diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/grimshot.nix b/hosts/common/programs/grimshot.nix
index 81a053ea4..a3ce1d47b 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs/grimshot.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/grimshot.nix
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@
       "wl-clipboard"
     ];
     sandbox.keepPids = true;  #< needed by wl-clipboard
-    sandbox.whitelistWayland = true;
     sandbox.whitelistDbus = [ "user" ];
+    sandbox.whitelistWayland = true;
+    sandbox.extraRuntimePaths = [
+      "sway"
+    ];
     sandbox.autodetectCliPaths = "existingFileOrParent";
   };
 }
diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/sane-screenshot.nix b/hosts/common/programs/sane-screenshot.nix
index fcbcd11df..fcc5c9fc0 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs/sane-screenshot.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/sane-screenshot.nix
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 { ... }:
 {
   sane.programs.sane-screenshot = {
-    sandbox.whitelistWayland = true;
     sandbox.whitelistDbus = [ "user" ];  #< to send notifications
+    sandbox.whitelistWayland = true;
     sandbox.extraHomePaths = [
       "Pictures/Screenshots"
     ];
+    sandbox.extraRuntimePaths = [
+      "sway"
+    ];
     sandbox.keepPidsAndProc = true;  #< it's required (to copy to the clipboard), but unsure why
     suggestedPrograms = [
+      "grim"
+      "jq"
       "libnotify"
+      "slurp"
       "swappy"
-      "sway-contrib.grimshot"
+      # "sway-contrib.grimshot"
       "util-linux"
       "wl-clipboard"
     ];
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/package.nix
index 1503fcf8d..2b362e352 100644
--- a/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/package.nix
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/package.nix
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 static-nix-shell.mkBash {
   pname = "sane-screenshot";
   srcRoot = ./.;
-  pkgs = [ "libnotify" "swappy" "sway-contrib.grimshot" "util-linux" "wl-clipboard" ];
+  pkgs = [ "grim" "jq" "libnotify" "slurp" "swappy" "sway" "util-linux" "wl-clipboard" ];
   nativeBuildInputs = [
     copyDesktopItems
   ];
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/sane-screenshot b/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/sane-screenshot
index b516f07ee..c5001006a 100755
--- a/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/sane-screenshot
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/sane-screenshot/sane-screenshot
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
-#!nix-shell -i bash -p bash -p libnotify -p swappy -p sway-contrib.grimshot -p util-linux -p wl-clipboard
+#!nix-shell -i bash -p bash -p grim -p jq -p libnotify -p slurp -p swappy -p sway -p util-linux -p wl-clipboard
 
 # loosely inspired by reddit user u/dragobich
 # - <https://www.reddit.com/r/hyprland/comments/12tal0f/comment/jh8j4sy/>
@@ -9,6 +9,39 @@ TIMEOUT=6
 OUTDIR="$HOME/Pictures/Screenshots"
 DATEFMT='%Y-%m-%d-%Hh%Mm%S'
 
+log() {
+  if [ -n "$SCREENSHOT_DEBUG" ]; then
+    echo "$@" >&2
+  fi
+}
+
+takeInitialShot() {
+  local dest="$1"
+
+  # grimshot savecopy anything "$dest"
+  # XXX(2024-12-13): slurp has a bug on moby such that it errors "selection cancelled"
+  # when the user clicks just a single point on the screen -- rather than selecting the whole window.
+  # hence, i'm inlining the parts of grimshot -- which call into slurp -- and reworking those, to workaround.
+  local all_objs=$(swaymsg -t get_tree)
+  log "got objects"
+  local visible_objs=$(echo "$all_objs" | jq -r '.. | select(.pid? and .visible?) | .rect | "\(.x),\(.y) \(.width)x\(.height)"')
+  log "visible objects: $visible_objs"
+  local selected_geom=$(echo "$visible_objs" | slurp -o)
+  log "selected: $selected_geom"
+  if [ -n "$selected_geom" ]; then
+    grim -g "$selected_geom" "$dest"
+  else
+    log "capturing whole screen"
+    grim "$dest"
+  fi
+
+  if [ -f "$dest" ]; then
+    # conditional to avoid clearing the clipboard on error
+    log "copying image/png to clipboard"
+    wl-copy --type image/png < "$dest"
+  fi
+}
+
 notify() {
   local fullPath="$1"
   # replace $HOME with ~:
@@ -29,6 +62,10 @@ handleAction() {
   local fullPath="$2"
   case "$action" in
     Edit)
+      # if the user's editing the image, then the image-data we just copied to the clipboard will be stale.
+      # copy the image path instead, so that we give them an object that will reflect the edited image.
+      # if they want image-data on the clipboard, they can use the button inside swappy.
+      wl-copy "$fullPath"
       # the save button in swappy seems to be broken (?),
       # but with --output-file it'll save on exit.
       swappy --file "$fullPath" --output-file "$fullPath"
@@ -57,7 +94,7 @@ delayedCancel() {
 name="$(date "+$DATEFMT").png"
 dest="$OUTDIR/$name"
 
-grimshot savecopy anything "$dest"
+takeInitialShot "$dest"
 
 notify "$dest" &
 printf "screenshot copied and saved to %q\n" "$dest"