# screenshot-rename

> A Claude Code skill that turns a folder of timestamp-named screenshots into a folder of human-readable, searchable filenames — using parallel Haiku vision agents.

**Documentation:** [pages.tojo.team/cardinale/screenshot-rename](https://pages.tojo.team/cardinale/screenshot-rename/) — full homepage with the workflow, gotchas, and use-case worked examples.

```
CleanShot 2026-04-15 at 09.14.07.png
   ↓
CleanShot - Shamel Studio Affiliate Referral Code Modal - 2026-04-15 at 09.14.07.png
```

Built for [CleanShot](https://cleanshot.com)-style screenshot folders, but works on any directory of `.png` / `.gif` / `.mp4` / `.pdf` files named only by timestamp.

## Highlights

- **Parallel** — describes ~200 files in 3 minutes using 10 concurrent Haiku subagents.
- **Safe** — pre-builds the full rename plan in memory, validates uniqueness and target collisions, then renames atomically with file-count audit. Designed after losing 4 files to a `mv` overwrite during prototyping.
- **Handles video/PDF** — extracts the first frame so vision agents can describe them.
- **Resizes for the vision tool** — Retina screenshots exceed Read's image cap; pipeline downsamples to 1568px max.

## Installation

This is a Claude Code skill. Drop the `screenshot-rename/` directory into `~/.claude/skills/`:

```bash
git clone https://gitea.tojo.team/cardinale/screenshot-rename.git ~/.claude/skills/screenshot-rename
```

In your next Claude Code session, ask:

> rename all the cleanshot files in `~/Documents/Screenshots/` based on their content

The skill will activate automatically.

## Usage from the command line

You can also drive the pipeline directly:

```bash
# 1. Prep — extract frames, resize, build batches
python3 pipeline.py prep --src "/path/to/folder" --batch-size 19

# 2. (In a Claude Code session, dispatch one Haiku subagent per
#     /tmp/screenshot-rename/full-batch-NN file using the prompt template
#     in SKILL.md.)

# 3. Plan — aggregate descriptions, validate, build rename map
python3 pipeline.py plan --src "/path/to/folder"

# 4. Execute — apply the plan, audit file count
python3 pipeline.py execute --src "/path/to/folder"
```

The dispatch step (#2) currently requires a Claude Code session. See [Roadmap](#roadmap).

## Documentation

- **Homepage with worked examples:** [docs/index.html](docs/index.html)
- **Full skill spec:** [SKILL.md](SKILL.md)
- **Pipeline source:** [pipeline.py](pipeline.py)

## The gotchas this skill encodes

This skill exists because every one of these caused real damage during development:

1. The macOS `Read` tool has an image-size cap. Resize first.
2. Vision can't read `.mp4` or multi-page `.pdf` directly. Extract a frame.
3. **Bash regex `[[ =~ ]]` does NOT populate `BASH_REMATCH` in zsh.** Targets become empty. Loops collide on the same filename. Files vanish. Use Python for any filename mutation.
4. `mv` silently overwrites. Use `mv -n` or `os.rename` with explicit pre-existence check.
5. Pre-build the entire rename plan in memory and validate uniqueness before any `mv`.
6. Audit `len(os.listdir(DEST))` before and after. Equal count == proof no overwrites.
7. iCloud-synced files in Time Machine local snapshots are file-provider stubs, not bytes. External backups (Backblaze, Time Machine to physical disk) are the real recovery source.
8. `Bash run_in_background` may exit early on `while read` loops. Run renames foreground via Python.
9. Haiku occasionally returns the resized `.jpg` filename instead of the original `.png`. Validator must try alt extensions.
10. Always preserve the original `.mp4` / `.pdf` extension — describe via the extracted frame, rename the source.

The full discussion is in [SKILL.md](SKILL.md#the-critical-gotchas-every-one-of-these-caused-real-pain).

## Roadmap

- Direct Anthropic API mode (no Claude Code session required) — needs `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`
- Custom prompt templates per-folder
- Optional preservation of dots in technical strings (`v2.1` currently becomes `V21`)
- Dry-run flag on `execute`

## License

MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).