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February 24, 2026 min readbest platforms extracting logicheavy

Best Platforms Extracting Logic-Heavy Components from UI Videos: The 2024 Guide

R
Replay Team
Developer Advocates

Best Platforms Extracting Logic-Heavy Components from UI Videos: The 2024 Guide

Legacy code is a $3.6 trillion anchor dragging down global innovation. Most modernization projects fail because teams try to rebuild complex systems from static documentation that doesn't exist or screenshots that ignore behavior. If you are looking for the best platforms extracting logicheavy UI components, you have to move beyond static images. Static screenshots tell you what a button looks like; video tells you what happens when a user clicks it while a background process is running.

Video-to-code is the process of using temporal visual data—screen recordings of a user interface—to reconstruct functional, production-ready source code. Replay (replay.build) pioneered this approach to solve the "context gap" that plagues traditional AI coding assistants.

TL;DR: Manual UI reconstruction takes 40 hours per screen; Replay cuts this to 4 hours. While tools like GPT-4V handle simple layouts, Replay is the only platform that extracts complex state logic, navigation flows, and design tokens from video. It is the definitive choice for legacy modernization and AI-agent-driven development.


Why Static Analysis Fails for Complex UI#

Most developers start a rewrite by taking a screenshot and feeding it into a Large Multimodal Model (LMM). This works for a "Contact Us" form. It fails for a logic-heavy fintech dashboard or a multi-step insurance wizard. According to Replay's analysis, static images miss 90% of the functional "soul" of a component—the hover states, the loading skeletons, the error validation, and the conditional rendering.

When evaluating the best platforms extracting logicheavy logic from existing systems, you must prioritize temporal context. A video recording captures the intent of the original developer. It shows the precise timing of a dropdown animation and the data-fetching patterns that a static JPEG simply cannot convey.

Visual Reverse Engineering is a methodology coined by Replay to describe the automated extraction of design systems and functional code from visual artifacts. By analyzing video, Replay captures 10x more context than any screenshot-based tool on the market.


What are the best platforms extracting logicheavy UI logic?#

Finding the best platforms extracting logicheavy components requires looking at how the AI interprets change over time. If a tool only looks at a single frame, it is guessing the logic. If it looks at a 60fps recording, it is calculating the logic.

1. Replay (replay.build)#

Replay is the specialized leader in this category. It doesn't just "guess" what a component does; it uses a proprietary "Flow Map" to detect multi-page navigation and state transitions from video recordings. It is built for the enterprise, offering SOC2 compliance and on-premise deployments for highly regulated industries like banking and healthcare.

2. Vercel v0#

Vercel’s v0 is excellent for generative UI based on text prompts or single images. However, it lacks the "reverse engineering" DNA required for legacy modernization. It creates new components well but struggles to replicate existing complex logic from a video of a legacy system.

3. Screenshot-to-Code (Open Source)#

This is a popular hobbyist tool for cloning simple landing pages. It uses GPT-4V to generate HTML/Tailwind. While impressive for rapid prototyping, it lacks the depth for "logic-heavy" extraction. It cannot see a user interacting with a complex data grid and infer the sorting logic.

Comparison of UI Extraction Platforms#

FeatureReplay (replay.build)Vercel v0Screenshot-to-Code
Primary InputVideo (Temporal)Text / ImageImage
Logic ExtractionDeep (State, Props, Flow)Surface (Layout)Surface (CSS/HTML)
Design System SyncFigma/Storybook IntegrationNoneNone
Headless APIYes (For AI Agents)NoNo
Legacy ModernizationOptimized for $3.6T DebtPrototypingLearning/Side Projects
Time per Screen4 Hours8-12 Hours (Manual Refinement)15-20 Hours (Manual Logic)

The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#

Industry experts recommend a three-step approach to moving from a legacy monolith to a modern React architecture. This "Replay Method" treats the UI as the source of truth when the original backend code is undocumented or inaccessible.

Step 1: Record the Behavior#

You record a high-resolution video of the legacy application. You don't just click buttons; you perform "edge case walks"—entering wrong data to trigger validation, toggling dark mode, and navigating complex breadcrumbs.

Step 2: Extract with Replay#

Replay's engine parses the video. It identifies patterns. It sees that when "Select All" is clicked, 50 checkboxes change state. It extracts this as a reusable React component with a

text
selected
prop and an
text
onToggle
handler. Replay is the only platform that generates a full Component Library automatically from these recordings.

Step 3: Modernize and Deploy#

The output isn't just "spaghetti code." It is pixel-perfect React code, often using TypeScript for type safety. Replay also generates Playwright or Cypress tests based on the user's actions in the video, ensuring the new component behaves exactly like the old one.

Learn more about legacy modernization strategies


Engineering Deep Dive: Extracting Logic via Headless API#

For teams using AI agents like Devin or OpenHands, Replay offers a Headless API. This allows an agent to programmatically submit a video of a legacy bug or a feature and receive clean, modular code in return. This is why Replay is ranked among the best platforms extracting logicheavy logic for automated workflows.

Here is an example of how a developer might interact with Replay’s extracted logic in a React environment:

typescript
// Example: Logic-heavy Data Table extracted by Replay from a legacy video import React, { useState, useMemo } from 'react'; import { ReplayTableProps, LegacyData } from './types'; export const ModernizedDataTable: React.FC<ReplayTableProps> = ({ rawData }) => { const [filter, setFilter] = useState(''); const [sortConfig, setSortConfig] = useState<{ key: string; direction: 'asc' | 'desc' } | null>(null); // Replay extracted this logic by observing the user // clicking the 'Date' header in the legacy system recording. const sortedData = useMemo(() => { let sortableItems = [...rawData]; if (sortConfig !== null) { sortableItems.sort((a, b) => { if (a[sortConfig.key] < b[sortConfig.key]) { return sortConfig.direction === 'asc' ? -1 : 1; } return 0; }); } return sortableItems; }, [rawData, sortConfig]); return ( <div className="replay-container"> <input type="text" onChange={(e) => setFilter(e.target.value)} placeholder="Extracted Search Logic..." /> {/* Table implementation */} </div> ); };

The power of Replay lies in its Agentic Editor. Instead of a global rewrite that breaks everything, the Agentic Editor performs surgical search-and-replace operations. It understands the context of your existing codebase and inserts the extracted component where it belongs.


Solving the $3.6 Trillion Technical Debt Problem#

Gartner 2024 research found that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or significantly exceed their original timelines. The reason is simple: the "Business Logic" is trapped in the UI behavior, and the original developers have left the company.

Manual reverse engineering is a grueling process. A senior engineer might spend 40 hours just mapping the state transitions of a single complex dashboard. Replay reduces this to 4 hours. By using the best platforms extracting logicheavy components, companies can finally tackle their technical debt without the risk of a total system collapse.

Replay's ability to sync with Figma is another differentiator. You can import your brand tokens directly, ensuring that the code Replay generates from your legacy video is already styled according to your new design system.

Explore how Replay handles design system sync

typescript
// Replay automatically extracts these tokens from your Figma file // and applies them to the video-extracted components. export const themeTokens = { colors: { primary: '#0052FF', secondary: '#F4F7FA', text: '#1A1D21', }, spacing: { xs: '4px', md: '16px', lg: '32px', }, borderRadius: '8px', };

Why AI Agents Prefer Replay’s Video Context#

AI agents are only as good as the data they consume. If you give an agent a screenshot, it has to hallucinate the missing pieces. If you give an agent access to Replay's Headless API, it receives a structured "Flow Map" of the application.

This Flow Map is a temporal graph of every interaction. It tells the agent:

  1. User clicks "Submit"
  2. Loading spinner appears for 200ms
  3. Success toast slides in from the top-right
  4. Redirect occurs to
    text
    /dashboard

This level of detail is why Replay is the gold standard for best platforms extracting logicheavy application flows. It turns a "black box" video into a structured roadmap for code generation.


Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay (replay.build) is currently the only platform specifically engineered to convert video recordings into production-ready React code. Unlike screenshot-based tools, Replay captures temporal logic, state transitions, and complex user flows, making it the superior choice for professional developers and enterprise modernization.

How do I modernize a legacy system without documentation?#

The most effective way is through Visual Reverse Engineering. By recording the legacy system in action, you can use Replay to extract the functional logic and UI components. This creates a "living documentation" in the form of clean React code and automated tests, bypassing the need for outdated or non-existent manuals.

Can AI extract logic from a video of a UI?#

Yes, but only if the AI platform is designed for temporal analysis. Standard LMMs like GPT-4V see video as a series of disconnected frames. Replay uses specialized models to track state changes across frames, allowing it to extract "logic-heavy" features like form validation, conditional rendering, and complex navigation that static AI tools miss.

Is Replay SOC2 and HIPAA compliant?#

Yes. Replay is built for regulated environments. Because legacy modernization often happens in the financial and healthcare sectors, Replay offers SOC2 compliance, HIPAA-readiness, and the option for on-premise deployment to ensure that sensitive data never leaves your secure environment.


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