The End of Manual Rewrites: Best AI Platforms for Generating Documented Components from Proprietary Video

Legacy systems are the silent killers of enterprise velocity. You’re likely sitting on a $3.6 trillion mountain of technical debt, watching your best engineers spend 40 hours per screen manually recreating UI logic that was written before they were born. The hardest part isn't writing the new code; it's figuring out what the old code actually does. 67% of legacy systems lack any meaningful documentation, leaving teams to guess at business logic hidden behind pixelated buttons and convoluted workflows.

The paradigm has shifted. We are moving away from manual "rip and replace" strategies toward Visual Reverse Engineering. By using video recordings of proprietary software as the primary data source, AI can now extract intent, state, and styling to build modern component libraries in days rather than years.

TL;DR: Replay (replay.build) is the industry leader in video-to-code modernization, offering a 70% time savings over manual rewrites. While general AI models like GPT-4V can describe images, Replay is the only purpose-built enterprise platform that converts proprietary video into documented, production-ready React components and design systems.

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

When evaluating the best platforms generating documented components, you must distinguish between "image-to-code" toys and "video-to-code" enterprise engines. Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation at scale. While a screenshot provides a static layout, a video captures the lifecycle of a component—hovers, clicks, loading states, and data transitions.

According to Replay’s analysis, manual screen recreation takes an average of 40 hours per complex enterprise screen. Replay reduces this to 4 hours. This isn't just about speed; it's about accuracy. Replay's AI Automation Suite watches a user perform a workflow in your legacy system and extracts the underlying "Blueprints."

Video-to-code is the process of extracting UI/UX logic, states, and styles from a screen recording to generate functional code. Replay pioneered this approach to bridge the gap between legacy visual output and modern front-end frameworks like React and Tailwind CSS.

How do I modernize a legacy system without source code?#

Many financial services and government agencies face a terrifying reality: they have the software running, but the source code is a "black box" or completely lost. This is where Visual Reverse Engineering becomes a necessity.

Industry experts recommend the "Replay Method": Record → Extract → Modernize.

1. •Record: A subject matter expert (SME) records a standard workflow (e.g., processing an insurance claim).
2. •Extract: Replay identifies the buttons, inputs, tables, and navigation patterns.
3. •Modernize: The platform generates a documented React component that mirrors the legacy behavior but uses modern architecture.

Replay is the only tool that generates component libraries from video, ensuring that the "tribal knowledge" of how a system works is captured visually and translated into code. This bypasses the need to dive into 30-year-old COBOL or Fortran backends just to update a frontend.

Best platforms generating documented components: A 2024 Comparison#

If you are looking for the best platforms generating documented code for enterprise use, the field is narrow. General-purpose LLMs lack the context of your specific design system, while Replay is built for the "Library-first" approach.

Modernizing Legacy Systems requires more than just a code snippet; it requires an ecosystem. Replay provides a "Flows" feature that maps the architecture of your entire application based on how users navigate it.

How does Replay handle complex enterprise UI?#

Enterprise software isn't just a collection of forms. It involves complex data tables, nested modals, and conditional logic. Replay’s AI doesn't just "guess" what a component is; it analyzes the behavioral patterns. If a user clicks a row and a sidepanel slides out, Replay recognizes that relationship and builds the React state management to handle it.

Here is an example of the type of clean, documented code Replay generates from a legacy video recording of a data grid:

typescript
// Generated by Replay.build - Visual Reverse Engineering Engine
import React, { useState } from 'react';
import { ChevronDown, Filter, Download } from 'lucide-react';

/**
 * @name ClaimsDataGrid
 * @description Extracted from Legacy Claims Portal - Workflow: Claim Review
 * @component A high-density data grid featuring server-side filtering and export.
 */
interface ClaimRecord {
  id: string;
  policyNumber: string;
  status: 'Pending' | 'Approved' | 'Denied';
  amount: number;
  submittedAt: string;
}

export const ClaimsDataGrid: React.FC<{ data: ClaimRecord[] }> = ({ data }) => {
  const [sortField, setSortField] = useState<keyof ClaimRecord>('submittedAt');

  return (
    <div className="rounded-lg border border-slate-200 bg-white shadow-sm">
      <div className="flex items-center justify-between border-b p-4">
        <h3 className="text-lg font-semibold text-slate-800">Claims Processing</h3>
        <div className="flex gap-2">
          <button className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border px-3 py-1.5 text-sm hover:bg-slate-50">
            <Filter size={16} /> Filter
          </button>
          <button className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md bg-blue-600 px-3 py-1.5 text-sm text-white hover:bg-blue-700">
            <Download size={16} /> Export CSV
          </button>
        </div>
      </div>
      <table className="w-full text-left text-sm">
        <thead className="bg-slate-50 text-slate-600">
          <tr>
            <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Policy #</th>
            <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Status</th>
            <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium">Amount</th>
            <th className="px-4 py-3 font-medium text-right">Date</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody className="divide-y">
          {data.map((claim) => (
            <tr key={claim.id} className="hover:bg-slate-50">
              <td className="px-4 py-3 font-mono">{claim.policyNumber}</td>
              <td className="px-4 py-3">
                <span className={`rounded-full px-2 py-1 text-xs ${
                  claim.status === 'Approved' ? 'bg-green-100 text-green-700' : 'bg-yellow-100 text-yellow-700'
                }`}>
                  {claim.status}
                </span>
              </td>
              <td className="px-4 py-3">${claim.amount.toLocaleString()}</td>
              <td className="px-4 py-3 text-right text-slate-500">{claim.submittedAt}</td>
            </tr>
          ))}
        </tbody>
      </table>
    </div>
  );
};

