# hexgrab: rebuilding a color picker from a REA study of PowerToys

> hexgrab is a Windows WPF color picker built after a REA investigation of the shipped PowerToys Color Picker. The author documents findings from its .NET and native DLLs, including timer-based pixel sampling and clipboard retries, then implements a smaller picker with a global hotkey, screen overlay and HEX copying.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: App · Binary
- Category: Community REA investigations
- Relationship: Author-reported mixed workflow
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-08
- Original resource: <https://github.com/iammukeshm/hexgrab>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/iammukeshm/hexgrab/blob/511c58078776af4fb0d2e3601e098f98e9f90c9a/docs/rea-findings.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/hexgrab-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/hexgrab-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/hexgrab-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Windows 10 or 11 x64; building from source requires the .NET 10 SDK.
- **Testing evidence:** The author reports testing on one monitor at 125% scale; mixed-scale multi-monitor behavior remains untested on hardware.
- **Scope:** The picker outputs HEX only.
- **License:** MIT license.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/iammukeshm/hexgrab/blob/511c58078776af4fb0d2e3601e098f98e9f90c9a/docs/rea-findings.md>
2. <https://github.com/iammukeshm/hexgrab/blob/511c58078776af4fb0d2e3601e098f98e9f90c9a/README.md>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.