app/capture.js

@@ -557,31 +557,29 @@ class CaptureService {
   async frameForClick(clickPos = null, clickAt = Date.now()) {
     const mode = this.settings.get('capture.mode') || 'fullscreen';
     const grabMode = mode === 'region' ? 'fullscreen' : mode;
-    const rawClickTime = Number.isFinite(clickAt) ? clickAt : Date.now();
+    const clickTime = Number.isFinite(clickAt) ? clickAt : Date.now();
-    // Click lead: aim selection at a moment slightly *before* the hook
+    // Click lead: prefer a frame captured a little *before* the hook
     // timestamp. The hook fires on button-down, but the visible UI often
-    // starts reacting within a frame or two of that (hover→press states,
+    // starts reacting within a frame or two (hover→press states, the cursor
-    // the cursor settling), and capture-stream pixels lag the real screen
+    // settling) and capture-stream pixels lag the real screen slightly, so a
-    // by a frame. Targeting clickTime - leadMs keeps the saved screenshot
+    // frame timestamped right at the click can still show the click's onset.
-    // clear of the click's own onset so the step shows the screen the user
+    // The lead is a *preference*: selection falls back to any pre-click
-    // was about to act on. Tunable via capture.clickLeadMs.
+    // frame when none is old enough, so it never forces a post-click fresh
+    // shot. Tunable via capture.clickLeadMs.
     const leadMs = Math.max(0, Number(this.settings.get('capture.clickLeadMs')) || 0);
-    const clickTime = rawClickTime - leadMs;
     const strict = this.strictClickFrames();
     const opts = {
       clickAt: clickTime,
+      leadMs,
       clickPos,
       mode: grabMode,
       strict,
-      // The lead shifts the target earlier, so widen the staleness budget by
+      maxAgeMs: CLICK_FRAME_MAX_AGE_MS,
-      // the same amount — a frame that was fresh enough for the real click
-      // is still fresh enough for the lead-adjusted target.
-      maxAgeMs: CLICK_FRAME_MAX_AGE_MS + leadMs,
       startSlackMs: CLICK_FRAME_START_SLACK_MS,
     };
 
     if (this.streamBackend && this.streamBackend.isActive() && grabMode === 'fullscreen') {
-      const frame = await this.streamBackend.frameForClick({ clickPos, clickAt: clickTime, strict });
+      const frame = await this.streamBackend.frameForClick({ clickPos, clickAt: clickTime, strict, leadMs });
       if (frame) return frame;
       // No qualifying frame (or the backend just went unhealthy): fall
       // through to the loop buffer / fresh-shot fallbacks below.

app/click-frames.js

@@ -125,14 +125,7 @@ function frameUsableForClick(frame, {
   return startedAt <= clickTime + startSlackMs;
 }
 
-/**
+function newestUsableFrame(frames, opts) {
- * Best already-buffered frame for a click: the newest frame that qualifies
- * under frameUsableForClick. Buffered frames are by definition completed, so
- * in-flight acceptance never applies here. Returns null when nothing
- * qualifies and the caller must wait for the in-flight grab or fall back to
- * a fresh shot.
- */
-function selectFrameForClick(frames, opts = {}) {
   let best = null;
   for (const frame of frames || []) {
     if (!frameUsableForClick(frame, { ...opts, allowInFlight: false })) continue;
@@ -141,6 +134,34 @@ function selectFrameForClick(frames, opts = {}) {
   return best;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Best already-buffered frame for a click, in two tiers:
+ *  1. with a click lead (opts.leadMs > 0): the newest frame captured at least
+ *     leadMs *before* the click, so the step shows the screen the user was
+ *     about to act on — clear of the click's own onset;
+ *  2. failing that, the newest frame captured before the click at all.
+ *
+ * The two tiers matter for correctness, not just polish: the lead is a
+ * *preference*, never a hard gate. If it were a gate, a click with no frame
+ * old enough to satisfy the lead would fall through to the caller's fresh
+ * shot — which captures the screen *after* the click. The tier-2 fallback
+ * guarantees that as long as any pre-click frame exists, we use it rather
+ * than shooting post-click. Buffered frames are always completed, so
+ * in-flight acceptance never applies here.
+ */
+function selectFrameForClick(frames, opts = {}) {
+  const leadMs = Math.max(0, Number(opts.leadMs) || 0);
+  const clickAt = Number.isFinite(opts.clickAt) ? opts.clickAt : Date.now();
+  if (leadMs > 0) {
+    // Widen the staleness budget by the lead so a frame that was fresh
+    // enough for the real click is still fresh enough for the lead target.
+    const maxAgeMs = (opts.maxAgeMs == null ? DEFAULT_MAX_AGE_MS : opts.maxAgeMs) + leadMs;
+    const led = newestUsableFrame(frames, { ...opts, clickAt: clickAt - leadMs, maxAgeMs });
+    if (led) return led;
+  }
+  return newestUsableFrame(frames, { ...opts, clickAt });
+}
+
 const api = {
   FrameRing,
   frameUsableForClick,

