Spot captures

Spot is a browser extension that records one tab or one desktop or window capture when an operator explicitly starts it. A tab capture adds bounded developer context, so your team can reproduce a problem seen in real-user monitoring or session replay. Captures upload to Noxtica, and Backoffice plays them back.

Support engineers and developers record. A workspace administrator connects the extension and manages sharing.

What it is

Availability: depends on your organisation and the modules enabled for it; ask your account team.

Nothing records until an operator clicks Start capture in the extension. Each click creates one explicit capture. Backoffice never starts a capture. This page describes the extension as built from source; how your organisation receives a build is arranged with your account team.

Developer context, bounded

• Console messages: the levels debug, info, log, warn and error. At most 10 arguments per message, each cut to 512 characters.
• Network metadata for fetch and XHR calls, with request routes reduced to origin and path.
• Clicks: the position as a fraction of the window and the element tag name.
• Navigation: origin and path.
• Request and response bodies, headers, query strings and URL fragments are not captured.

The instrumentation is added to the tab only for the duration of one capture. If it cannot be armed, the capture stops instead of recording incomplete context.

Storage and limits

Playback is WebM only; Noxtica stores and plays the captured WebM as it was recorded. These are the defaults; bounds can change and Backoffice shows the values in force for your workspace.

Who can do what

Prerequisites

• Spot capture switched on for your organisation, and the surface enabled for your domain. If capture is not switched on, Backoffice says “Spot capture is not armed on this deployment”. If Backoffice cannot reach the capture service it says “Spot is not connected”.
• The Spot extension installed in a Chromium-based browser, version 116 or later.
• An administrator to create the extension token.
• A regular website (http or https) in the tab. Browser pages cannot be recorded.

Steps

1. Create a short-lived extension token

1. Backoffice → Session Insights → Spot Captures → Connect extension.
2. Press Copy extension token. Backoffice says when the token expires.

Paste this short-lived token into the extension. Every capture still needs a separate Start click.

2. Connect the extension

1. Open the Spot popup.
2. Leave Collector URL as https://collect.noxtica.com, unless your account team gives you another address.
3. Paste the token under Short-lived extension token.

3. Record a capture

1. Choose the Capture source: Current tab + developer context, or Desktop / window video only.
2. Press Start capture. For a desktop capture, choose the screen or window in the browser dialog.
3. Reproduce the problem.
4. Press Stop and upload. Keep the extension loaded while chunks upload.

If an upload fails, Spot stops recording and keeps the pending chunks. Press Retry upload, which appears in the popup, before you start another capture.

4. Review a capture

Backoffice → Session Insights → Spot Captures. The list shows each capture with Kind (Tab or Desktop), Duration, Size, Age and Sharing. A capture has a state: Recording, Complete, Failed, Expired or Deleted. Open a row, then press Play.

For a tab capture, the “Synchronized developer context” table lists the captured events in time with the video. A desktop capture has video only.

5. Share a capture

1. Open the capture and find Share access.
2. Optionally enter Recipient or purpose (optional). The note is visible to workspace operators, not to viewers of the link.
3. Press Create expiring link and copy it with Copy share link.

Anyone who has the current link can watch the recording and read its events until the link expires or you revoke it. Backoffice shows the link only once, when you create it. Press Revoke link to cut access at once; the capture itself is kept. A capture has one active link at a time.

6. Delete a capture

Press Delete, then Delete capture. The recording, captured events and every active share link are permanently removed.

Verify it works

• The popup status moves to “Recording the current tab and developer context…” or “Recording the selected desktop or window…”, then to “Ready. Nothing is being recorded.” after upload.
• The capture appears in Spot Captures with state Complete.
• Play plays the WebM, and the events table follows it for tab captures.
• A created link shows “Expires ” and the capture shows Shared.

Troubleshooting

Related

• Hunter browser extension for the page-audit extension.
• Session replay: setup, masking and playback for the replay product that Spot complements.
• Roles and permissions for analyst and administrator capabilities.
• Privacy and Security for data handling.