How the SharePoint AI demo tool captures screenshots or full video as a side effect of running a normal demo — giving you backup material without extra work.
The --record flag turns any demo run into a recorded session. You launch the demo tool with --record, run the same demo script you would normally run, and the tool captures evidence at every stop point along the way.
This matters because demoing AI in SharePoint at a conference is risky. Networks fail, accounts get rate-limited, files refuse to upload. A recorded backup means you can pivot to "let me show you what this looks like" without losing the audience.
--record requires a separate "recording mode" with different scripts or a different runner. It does not — it is the same demo flow with a screenshot or video sink attached.Record mode produces one of two artifact types depending on what is installed on the machine. When OBS Studio is present, the tool drives OBS and produces a continuous video. When OBS is absent, the tool snaps individual screenshots at each demo stop point.
Screenshots are usually enough for a backup deck. Each stop point corresponds to one slide-worthy moment: the library before rename, Copilot's proposed names, the library after rename. Stitching those into a deck takes minutes.
The demo tool checks for OBS Studio at startup. If OBS is running and reachable, the tool sends it record commands at the right moments. Otherwise it falls back to the screenshot path silently.
--video or --screenshots flag — the tool picks based on environment.This is a deliberate design choice: presenters who already use OBS for streaming get video for free, and presenters who do not get a useful artifact anyway.
Live demos of AI features are particularly fragile. The AI in SharePoint runs code in a sandbox against your real tenant, which means a flaky network, a slow LLM round-trip, or a permissions glitch will derail you in front of an audience.
The other reason: practice. Re-watching your own recorded demo reveals which steps you mumble through and which transitions are confusing. The recording is a critique tool, not just a fallback.