It would be destructive, but still closer to how non-destructive editing works, but it goes along the line what you want. There’s also Photoflow plugin for GIMP.
I believe so. That is partly why I use it.
@gadolf This is what users coming from the PS, which has adjustment and smart layers, would complain about. Alternatively, you could do curves, exposure and saturation within raw processors like RawTherapee, darktable and PhotoFlow.
So, for photography at least, when would I use Gimp in the workflow, if I don’t want it destructive at some point?
Well, I am not as fluent in any of the apps as many people on the forum. In my workflow, I tend to go back and forth between them to take advantage of each. The key is to know what to export so as to maintain the highest fidelity per transfer. E.g., PhotoFlow → GIMP ⇔ G’MIC → RawTherapee → etc.
I use a combination of RawTherapee, Krita, and GIMP myself. RawTherapee for RAW processing, Krita for LAB, and RGB mixed editing, and GIMP for LCH blending modes. In very rare cases, I would use Krita for CMYK editing for certain color effects, and I have done that for photography restoration by manipulating the K channel.
I try to stay in the raw processor as long as possible. Gimp is for lots of cloning/healing, skin retouching, other wavelet operations not doable in the raw processor, image blending, etc.
The latest versions of Gimp 2.9.9 memorize the last settings of curves, levels …
:o)
Here is a short video illustrating the memorization of settings with Gimp 2.9.9
:o)
https://filebin.net/x6qgsmiv93uiqf90/gimp-2.9.9_memo_courbes.mp4
@samj @Morgan_Hardwood Thanks for the videos.
Settings memorization is no longer an issue to me, but its destructive nature, which, by the way, is apparent in those videos.
If I’m not wrong, that’s not different from PS, whose filters are also destructive as far as I know,
Except that you can use smart objects, where (again, if I’m not wrong) you save filter settings without applying them permanently.
Anyway, I consider this question answered.
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Your conclusion about viewing the Gimp 2.9.9 video is wrong.
You mix the settings of the filters, the application of the filters, the storage means.
Your question was: Is there a way to reuse previous tool settings?
The answer is yes.
:o)
@gadolf No, PS’s adjustment layers are non-destructive. Smart objects are embedded PSDs.
@Morgan_Hardwood @samj Nice videos. Very easy to follow. 
What apps and video formats do you use?
@samj I believe that @gadolf posed two questions in his original post. The second being
@afre
I am on Windows.
To record videos I use VirtualDub or Camstudio depending on the case.
I compress in mp4 with FFMPEG used on the command line.
:o)
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Yes, PS filter layers are nondestructive. PS doesn’t offer nondestructive filter masks like Affinity Photo or Krita except for smart objects. PS Smart filter works in a fundamentally different way, but same concept.
Also, PS smart objects can be in different formats like PNG or SVG. Krita has something similar called file layer. PS smart object with file reference = File Layer+Transform Mask.
Blockquote Your conclusion about viewing the Gimp 2.9.9 video is wrong.
You mix the settings of the filters, the application of the filters, the storage means.
Blockquote Your question was: Is there a way to reuse previous tool settings?
The answer is yes.
Agreed.
@afre If I may, I suggest OBS Studio. It’s open source, for free, works both on WIndows and Linux, and beside recording screencasts, it also streams video very easily.
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@Reptorian The interface is different. You can mask the filter layers just as any layer. In any case, it is good that non-destructive editing is coming to GIMP someday.
@samj @gadolf Thanks for the suggestions. I will give the apps a try. However, I am still not confident enough to make any tutorials let alone video ones 
.
@afre That’s not what I mean by filter mask. Filter mask is kind like filter layer, but under a layer instead of over the layer. A lot like smart filter, but they have their own transparency mask much like filter layer. Smart filter is kinda like G’MIC filter mask. It’s sometimes faster to use filter mask because you aren’t adding more layer, but rather using filters on a layer directly.
@afre nowadays I use Simple Screen Recorder, and save to H.264 using a CRF of 23 (though H.265 is better - maybe I will use it next time and see if anyone has trouble playing it).
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I was practising your suggestion on luminosity masks on Gimp.
As a matter of fact, it was giving me excellent results, since lm were providing the punch that I wasn’t able to get from RT.
But then I came across the need to go back and forth to the tools settings I was applying on each layer and the need to recover the last applied settings, so that I could restart from there, hence I started this thread.
EDIT: Not sure how you’d normally use the tools, but my work flows have plenty back-and-forths, usually spread over many days, so, the easiest way to work like that is by using smart objects and smart filters, which allow me to return to the settings and do small adjustments until I’m satisfied.
From what’s been said in this thread, I understood that these settings iterations on gimp are destructive, and thus should be avoided.