---
title: "Start a recording"
method: POST
path: "/v1/phones/{id}/recordings"
tags: ["recordings"]
---

# Start a recording

`POST /v1/phones/{id}/recordings`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://phonebox.dev`
- URL: `https://phonebox.dev/v1/phones/{id}/recordings`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Starts recording the phone's screen. One recording runs at a time per phone; a project keeps at most 20, each deleted 7 days after it starts.

## Path parameters

- `id` string, required

## Request body

- object
  - `name` string: A name to tell the recording apart, up to 80 characters.

## Response `201`

The recording, now recording.

- Recording
  - `object` 'recording', required
  - `id` string, required
  - `phone` string, required
  - `name` string, nullable, required
  - `status` 'recording' | 'processing' | 'ready' | 'failed', required: recording, then processing once stopped, then ready to download; or failed.
  - `started_at` string, date-time, required: ISO 8601 timestamp (UTC)
  - `ended_at` string, date-time, nullable, required: ISO 8601 timestamp (UTC)
  - `duration_ms` integer, nullable, required
  - `size_bytes` integer, nullable, required
  - `expires_at` string, date-time, required: When Phonebox deletes the recording: 7 days after it started.

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid request; details.issues lists each problem as {path, message}
- `401`: Missing or invalid key
- `402`: Insufficient credits, spending limit reached, or the project is frozen
- `403`: Insufficient scope, a phone this key can't use, a browser request, or a setup request that was declined
- `404`: Not found
- `409`: Conflict: the phone's status doesn't allow this, a phone limit is reached, the Idempotency-Key was used with another body, another install is still running on the phone, a newer version of the app is on the phone, an upload that isn't ready, the project's upload storage is full, the clipboard can't be read, a recording is already running or isn't ready, the project keeps 20 recordings, a setup request that expired or already delivered its key, the project has 50 active keys
- `413`: Body too large
- `422`: The request can't be applied, such as an app that isn't in Phonebox's app library, a file that isn't an APK, an install the phone refused, or a feature this phone doesn't offer (feature_unavailable)
- `429`: Rate limited
- `500`: Unexpected server error; keep the request ID
- `502`: The phone service returned an error, or didn't confirm the action
- `503`: No capacity, the phone is briefly unavailable, Phonebox is paused, or payments aren't connected. A batch refused with this error body did nothing on the phone; a 502 or 504 without it, from a proxy or the platform, leaves the outcome unknown.
- `504`: The phone didn't respond in time

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/phonebox/apis/phonebox-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/phonebox/apis/phonebox-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/phonebox/apis/phonebox-api/revisions/87eb2f5211b2?raw)