An AI interview assistant on Linux: what works today and what doesn't
Look for an AI interview assistant on Linux and you mostly find download buttons for macOS and Windows. Interview Copilot now ships a Linux build. It is a beta, and one feature that matters a lot on the other two platforms does not work on Linux at all. This page says exactly what works, what does not, and why.
What works on Linux today
- Hearing the interviewer. The app captures the system audio of the call, so it hears the other side of Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or any browser call. It works on both PulseAudio and PipeWire. You do not need a virtual cable or a loopback module.
- Answers without a hotkey. When the interviewer finishes a question, the answer starts on screen by itself, the same as on macOS and Windows.
- Coding rounds. A screenshot of the task is solved on screen: LeetCode-style problems, unfinished code in an editor, SQL, stack traces.
- Two architectures. There are AppImage builds for 64-bit Intel/AMD and for ARM64.
We tested the build on Ubuntu 24.04 in an X11 session: the full automatic answer flow, the hotkeys and the screenshot capture.
What does not work: invisibility on screen share
On macOS and Windows, the overlay is excluded from screen capture. When you share your screen, the interviewer does not see it. On Linux this is not possible. Neither X11 nor Wayland gives an application a way to hide its own window from screen capture. This is a limit of the operating system, not a setting we forgot to turn on.
In practice, if you share your entire screen on Linux, the overlay is in the picture. Two habits reduce the risk:
- Share one window or one browser tab instead of the whole screen. Other windows usually stay out of the shared feed.
- Use a second monitor for the overlay and share only the first one.
Check either setup in a test call with a friend before a real interview. What ends up in the shared feed depends on the call app and the desktop environment, and a test call is the only reliable answer.
X11 or Wayland
Use an X11 session for now. That is where the build was tested end to end. Wayland routes screen and audio capture through a separate system portal, and we have not verified that path yet. If the app does not hear the call on Wayland, log out and choose the X11 session on the login screen. On Ubuntu it is called "Ubuntu on Xorg".
How to install it
- Download the AppImage for your architecture from the download section.
- Make it executable: right-click, Properties, "Allow executing file as program". In a terminal, use
chmod +xon the file. - Run it. AppImages rely on FUSE, which most desktop distributions already have. If the file does not start, install the FUSE package from your distribution.
The free tier is the same on every platform and does not ask for a card.
Who the Linux build is for
It fits well when the interview does not involve sharing your whole screen: phone screens, behavioral rounds, calls where you only share a code editor window or a browser tab. It is a poor fit for a round where the interviewer asks you to share the entire desktop. For that round, use macOS or Windows, where the overlay stays out of the shared feed.
FAQ
Is Interview Copilot invisible on screen share on Linux?
No. X11 and Wayland do not let an application exclude its window from screen capture, so the overlay appears if you share the entire screen. Share a single window or tab, or keep the overlay on a second monitor, and check the setup in a test call first.
Does it work on Wayland?
It was tested on Ubuntu 24.04 in an X11 session. The Wayland capture path has not been verified yet. If the app does not hear the call on Wayland, switch to the X11 session at login, called "Ubuntu on Xorg" on Ubuntu.
Do I need a virtual audio cable on Linux?
No. The app reads the system audio directly, on both PulseAudio and PipeWire, so it hears the other side of the call without any extra audio routing.