app/renderer/capture-worker.js

@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@
     await sampleFrame(state);
     const frame = StepForgeClickFrames.selectFrameForClick(state.ring.frames(), {
       clickAt: cmd.clickAt,
+      leadMs: cmd.leadMs || 0,
       mode: 'fullscreen',
       strict: cmd.strict !== false,
     });

app/stream-backend.js

@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class StreamCaptureBackend {
    * Resolves null when no frame qualifies (caller falls back) — and also on
    * timeout, which additionally counts toward unhealthiness.
    */
-  frameForClick({ clickPos = null, clickAt = Date.now(), strict = true } = {}) {
+  frameForClick({ clickPos = null, clickAt = Date.now(), strict = true, leadMs = 0 } = {}) {
     if (!this.active || !this.host) return Promise.resolve(null);
     const displays = [...this.streams.values()].filter((s) => s.ready).map((s) => s.display);
     const display = clickPos ? displayForDipPoint(clickPos, displays) : (displays[0] || null);
@@ -234,6 +234,7 @@ class StreamCaptureBackend {
         displayId: display.id,
         clickAt,
         strict,
+        leadMs,
       });
     });
   }

docs/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -24,10 +24,12 @@ Keep-a-Changelog conventions; versions follow semver.
   - Physical→DIP coordinate conversion is multi-monitor and scale-factor
     aware (`screen.screenToDipPoint` on Windows, display-geometry math
     elsewhere), fixing marker drift on displays scaled away from 100%.
-  - A configurable click-lead (`capture.clickLeadMs`, default 120ms) targets
+  - A configurable click-lead (`capture.clickLeadMs`, default 120ms) prefers
-    the screen just before each click so the saved step shows what the user
+    a frame captured a little before each click so the saved step shows what
-    was about to act on, not the click's onset; the stream sampling cadence
+    the user was about to act on, not the click's onset; the stream sampling
-    was tightened to 50ms so a frame near that target always exists.
+    cadence was tightened to 50ms so a frame near that target always exists.
+    The lead is a preference, not a gate: selection falls back to the newest
+    frame still before the click, so it never forces a post-click screenshot.
 
 ### Fixed
 

tests/unit/capture.test.js

@@ -798,8 +798,8 @@ test('click frames come from the stream backend when it is active', async () =>
 
   assert.equal(result.ok, true);
   assert.deepEqual(added, ['stream-frame']);
-  assert.deepEqual(requests, [{ clickPos: { x: 10, y: 10 }, clickAt, strict: true }],
+  assert.deepEqual(requests, [{ clickPos: { x: 10, y: 10 }, clickAt, strict: true, leadMs: 0 }],
-    'the worker receives the hook-time click timestamp and strictness');
+    'the worker receives the hook-time click timestamp, strictness, and lead');
 });
 
 test('a stream backend with no qualifying frame falls through to the fresh-shot path', async () => {

tests/unit/click-frames.test.js

@@ -124,6 +124,39 @@ test('frames of the wrong capture mode are rejected', () => {
   assert.equal(frameUsableForClick(f, { clickAt, mode: 'window' }), true);
 });
 
+test('the click lead prefers a frame captured at least leadMs before the click', () => {
+  const clickAt = 10_000;
+  const frames = [
+    frame('with-margin', { startedAt: 9780, capturedAt: 9800 }), // 200ms before
+    frame('right-at-click', { startedAt: 9970, capturedAt: 9985 }), // 15ms before
+  ];
+
+  const chosen = selectFrameForClick(frames, { clickAt, mode: 'fullscreen', strict: true, leadMs: 120 });
+
+  assert.equal(chosen.name, 'with-margin',
+    'with a lead, the frame clear of the click onset wins over the one right at it');
+});
+
+test('the click lead falls back to any pre-click frame rather than forcing a post-click shot', () => {
+  // The whole point of the two-tier rule: when nothing satisfies the lead,
+  // we still return a pre-click frame (caller would otherwise fresh-shot
+  // *after* the click). Only "right-before" exists here.
+  const clickAt = 10_000;
+  const frames = [frame('right-before', { startedAt: 9960, capturedAt: 9980 })];
+
+  const chosen = selectFrameForClick(frames, { clickAt, mode: 'fullscreen', strict: true, leadMs: 120 });
+
+  assert.equal(chosen.name, 'right-before');
+});
+
+test('the click lead still returns null when no frame precedes the click at all', () => {
+  const clickAt = 10_000;
+  const frames = [frame('after', { startedAt: 10_050, capturedAt: 10_080 })];
+
+  assert.equal(selectFrameForClick(frames, { clickAt, strict: true, leadMs: 120 }), null,
+    'a post-click frame is never selected; the caller takes the fresh-shot fallback');
+});
+
 test('a frame without startedAt falls back to capturedAt for the strict check', () => {
   const clickAt = 10_000;
   const before = frame('legacy-before', { capturedAt: 9950 });