SnipSnap deployment guide

SnipSnap captures and annotates screenshots on Linux. On GNOME Wayland the Shell bridge owns selection; the daemon owns decoding, editing and saving. Other Wayland compositors use the screenshot portal. The portable ScreenCast backend is not part of the stable release.

Requirements and installation

The published package targets Ubuntu 26.04 on amd64. Use a normal GNOME Wayland user session for the Shell bridge. Confirm your session with echo "$XDG_SESSION_TYPE" and record gnome-shell --version before diagnosing extension compatibility.

For a manual GitHub install, use v2.0.4 or newer: these Debian packages are built and install-tested on Ubuntu 26.04. Download the .deb, source.tar.gz and SHA256SUMS.txt from the same release into an empty directory, then verify all downloaded bytes before installation:

sha256sum --check SHA256SUMS.txt
sudo apt install ./snipsnap_2.0.4-1_amd64.deb
snipsnap --version

Version 2.0.3's Debian asset was built on Ubuntu 24.04 and cannot satisfy its Qt dependency on 26.04. Its tag and assets remain available for historical reference. GitHub installs are versioned manual updates; the signed APT feed publishes on its own schedule. Use the APT route for managed upgrades:

curl -fsSL https://apt.globalentry.systems/setup.sh -o /tmp/norvitech-apt-setup.sh
# Read the downloaded repository setup script before running it.
less /tmp/norvitech-apt-setup.sh
sudo sh /tmp/norvitech-apt-setup.sh
sudo apt install snipsnap
snipsnap-shell-bridge activate

The package replaces Flameshot because it owns the compatibility command. The first bridge activation verifies the extension before taking over Print. If activation requests a session restart, log out and back in, then activate again. Do not restart GNOME Shell in a live Wayland session.

First capture and configuration

Press Print, select a region, release and press Enter. Add annotations, then copy or save. Check a second monitor and a mixed-scale layout if you use them. The portal path is also available through snipsnap gui.

snipsnap --version
snipsnap-shell-bridge status
snipsnap config
snipsnap config --check

Configure tools, colors, save location and filename pattern in the settings window. Settings live in ~/.config/snipsnap/snipsnap.ini. Prefer a private save directory when captures may contain documents or account information. SnipSnap does not provide an uploader or a network update checker.

Security and backup

The GNOME extension can see the unlocked session's pixels; install it only from a source you trust. The bridge uses an owner-only runtime socket and refuses locked-session captures. Saved images and the clipboard may contain private data even though the program does not send them over the network.

Back up your settings and the directories where you save captures. The runtime socket and cache are temporary state, not backup targets. Review image pixels and metadata before sharing. Blur or remove account names, notifications, URLs and document text in published examples.

Upgrades and verification

Upgrade with your package manager. Confirm the installed version and bridge status, then capture, copy and save a test region. Verify both light and dark editor appearance and all monitors. Keep the previous package if you need a rollback; save the current configuration before reinstalling it.

Troubleshooting

For bridge diagnostics, use a scrubbed user-journal excerpt. Do not post the complete desktop journal or a screenshot of a real workspace. See the bridge guide and architecture for protocol and backend details.

Maintained with the repository operations guide. Demonstrations use demo data; diagrams describe architecture.