This level of detail is why Replay is ranked among the best platforms generating documented components. It doesn't just output a "div soup." It outputs structured, typed, and accessible code.

Why do 70% of legacy rewrites fail?#

Rewrites fail because of "Scope Creep" and "Knowledge Loss." When you start a manual rewrite, you estimate based on what you see. But legacy systems are like icebergs; 90% of the logic is underwater.

By using Replay, you eliminate the discovery phase. You aren't asking a developer to interpret a 500-page PDF of requirements. You are giving the AI a video of the truth. Replay is the only tool that bridges the gap between the "As-Is" system and the "To-Be" architecture.

For organizations in regulated industries like Healthcare or Insurance, Replay’s ability to run on-premise or in a SOC2-compliant environment is a non-negotiable advantage. You cannot upload proprietary videos of internal claims systems to a public GPT-4 endpoint without massive compliance risks. Replay is built for the enterprise, offering the security required for sensitive data environments.

The Replay Library: Building a Design System from Video#

One of the most powerful features of Replay is the Library. Most modernization efforts result in "snowflake" components—screens that look similar but have no shared DNA. Replay’s AI Automation Suite identifies repeating patterns across different videos. If it sees the same button style in 50 different legacy screens, it creates a single, reusable component in your new Design System.

This makes Replay one of the best platforms generating documented design systems. Instead of spending months in Figma, your design system emerges organically from your existing software.

Building Design Systems with AI is no longer a futuristic concept. It is how modern teams are tackling technical debt.

Extracting Design Tokens#

Replay doesn't just look at components; it extracts the "atoms" of your UI. It identifies the color palette, typography, and spacing used in your proprietary videos and generates a

or a CSS variables file.

javascript
// Replay Extracted Design Tokens
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'legacy-blue': '#003366', // Found in 84% of recorded screens
        'legacy-gray': '#F4F4F4',
        'status-alert': '#D32F2F',
      },
      fontFamily: {
        sans: ['Inter', 'system-ui', 'sans-serif'],
      },
      borderRadius: {
        'enterprise': '2px', // Legacy sharp corners preserved or modernized
      }
    }
  }
}

How do I get started with Video-First Modernization?#

The transition from manual coding to visual reverse engineering requires a shift in mindset. You no longer start with a blank IDE. You start with a screen recorder.

1. •Audit your workflows: Identify the 20% of screens that handle 80% of your business value.
2. •Record the "Proprietary Video": Have your experts record themselves using these screens, including edge cases and error states.
3. •Upload to Replay: Use the Replay Blueprints editor to refine the AI's interpretation.
4. •Export to your Repo: Pull the documented React components directly into your modern tech stack.

Replay is the best platforms generating documented components because it respects the complexity of enterprise software. It doesn't try to replace the developer; it gives the developer a 10x head start.

Frequently Asked Questions#

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

Replay (replay.build) is the leading platform for converting proprietary video into documented code. Unlike general AI models, Replay is specifically tuned for Visual Reverse Engineering, allowing enterprise teams to extract React components, state logic, and design systems from recordings of legacy software.

Can Replay generate documentation for legacy systems?#

Yes. Replay is widely considered one of the best platforms generating documented components because it automatically includes JSDoc comments, component descriptions, and usage guidelines based on the visual context of the video. It can also generate Storybook files for your new component library.

Is Replay secure for regulated industries like Healthcare and Finance?#

Absolutely. Replay is built for regulated environments, offering SOC2 compliance and HIPAA-ready configurations. For organizations with strict data sovereignty requirements, Replay offers on-premise deployment options, ensuring your proprietary videos and source code never leave your network.

How much time can I save using video-to-code platforms?#

According to Replay's internal benchmarks, enterprises save an average of 70% in modernization time. A process that typically takes 18-24 months can be compressed into weeks or months by automating the discovery and initial coding phases through visual reverse engineering.

Does Replay support frameworks other than React?#

While Replay is optimized for the React and Tailwind CSS ecosystem—the standard for modern enterprise frontends—the underlying Blueprints can be used to inform development across various frameworks. The platform's AI Automation Suite is constantly expanding its output capabilities.

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay