Session Recording

Session recording captures container sessions as .webm video files. Recordings are captured client-side in the browser and uploaded to a configurable storage backend (local filesystem or S3-compatible storage).

Enabling Recording

Set the SORTIE_VIDEO_RECORDING_ENABLED environment variable to enable the recording feature:

SORTIE_VIDEO_RECORDING_ENABLED=true

When disabled (the default), recording API routes are not registered and the recording UI controls are hidden.

Storage Backends

Sortie supports two storage backends for recording files.

Local Storage

The default backend stores recordings on the local filesystem:

SORTIE_RECORDING_STORAGE_BACKEND=local
SORTIE_RECORDING_STORAGE_PATH=/data/recordings

When using local storage with Kubernetes, mount a PersistentVolumeClaim at the storage path so recordings survive pod restarts.

S3 Storage

For production deployments, use S3-compatible storage (AWS S3, MinIO, etc.):

SORTIE_RECORDING_STORAGE_BACKEND=s3
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_BUCKET=my-recordings-bucket
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_REGION=us-east-1
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_PREFIX=recordings/

For self-hosted S3-compatible storage like MinIO, set a custom endpoint:

SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_ENDPOINT=https://minio.example.com

AWS credentials are read from the standard AWS SDK credential chain (environment variables, shared credentials file, IAM role, etc.).

Environment Variable Reference

Variable	Type	Default	Description
SORTIE_VIDEO_RECORDING_ENABLED	bool	false	Enable session recording
SORTIE_RECORDING_STORAGE_BACKEND	string	local	Storage backend: local or s3
SORTIE_RECORDING_STORAGE_PATH	string	/data/recordings	Local storage directory
SORTIE_RECORDING_MAX_SIZE_MB	int	500	Maximum upload size in MB
SORTIE_RECORDING_RETENTION_DAYS	int	0	Days to retain recordings (0 = forever)
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_BUCKET	string		S3 bucket name (required for S3 backend)
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_REGION	string	us-east-1	AWS region
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_ENDPOINT	string		Custom S3 endpoint for MinIO
SORTIE_RECORDING_S3_PREFIX	string	recordings/	Key prefix within the bucket

Auto-Record

Administrators can enable automatic recording for all sessions from the Settings tab in the admin panel. When auto-record is active, recording starts as soon as a container session enters the running state. Users can still stop recording manually.

This setting is stored in the database and can be toggled at any time without restarting the server.

Retention Policy

Configure automatic cleanup of old recordings with SORTIE_RECORDING_RETENTION_DAYS:

SORTIE_RECORDING_RETENTION_DAYS=30

When set to a value greater than zero, a cleanup job runs hourly and deletes recordings in the ready state that are older than the configured number of days. Recordings in other states (recording, uploading, failed) are not affected by retention cleanup.

Set to 0 (the default) to keep recordings indefinitely.

Upload Limits

The maximum recording upload size is controlled by SORTIE_RECORDING_MAX_SIZE_MB (default: 500 MB). Uploads exceeding this limit are rejected with a 413 status code. Adjust this based on expected session duration and video quality.

Helm Configuration

The Helm chart exposes recording settings under the recording key in values.yaml:

recording:
  enabled: false
  storageBackend: "local"    # "local" or "s3"
  storagePath: "/data/recordings"
  maxSizeMB: 500
  retentionDays: 0           # 0 = keep forever
  s3:
    bucket: ""
    region: "us-east-1"
    endpoint: ""             # Custom S3 endpoint (MinIO)
    prefix: "recordings/"

Set recording.enabled: true and configure the storage backend for your environment.

Managing Recordings

Administrators can view and manage all recordings across all users from the Recordings tab in the admin panel. The admin view shows:

• Recording ID and associated session
• User who created the recording
• Recording duration and file size
• Current status

Administrators can download or delete any recording regardless of ownership. Regular users can only manage their own recordings.