Data & control
Your data, close to home.
Your observation settings are yours to control. Yeti Crab stores its app data locally by default; a folder you keep in a sync service may be synced by that service.
This page explains how the desktop app handles data. It is a product explanation, not a legal privacy policy.
At a glance
Local by default
The desktop app does not upload recordings to an application cloud.
Opt-in observation
Nothing is observed until you turn it on, and you can pause it.
Screenshots optional
Periodic screen images only if you enable them — never continuous video.
Not encrypted by the app
Protect the data folder the way you protect other personal files.
01 · What is observed
What the app records — and what it doesn’t.
When observation is on, Yeti Crab can record:
- Foreground application and window titles.
- Labels of supported, accessible controls — never password fields.
- Mouse-click events.
- Sampled PNG screenshots of all connected displays, only if you enable them.
Its activity reader does not record typed text, clipboard content, microphone audio, or the values you enter into fields. An enabled screenshot, however, can show anything visible on screen, including typed text and other sensitive content.
Browser addresses and control labels depend on what each app exposes to Windows accessibility. Available addresses from known browser address bars are sanitized.
02 · Where it is stored
A local folder, not an app cloud.
By default, Yeti Crab keeps its app data in a local .yeti-data folder:
| Location | What it holds |
|---|---|
.yeti-data/state.json | Settings, observations, pattern memory, colonies, and run history. |
.yeti-data/screenshots/ | Optional sampled screen images, if you turn them on. |
.yeti-data/outputs/ | Files your colonies generate, such as reports and drafts. |
.yeti-data/exports/ | Exports you ask for. |
If that folder sits inside OneDrive or another backup or sync service, that service may copy it according to your settings. To keep app data out of a synced location, set YETI_DATA_DIR to a separate folder before launching Yeti Crab.
03 · How long it is kept
Short by default, longer only where it helps.
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Raw observations | 7 days by default. |
| Screen images (if enabled) | 7 days by default. |
| Pattern memory | Compact, normalized records kept up to 90 days so weekly patterns can be found. |
| Generated outputs | Until you remove them. |
| Exports | Until you remove them. |
04 · Your controls
Controls that stay in your hands.
- Opt in and pause. Observation starts only when you turn it on. The app shows when it is active, and you can pause it from the app or with a global shortcut.
- Screen images are optional. Sampled screenshots are off unless you enable them, and you choose the interval.
- App and title exclusions. Exclude apps or window titles from observation. Exclusions apply to the focused window; they cannot redact a sensitive background window that is visible in a full-display screenshot.
- Clear observation history. Removes raw observations, screen images, candidate evidence, and pattern memory. Your saved colonies and run outputs stay.
- Choose where data lives. Set the YETI_DATA_DIR environment variable to a separate, unsynced folder before launching Yeti Crab. Changing it does not move existing data for you.
05 · Limits to know
What Yeti Crab does not do for you.
- It does not encrypt its app data. Treat the data folder like other personal files on your PC.
- Exclusions cannot redact screenshots. A full-display screenshot can include background windows that exclusions do not cover.
- It does not move data when you change folders. Setting
YETI_DATA_DIRaffects where new data goes; existing data stays where it was.
06 · This website
The website is separate from the app.
This page is about the desktop app. Any launch-list signup on this website is separate from the app, and the app does not upload recordings to an application cloud.
Launch-list signup is currently unavailable. Before it opens, how launch-list email addresses are used will be stated next to the form.
See the whole flow.
How observation, local pattern suggestions, approval, and scheduling fit together.