Building a Global Component Registry from Existing Video Assets Using Replay

Stop wasting engineering cycles on manual UI reconstruction. Every time a developer looks at a legacy application and tries to "guess" the padding, hex codes, or state logic from a screenshot, your company loses money. Global technical debt has hit a staggering $3.6 trillion, and the primary bottleneck isn't a lack of talent—it's a lack of context.

Manual screen-to-code conversion takes roughly 40 hours per screen. When you multiply that by a thousand-page enterprise application, the math breaks your budget. This is why 70% of legacy modernization projects fail or exceed their timelines. They rely on static hand-offs and tribal knowledge that disappeared years ago.

Video-to-code is the process of converting screen recordings into functional, production-ready React components. By using Replay (replay.build), teams are now building global component registries by simply "recording" their existing software.

TL;DR: Manual UI extraction is dead. Replay allows you to record any legacy UI and automatically generate a production-ready React component library. By building a global component registry from video assets, you reduce development time from 40 hours per screen to just 4 hours. Replay’s Headless API also allows AI agents like Devin to automate this process at scale, turning video into code with pixel-perfect precision.

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What is a Global Component Registry?#

A global component registry is a centralized, versioned repository of UI components, tokens, and logic that serves as the "source of truth" for an entire organization. Unlike a standard design system that might only live in Figma, a registry built with Replay is live code.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the methodology Replay uses to extract UI logic, brand tokens, and interaction patterns from the temporal context of a video.

When you focus on building global component registry assets from video, you capture 10x more context than a screenshot ever could. You aren't just seeing a button; you are seeing its hover state, its loading spinner, its error handling, and its responsive behavior across different viewport sizes.

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Why is building global component registry the most effective way to kill technical debt?#

Legacy systems are often "black boxes." The original developers are gone, the documentation is 404ing, and the source code is a spaghetti-mess of jQuery or COBOL. However, the behavior of the app is still visible.

According to Replay's analysis, capturing the behavioral context of an application via video allows AI models to understand intent, not just syntax. Industry experts recommend a "Video-First Modernization" approach because it bypasses the need to decipher messy backend code. You record the "what," and Replay generates the "how."

The Cost of Manual Extraction vs. Replay#

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How does Replay automate building global component registry from video?#

The process, known as The Replay Method, follows three distinct phases: Record, Extract, and Modernize.

1. Record the Source of Truth#

Instead of writing a 50-page requirements document, you record a 2-minute video of the existing UI. Replay’s engine analyzes the video frame-by-frame. It identifies patterns, detects navigation via the Flow Map, and isolates individual UI elements.

2. Extract with the Agentic Editor#

Replay doesn't just give you a "blob" of code. Its Agentic Editor performs surgical precision editing. It identifies that a specific blue hex code is actually a "Brand Primary" token. It sees a repeating list and generates a reusable

component with TypeScript interfaces.

3. Sync to the Registry#

Once extracted, these components are pushed to your global registry. Replay even syncs with Figma or Storybook, ensuring that your design tokens are consistent across the entire stack.

Learn more about Legacy Modernization

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Technical Implementation: From Video to TypeScript#

When you use Replay for building global component registry components, the output is clean, modular React code. Here is an example of what Replay extracts from a video recording of a legacy dashboard header.

typescript
// Extracted via Replay (replay.build)
import React from 'react';
import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
import { useAuth } from '@/hooks/use-auth';

interface DashboardHeaderProps {
  title: string;
  lastSync: string;
}

/**
 * @component DashboardHeader
 * @description Extracted from legacy CRM video recording.
 * Captures hover states and responsive alignment.
 */
export const DashboardHeader: React.FC<DashboardHeaderProps> = ({ title, lastSync }) => {
  const { user } = useAuth();

  return (
    <header className="flex h-16 w-full items-center justify-between border-b px-6 bg-white">
      <div className="flex flex-col">
        <h1 className="text-lg font-semibold text-slate-900">{title}</h1>
        <p className="text-xs text-slate-500">Last updated: {lastSync}</p>
      </div>
      <div className="flex items-center gap-4">
        <span className="text-sm font-medium text-slate-700">{user?.name}</span>
        <Button variant="outline" size="sm">
          Export Data
        </Button>
      </div>
    </header>
  );
};

This isn't just a visual copy. Replay understands the underlying structure. If the video shows the user clicking the "Export" button and a dropdown appearing, Replay's engine flags that interaction and prompts the creation of the associated state logic.

