PullWatch

PullWatch is a lightweight Windows desktop app for recording World of Warcraft gameplay. It watches the WoW process and combat log, starts recordings for Mythic+ runs and raid encounters, and keeps finished videos in a browsable in-app library.

Screenshot

Status

This project is in early development. Expect issues.

The current release focuses on World of Warcraft Retail. Automatic logs folder detection looks for Retail _retail_\Logs directories. Classic, PTR, and other variants may work only with manual folder configuration and are not the primary target yet.

Download

Download the latest portable Windows x64 build from the GitHub Releases page.

Release builds are currently unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning for new downloads.

Closing the PullWatch window keeps the app running in the system tray. Use Exit from the tray icon menu to fully quit PullWatch.

Features

• Automatic recording for Mythic+ runs from CHALLENGE_MODE_START and CHALLENGE_MODE_END combat-log events.
• Automatic recording for raid encounters from ENCOUNTER_START and ENCOUNTER_END combat-log events.
• Manual start and stop when the World of Warcraft window is available.
• In-app playback with seeking, time display, and fullscreen viewing.
• Saved recordings table with start time, dungeon or encounter, key level or raid difficulty, outcome, and duration.
• Recording management actions for opening the recordings folder and deleting a selected finished recording.
• Settings for combat-log and recordings directories, Mythic+ and raid toggles, quality preset, frame rate, system audio, microphone, cursor capture, and capture border.
• Diagnostics view with combat-log, WoW process, recorder state, effective settings, and recent application logs.

Requirements

• Windows x64
• Windows Media Foundation
• Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2015-2022 x64

Portable releases are self-contained and do not require a separately installed .NET runtime.

If recording cannot start because Windows Media Foundation is unavailable, install Microsoft's Media Feature Pack for Windows N editions, then restart PullWatch:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/media-feature-pack-for-windows-n-8622b390-4ce6-43c9-9b42-549e5328e407

If recording cannot start because the Visual C++ Redistributable is missing, install the official Microsoft x64 redistributable:

https://aka.ms/vc14/vc_redist.x64.exe

Automatic recording requires World of Warcraft combat logging to be enabled so the game writes WoWCombatLog*.txt files.

Data Locations

Recordings are saved by default to:

Videos\PullWatch

You can change this in Settings.

PullWatch stores its settings and recording catalog under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\PullWatch

The catalog database is pullwatch.db; it stores metadata for finished recordings, not the video files themselves.

Privacy

PullWatch does not contain app telemetry or upload recordings, settings, combat logs, or diagnostics. Recording files, settings, and the recording catalog stay on your machine unless you share them yourself.

Diagnostics can include local file paths, WoW window details, recent application log messages, and selected settings. Review copied or exported diagnostics before posting them publicly.

Recording Behavior

PullWatch captures the World of Warcraft window with H.264 video. It uses simple quality presets instead of exposing raw bitrate controls:

• Compact for smaller files
• Balanced for the default quality and size tradeoff
• High for cleaner motion and larger files

Frame rate is selectable as 30 FPS or 60 FPS. The settings screen shows an approximate recording size per minute based on the primary display; actual recordings use the captured WoW window size.

Automatic recording starts only when PullWatch can see the WoW window and read the configured logs directory. If combat-log monitoring is unavailable, manual recording can still be used while the WoW window is available.

Automatic recording is not retroactive. Start PullWatch before the Mythic+ key or raid pull so it can see the combat-log start event.

Finished recordings are saved as .mp4 files. File names include the recording start time and context, such as manual, mythic-plus, or raid.

Source

Source is available for transparency. Building locally requires:

• Windows x64
• .NET 10 SDK

Run the test suite:

dotnet test PullWatch.sln -c Release -p:Platform=x64

Create a local self-contained Windows x64 build:

./scripts/publish-win-x64.ps1

Most dependencies are bundled into PullWatch.exe. ScreenRecorderLib.dll is kept next to the executable because the native recorder library does not load reliably when embedded into the single-file bundle.

Key Dependencies

• ScreenRecorderLib
• Dapper
• FluentMigrator

Disclaimer

PullWatch is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment.