diff --git a/app/components-react/highlighter/ImportStream.tsx b/app/components-react/highlighter/ImportStream.tsx
index 10bf49d3cced..8440d08c1996 100644
--- a/app/components-react/highlighter/ImportStream.tsx
+++ b/app/components-react/highlighter/ImportStream.tsx
@@ -147,15 +147,17 @@ export function ImportStreamModal({
         return;
       }
 
-      // If Replay isn't installed yet, defer the import: stash the details, kick off the
-      // install, and replay it via onInstallComplete. This keeps every entry point (Go-live
-      // and the Highlighter page) on the same flow — game + title first, install second,
-      // then Replay opens directly on the import screen with the game and video.
+      // If Replay isn't installed yet, hand the import to the installer instead of deeplinking
+      // it: the video and game go into the install origin marker, and Replay picks them up on
+      // its first launch. This keeps every entry point (Go-live and the Highlighter page) on the
+      // same flow — game + title first, install second, then Replay opens directly on the import
+      // screen with the game and video. pendingImport is only kept so a retry writes the same
+      // marker and so onInstallComplete can close this modal.
       const isInstalled = await HighlighterService.isStreamlabsReplayInstalled();
       if (!isInstalled) {
         setPendingImport({ game, filePath: filePath[0], streamId: id });
         setShowingInstallFlow(true);
-        HighlighterService.installStreamlabsReplay();
+        HighlighterService.actions.installStreamlabsReplay({ videoPath: filePath[0], game });
         return;
       }
 
@@ -183,6 +185,11 @@ export function ImportStreamModal({
     return (
       <MigrationNotice
         variant="modal"
+        installOriginMetadata={
+          pendingImport
+            ? { videoPath: pendingImport.filePath, game: pendingImport.game }
+            : undefined
+        }
         onCancel={() => {
           setShowingInstallFlow(false);
           closeModal(true);
@@ -191,15 +198,19 @@ export function ImportStreamModal({
           setReplayInstalled(true);
           setShowingInstallFlow(false);
 
-          // If there's a pending import, execute it now
+          // Deliberately no import deeplink here. The install origin marker already carried the
+          // video and game, and Replay acts on it when the installer launches it, so sending the
+          // link as well would open the same import a second time. Only the tracking the
+          // deeplink would have recorded is kept.
           if (pendingImport) {
-            HighlighterService.actions.openReplayImport(
-              pendingImport.filePath,
-              pendingImport.game,
+            UsageStatisticsService.recordAnalyticsEvent('AIHighlighter', {
+              type: 'ReplayImport',
               openedFrom,
-              pendingImport.streamId,
-              inputValue,
-            );
+              streamId: pendingImport.streamId,
+              game: pendingImport.game,
+              // Separates marker hand-offs from deeplinked imports in the ReplayImport numbers
+              via: 'install-marker',
+            });
             setPendingImport(null);
             closeModal(false);
           }
diff --git a/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/MigrationNotice.tsx b/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/MigrationNotice.tsx
index 654bef52fa6e..95e9d706ec1e 100644
--- a/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/MigrationNotice.tsx
+++ b/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/MigrationNotice.tsx
@@ -3,12 +3,15 @@ import { Services } from 'components-react/service-provider';
 import ModalInstallationFlow from './ModalInstallationFlow';
 import PageInstallationFlow from './PageInstallationFlow';
 import { EAvailableFeatures } from 'services/incremental-rollout';
+import { IReplayInstallOriginMetadata } from 'services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models';
 
 interface IMigrationNoticeProps {
   variant?: 'page' | 'modal';
   onShowAllClips?: () => void;
   onCancel?: () => void;
   onInstallComplete?: () => void;
+  /** Hand-off data for the install origin marker, used when the user retries a failed install. */
+  installOriginMetadata?: IReplayInstallOriginMetadata;
 }
 
 export default function MigrationNotice(props: IMigrationNoticeProps) {
@@ -37,7 +40,11 @@ export default function MigrationNotice(props: IMigrationNoticeProps) {
 
   if (variant === 'modal') {
     return (
-      <ModalInstallationFlow onCancel={handleCancel} onInstallComplete={props.onInstallComplete} />
+      <ModalInstallationFlow
+        onCancel={handleCancel}
+        onInstallComplete={props.onInstallComplete}
+        installOriginMetadata={props.installOriginMetadata}
+      />
     );
   }
 
diff --git a/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/ModalInstallationFlow.tsx b/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/ModalInstallationFlow.tsx
index 3bb302d97f37..b33bcc609fde 100644
--- a/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/ModalInstallationFlow.tsx
+++ b/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/ModalInstallationFlow.tsx
@@ -7,10 +7,14 @@ import { $t } from 'services/i18n';
 import Translate from 'components-react/shared/Translate';
 import SectionHeader from './SectionHeader';
 import { useInstallState, getStatusText } from './useInstallState';
+import { IReplayInstallOriginMetadata } from 'services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models';
 
 interface IModalInstallationFlowProps {
   onCancel: () => void;
   onInstallComplete?: () => void;
+  /** Hand-off data for the install origin marker, so a retry writes the same marker as the first
+   * attempt. */
+  installOriginMetadata?: IReplayInstallOriginMetadata;
 }
 
 export default function ModalInstallationFlow(props: IModalInstallationFlowProps) {
@@ -23,7 +27,7 @@ export default function ModalInstallationFlow(props: IModalInstallationFlowProps
     handleOpenOrInstall,
     handleRetry,
     handleCancel,
-  } = useInstallState();
+  } = useInstallState(props.installOriginMetadata);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (step === 'done' && props.onInstallComplete) {
diff --git a/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/useInstallState.ts b/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/useInstallState.ts
index 580b04d9e4e0..880de45c87c8 100644
--- a/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/useInstallState.ts
+++ b/app/components-react/highlighter/migration/useInstallState.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,18 @@
 import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
 import { Services } from 'components-react/service-provider';
 import { useVuex } from 'components-react/hooks';
-import { EReplayInstallStep } from 'services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models';
+import {
+  EReplayInstallStep,
+  IReplayInstallOriginMetadata,
+} from 'services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models';
 import { REPLAY_APP_NAME } from 'services/highlighter/constants';
 import { $t } from 'services/i18n';
 
-export function useInstallState() {
+/**
+ * @param installOriginMetadata - Hand-off data for the install origin marker, passed on again when
+ * the user retries a failed install so the retry writes the same marker as the first attempt.
+ */
+export function useInstallState(installOriginMetadata?: IReplayInstallOriginMetadata) {
   const { HighlighterService } = Services;
 
   const [isInstalled, setIsInstalled] = useState<boolean | null>(null);
@@ -37,7 +44,7 @@ export function useInstallState() {
   }
 
   function handleRetry() {
-    HighlighterService.actions.installStreamlabsReplay();
+    HighlighterService.actions.installStreamlabsReplay(installOriginMetadata);
   }
 
   function handleCancel() {
diff --git a/app/services/highlighter/constants.ts b/app/services/highlighter/constants.ts
index 8d4d7bb6792f..a81caae615d7 100644
--- a/app/services/highlighter/constants.ts
+++ b/app/services/highlighter/constants.ts
@@ -41,3 +41,14 @@ export const HIGHLIGHTER_SETUP_URL_PRODUCTION =
 export const REPLAY_PROTOCOL = 'streamlabs-highlighter';
 export const REPLAY_APP_NAME = 'Streamlabs Highlighter';
 export const REPLAY_SETUP_EXE_NAME = 'Streamlabs Highlighter-Setup.exe';
+
+// Origin slug Replay attributes an install to when Streamlabs Desktop installed it.
+export const REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN = 'sl_desktop';
+
+// The install origin marker is a hand-off file, so it lives in the current user's temp directory
+// (%TEMP%\Streamlabs_Highlighter\install-origin.json) rather than in either app's data directory. It has to
+// work before Replay is installed at all, and Replay deletes it as soon as it has been read.
+// Deliberately not derived from REPLAY_APP_NAME: this directory name is a contract with Replay and
+// does not follow the app rename.
+export const REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN_DIR_NAME = 'Streamlabs_Highlighter';
+export const REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN_FILE_NAME = 'install-origin.json';
diff --git a/app/services/highlighter/index.ts b/app/services/highlighter/index.ts
index 6c6d5ce6fe62..416e7ff4808b 100644
--- a/app/services/highlighter/index.ts
+++ b/app/services/highlighter/index.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ import {
   HIGHLIGHTER_SETUP_URL_PRODUCTION,
   REPLAY_PROTOCOL,
   REPLAY_SETUP_EXE_NAME,
+  REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN,
+  REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN_DIR_NAME,
+  REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN_FILE_NAME,
 } from './constants';
 import { pmap } from 'util/pmap';
 import { RenderingClip } from './rendering/rendering-clip';
@@ -55,6 +58,7 @@ import {
   EHighlighterView,
   ITempRecordingInfo,
   IReplayInstallState,
+  IReplayInstallOriginMetadata,
   EReplayInstallStep,
   TOpenedFrom,
 } from './models/highlighter.models';
@@ -507,14 +511,138 @@ export class HighlighterService extends PersistentStatefulService<IHighlighterSt
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Dev-only escape hatch for testing the install flow against a locally built Replay installer
+   * instead of the CDN one. Set HIGHLIGHTER_LOCAL_SETUP_PATH to the setup exe before launching, e.g.
+   *
+   *   set "HIGHLIGHTER_LOCAL_SETUP_PATH=C:\path\to\Streamlabs Highlighter-0.0.16 Setup.exe"
+   *
+   * Read from remote.process.env at runtime (via Utils.env), so it takes effect on the next
+   * `yarn start` with no rebuild — unlike HIGHLIGHTER_ENV, which webpack bakes in at compile time.
+   *
+   * Gated on dev mode: a local build is not signed by Logitech, so this path skips the Authenticode
+   * check, and that check must stay unconditional in shipped builds.
+   *
+   * Throws if the path is set but missing, rather than silently falling back to the CDN download —
+   * a typo should be visible, not quietly ignored.
+   */
+  private async getLocalReplaySetupPath(): Promise<string | null> {
+    if (!Utils.isDevMode()) return null;
+
+    const configuredPath = Utils.env.HIGHLIGHTER_LOCAL_SETUP_PATH?.trim();
+    if (!configuredPath) return null;
+
+    // Tolerate a value pasted with surrounding quotes, which is easy to do for a path with spaces
+    const setupPath = path.resolve(configuredPath.replace(/^"(.*)"$/, '$1'));
+
+    if (!(await fs.pathExists(setupPath))) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `HIGHLIGHTER_LOCAL_SETUP_PATH is set but no installer exists at "${setupPath}".`,
+      );
+    }
+
+    return setupPath;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Where Replay looks for the install origin marker, given who we are running as.
+   *
+   * Replay reads exactly one location: the current user's temp directory. A parent writing under a
+   * different identity gets a different %TEMP% — SYSTEM and services land in C:\Windows\TEMP or a
+   * profile under the Windows directory — and the marker would sit somewhere Replay never reads.
+   * Elevation alone is fine: "run as administrator" from the user's own account keeps the profile.
+   *
+   * Throws rather than returning a path we know Replay will not read.
+   */
+  private getReplayInstallOriginMarkerPath(): string {
+    const isInside = (child: string, parent: string) => {
+      const relativePath = path.relative(parent, child);
+      return (
+        relativePath !== '' && !relativePath.startsWith('..') && !path.isAbsolute(relativePath)
+      );
+    };
+
+    const temp = remote.app.getPath('temp');
+    const home = remote.app.getPath('home');
+    const systemRoot = remote.process.env.SystemRoot ?? 'C:\\Windows';
+
+    if (!isInside(temp, home) || isInside(home, systemRoot)) {
+      throw new Error(`"${temp}" is not the desktop user's temp directory`);
+    }
+
+    return path.join(temp, REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN_DIR_NAME, REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN_FILE_NAME);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Writes the marker Streamlabs Replay reads on first run to attribute the install to
+   * Streamlabs Desktop.
+   *
+   * Must run before the installer is executed: Squirrel's Setup.exe launches Replay at the end of
+   * the install, so Replay can resolve its origin while our exec call is still pending.
+   *
+   * When the install was triggered from the import dialog, the marker also carries what the user
+   * picked there, under `metadata`: the recording and its game. Those are the exact values Desktop
+   * would otherwise pass via the `import` deeplink once the install finishes, so Replay can see it
+   * coming — the marker is the hand-off for that single import, not a second unrelated one.
+   *
+   * Best-effort by design. Attribution is never worth failing an install over, so every error is
+   * swallowed and only reported to Sentry.
+   */
+  private async writeReplayInstallOriginMarker(
+    metadata?: IReplayInstallOriginMetadata,
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    try {
+      const markerPath = this.getReplayInstallOriginMarkerPath();
+
+      const videoPath = metadata?.videoPath?.trim();
+      const game = metadata?.game;
+
+      // Only carry entries we actually have: an absent key is easier for Replay to reason about
+      // than one holding an empty value.
+      const markerMetadata = {
+        ...(videoPath ? { videoPath } : {}),
+        ...(game ? { game } : {}),
+      };
+      const hasMetadata = Object.keys(markerMetadata).length > 0;
+
+      // outputJson creates the containing directory if it does not exist yet.
+      // `metadata` itself is omitted when there is nothing to hand over, so Replay never has to
+      // tell an empty object apart from a missing one.
+      await fs.outputJson(markerPath, {
+        version: 1,
+        origin: REPLAY_INSTALL_ORIGIN,
+        createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+        ...(hasMetadata ? { metadata: markerMetadata } : {}),
+      });
+
+      // Replay logs the path it looked at on every launch until the origin settles. Two paths that
+      // do not match is the whole diagnosis, so log ours and the identity that wrote it.
+      console.log(
+        `Wrote Streamlabs Replay install origin marker to "${markerPath}" as "${
+          os.userInfo().username
+        }"${hasMetadata ? ` with ${JSON.stringify(markerMetadata)}` : ''}`,
+      );
+    } catch (error: unknown) {
+      Sentry.withScope(scope => {
+        scope.setTag('feature', 'highlighter');
+        scope.setTag('replayInstallPhase', 'write-install-origin');
+        console.error('Failed to write Streamlabs Replay install origin marker:', error);
+      });
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Downloads and installs Streamlabs Replay.
    * Fakes progress increments during the download/install phases,
    * verifies the deeplink registry after install, and auto-launches the app.
+   *
+   * @param originMetadata - Optional hand-off data for the install origin marker: the video and
+   * game the import dialog wants Replay to open with. Passing it here is what replaces the import
+   * deeplink — Replay reads the marker on its first launch, so nothing is sent afterwards.
    */
   private replayInstallAbortController: AbortController | null = null;
 
-  async installStreamlabsReplay(): Promise<boolean> {
+  async installStreamlabsReplay(originMetadata?: IReplayInstallOriginMetadata): Promise<boolean> {
     if (getOS() !== OS.Windows) {
       Sentry.withScope(scope => {
         scope.setTag('feature', 'highlighter');
@@ -551,17 +679,28 @@ export class HighlighterService extends PersistentStatefulService<IHighlighterSt
       // --- Downloading phase ---
       this.SET_REPLAY_INSTALL({ step: 'downloading', progress: 0, error: null });
 
-      const setupUrl = this.getReplaySetupUrl();
+      // Dev only. When set, this is a locally built installer we neither downloaded nor own,
+      // so the download, the signature check and the cleanup below are all skipped for it.
+      const localSetupPath = await this.getLocalReplaySetupPath();
+      let setupPath: string;
 
-      // Download the setup exe to temp directory
-      const tempDir = os.tmpdir();
-      const setupPath = path.join(tempDir, REPLAY_SETUP_EXE_NAME);
+      if (localSetupPath) {
+        console.info('Installing Streamlabs Replay from local build:', localSetupPath);
+        setupPath = localSetupPath;
+        this.setReplayDownloadProgress(94);
+      } else {
+        const setupUrl = this.getReplaySetupUrl();
 
-      await downloadFile(setupUrl, setupPath, (progress: IDownloadProgress) => {
-        // Map download progress to 0-94%
-        const downloadPercent = progress.percent * 94;
-        this.setReplayDownloadProgress(downloadPercent);
-      });
+        // Download the setup exe to temp directory
+        const tempDir = os.tmpdir();
+        setupPath = path.join(tempDir, REPLAY_SETUP_EXE_NAME);
+
+        await downloadFile(setupUrl, setupPath, (progress: IDownloadProgress) => {
+          // Map download progress to 0-94%
+          const downloadPercent = progress.percent * 94;
+          this.setReplayDownloadProgress(downloadPercent);
+        });
+      }
 
       clearProgress();
 
@@ -573,8 +712,18 @@ export class HighlighterService extends PersistentStatefulService<IHighlighterSt
         return false;
       }
 
-      // Verify the Authenticode signature before execution
-      await this.verifyAuthenticodeSignature(setupPath);
+      if (localSetupPath) {
+        // A local build is not signed by Logitech, so the check would always fail here
+        console.warn('Skipping installer signature verification for local Streamlabs Replay build');
+      } else {
+        // Verify the Authenticode signature before execution
+        await this.verifyAuthenticodeSignature(setupPath);
+      }
+
+      // Attribute this install to Streamlabs Desktop before the installer runs, and hand over
+      // whatever we already know about what comes next (the video and game to import).
+      // Best-effort: this never throws and never blocks the install.
+      await this.writeReplayInstallOriginMarker(originMetadata);
 
       // --- Installing phase ---
       this.SET_REPLAY_INSTALL({ step: 'installing', progress: 94 });
@@ -636,11 +785,13 @@ export class HighlighterService extends PersistentStatefulService<IHighlighterSt
         });
       }
 
-      // Clean up setup file
-      try {
-        await fs.remove(setupPath);
-      } catch {
-        // Non-critical cleanup
+      // Clean up setup file. Never for a local build — that is the developer's own artifact.
+      if (!localSetupPath) {
+        try {
+          await fs.remove(setupPath);
+        } catch {
+          // Non-critical cleanup
+        }
       }
 
       // Track installation finished successfully
diff --git a/app/services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models.ts b/app/services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models.ts
index 245ae89168c7..833e0a97f074 100644
--- a/app/services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models.ts
+++ b/app/services/highlighter/models/highlighter.models.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,22 @@ export interface IReplayInstallState {
   error: string | null;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Extra hand-off data written into the install origin marker Replay reads on first run.
+ *
+ * Everything here is optional and best-effort: it describes what Desktop is about to ask Replay
+ * to do once the install finishes, so Replay launch the onboarding with more context.
+ */
+export interface IReplayInstallOriginMetadata {
+  /**
+   * Absolute path of the recording the user picked in the import dialog — the same path Desktop
+   * sends via the `import` deeplink.
+   */
+  videoPath?: string;
+  /** Game the user picked for that recording */
+  game?: EGame;
+}
+
 // CLIP
 export interface INewClipData {
   path: string;
diff --git a/app/services/utils.ts b/app/services/utils.ts
index c54c734089e3..b5776d535aff 100644
--- a/app/services/utils.ts
+++ b/app/services/utils.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ export interface IEnv {
   SLD_GUEST_CAM_HASH: string;
   CI: boolean;
   HIGHLIGHTER_ENV: 'production' | 'staging' | 'local';
+  // Dev only: absolute path to a locally built Streamlabs Replay installer. When set, the Replay
+  // install flow runs that exe instead of downloading one from the CDN.
+  HIGHLIGHTER_LOCAL_SETUP_PATH?: string;
   PRODUCT_UPDATES: boolean;
   AVATAR_ENV?: 'production' | 'staging' | 'local';
 }