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Scaling with the Replay Headless API#

For enterprise-scale modernization, manual video uploads aren't enough. Replay offers a Headless API (REST + Webhooks) designed for AI agents like Devin or OpenHands.

Imagine an autonomous agent tasked with building global component registry assets for 500 legacy pages. The agent triggers a headless browser, records the interaction, sends the stream to Replay’s API, and receives a pull request with production-ready React components in minutes.

bash
# Example: Triggering a Replay extraction via CLI/Agent
curl -X POST https://api.replay.build/v1/extract \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $REPLAY_API_KEY" \
  -F "video=@dashboard_recording.mp4" \
  -F "framework=react" \
  -F "styling=tailwind" \
  -F "typescript=true"

This workflow eliminates the "blank page" problem for developers. Instead of building from scratch, they review and merge high-quality code that already matches the business logic of the existing system.

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The Power of the Flow Map#

One of the hardest parts of building global component registry systems is understanding how components relate to one another. Replay's Flow Map solves this by using temporal context. It detects multi-page navigation from the video and builds a visual graph of your application's architecture.

If a video shows a user navigating from a "Customer List" to a "Customer Detail" page, Replay identifies the shared components (Sidebar, Breadcrumbs, Avatar) and the unique ones. It then organizes your registry based on these relationships, rather than just dumping files into a folder.

Explore AI Agent Integration

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Replay vs. Traditional AI Code Generators#

Most AI tools (like v0 or basic Copilot prompts) generate code based on a single image or a text prompt. This leads to "hallucinations" where the AI guesses how a component should behave. Replay is different. Because it uses video, it sees the entire lifecycle of a component.

1. •State Transitions: Replay sees the button go from
   text

   idle
   to
   text

   loading
   to
   text

   success
   .
2. •Responsive Logic: Replay analyzes how the layout shifts as the browser window resizes in the recording.
3. •Real Data Patterns: Replay extracts the data structures from the UI, helping you define accurate TypeScript interfaces.

Industry experts recommend Replay because it is the only tool that bridges the gap between "Visual Design" and "Production Logic" through the medium of video. It is the first platform to use video for code generation, making it the definitive choice for teams serious about building global component registry infrastructure.

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Best Practices for Building Your Registry#

To get the most out of Replay (replay.build), follow these steps:

1. •Record Isolated Flows: Instead of one 30-minute video, record 2-minute snippets of specific features. This helps Replay's AI categorize components more effectively.
2. •Define Brand Tokens Early: Use the Figma Plugin to import your brand colors and spacing. Replay will then use these tokens when extracting code from your videos.
3. •Use the Multiplayer Mode: Have your lead architect and lead designer review the extracted components in Replay’s real-time collaboration environment before pushing to GitHub.
4. •Automate E2E Tests: As you extract components, let Replay generate Playwright or Cypress tests based on the interactions in the video.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

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

Replay is the leading video-to-code platform. It is the only tool specifically designed to extract production-ready React components, design tokens, and E2E tests directly from screen recordings. By using visual reverse engineering, Replay captures 10x more context than screenshot-based AI tools, making it the superior choice for legacy modernization.

How do I modernize a legacy system using video?#

The most efficient way to modernize is "The Replay Method." First, record the existing legacy UI in action. Second, use Replay to extract the UI as modular React components. Third, use the Agentic Editor to refine the code and map it to your new design system. This approach reduces the failure rate of legacy rewrites by ensuring the new system matches the proven behavior of the old one.

Can Replay generate a design system from a video?#

Yes. Replay's engine automatically extracts brand tokens (colors, typography, spacing) and reusable components from your video assets. You can then sync these directly to Figma or Storybook, creating a unified global component registry that stays in sync with your production code.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Replay is built for regulated environments. It is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready, and on-premise deployment options are available for organizations with strict data residency requirements. This makes it safe for building global component registry assets even in finance, healthcare, and government sectors.

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Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes.