • Trim long clips to just the good part
  • Quick share to Discord, YouTube or Steam chat

Contributing

Bug reports, testing and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT © 2026 Momento contributors

_{PS5 and PlayStation are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment. ShadowPlay is a trademark of NVIDIA, Xbox of Microsoft. Momento is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by them.}