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Why Screenshots Fail for UI Reconstruction

Screenshot-to-code tools have a fundamental problem: they only see one moment. Interfaces exist in time. Here's why that gap matters.

The Core Problem

A screenshot captures a user interface at a single point in time. It's a frozen moment— useful for documentation, but fundamentally incomplete for reconstruction.

A screenshot shows what an interface looks like.

It does not show how it works.

When an AI analyzes a screenshot, it sees shapes, colors, and text. It does not see:

  • What happens when you click a button
  • How the sidebar navigation works
  • What other pages exist in the application
  • How forms validate and respond to input
  • What animations and transitions exist

A Concrete Example

Consider a dashboard with a sidebar. A screenshot shows:

What the screenshot shows

• A sidebar with 5 navigation items
• "Dashboard" appears highlighted
• A main content area with charts
• Some buttons and controls

What a video shows

• Click "Reports" → content changes to reports view
• Click "Settings" → completely different layout
• Hover on chart → tooltip appears with data
• Click date picker → dropdown calendar opens

The screenshot tool will generate a static page. The video tool will generate a working multi-page app.

What Gets Lost

UI ElementScreenshot capturesVideo captures
NavigationList of linksFull routing + page transitions
ButtonsVisual appearanceHover + click + response
FormsInput fieldsValidation + error states
ModalsMay not appear at allTrigger + animation + content
DropdownsClosed state onlyOpen state + options + selection
TabsOne tab visibleAll tabs + content switching

The Guessing Problem

When AI tools only have a screenshot, they have to guess what happens next. Sometimes they guess correctly. Often they don't.

Common AI guesses

  • • Adds navigation that doesn't exist
  • • Invents modal content
  • • Creates form validation logic
  • • Generates pages that were never shown
  • • Assumes responsive behavior

Why this is a problem

  • • Output doesn't match original
  • • Extra work to remove unwanted features
  • • False confidence in completeness
  • • Debugging AI hallucinations
  • • Harder to trust the output

The Alternative: Video as Source of Truth

When you record a video of the interface working, you create an unambiguous record of actual behavior. The AI doesn't need to guess—it watches.

What you show is what you get.

If you navigate to three pages, you get three pages. If you only show one, you only get one. No hallucinations, no guessing.

This is the principle behind behavior-driven UI reconstruction— treating observed behavior as the specification, not static images or written descriptions.

Stop guessing. Start recording. Replay rebuilds what you actually show.

Try Replay