Claude's “Record a skill” vs Ditto AI
Both turn a task you record on your Mac into a skill. Claude's Record a skill works in Cowork in Claude for Mac on Pro, Max and Team plans: you record up to about 10 minutes and Claude proposes a skill you save in Customize > Skills. Ditto AI also finds a real tool for every step, checks each with a read-only call, sets permissions from a fixed table, and installs the agent into Claude Code or Kiro. Pick Record a skill if you live in Cowork; pick Ditto if you want the agent, its tool servers and its allowlist in Claude Code or Kiro.
The short answer
Record a skill is built into Claude. Anthropic's help article says: "Recording a skill is available on Pro, Max, and Team plans, in Cowork in Claude for Mac. It isn't available in chat, on Windows, or on Free and Enterprise plans." You send Claude "a video of your screen, clicks, typing, and voice", and "A recording can run for about 10 minutes." Then "Claude starts a Cowork task and reviews the recording, then proposes a skill", which you can save, and "Skills you save from a recording appear in Customize > Skills and work like any other skill" (Anthropic).
Ditto AI builds the tool layer as well as the skill. It writes down the steps, each citing the frames and clicks it came from, finds an integration for every step (an MCP server from the official registry or npm, or a headless browser for a public page), checks each one with a single read-only call, and sets permissions from a fixed table. The agent runs in Ditto or installs into Claude Code or Kiro with its servers and allowlist.
Side by side
| Ditto AI | Claude's Record a skill | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | A Mac app, macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon | "in Cowork in Claude for Mac"; not in chat or on Windows (source) |
| Plans | Free, no account (pricing) | "Pro, Max, and Team plans"; not Free or Enterprise (source) |
| What it captures | Frames on change, clicks and focus, and your voice if you talk, transcribed on the Mac | "a video of your screen, clicks, typing, and voice" (source) |
| Length | No time limit; it runs until you stop it | "about 10 minutes" (source) |
| What you get | An agent: steps with evidence, inputs, a checked tool per step, a permission policy | A proposed skill you save, or proposed changes to a skill you already have (source) |
| Tools and permissions | A tool per step, checked read-only; access from a fixed table, unknown counts as a write | The recording section doesn't mention connectors, MCP or permissions (source) |
| Where the result runs | Ditto, Claude Code or Kiro CLI | Claude, where saved skills "work like any other skill" (source) |
| What's kept | Recordings stay on your Mac, 30 days by default | "The video and audio from your recording aren't retained"; a set of screenshots stays in the Cowork task (source) |
Where Record a skill is ahead
- Nothing extra to install if you already use Cowork in Claude for Mac.
- It updates skills you already have. "If the recording overlaps a skill you already have, Claude proposes changes to that skill instead" (Anthropic).
- One vendor. The model, the app and the skill all come from Anthropic.
- It keeps less. The video and audio aren't retained; only screenshots in the Cowork task, which you can delete.
Where Ditto is different
- It's for Claude Code and Kiro, not Cowork. The agent lands where developers already work, with its MCP config and allowlist.
- Every step gets a real tool, checked before the first run. You see which server or browser each step uses and whether it answered a read-only call.
- Permissions come from a table, not the model. The agent gets only the tools your recording used.
- Your own AI provider. Recordings are read by your Anthropic, OpenAI or Amazon Bedrock account, or Ditto AI's.
- No time limit or plan requirement. Ditto is free and records until you stop.
Choose Record a skill if
- You already work in Cowork in Claude for Mac on a Pro, Max or Team plan.
- The skill will run inside Claude, and you don't need a tool check or an allowlist.
- You want Claude to refine skills you already have from a new recording.
Choose Ditto AI if
- You want the result in Claude Code or Kiro, with its tool servers attached.
- You want each tool proven with a read-only call, and permissions settled, before the first run.
- You're on a Free or Enterprise Claude plan, or the task takes longer than ten minutes to record.
Can you use both?
Yes. They don't conflict on a Mac. A sensible split: Record a skill for Cowork tasks, Ditto for agents you want in Claude Code or Kiro with a checked tool behind every step. Whether a skill recorded in Cowork also works in Claude Code isn't covered by Anthropic's article, so check before you rely on it.
See how Ditto AI works, or the real exported agents on the templates page.