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CLI Recording (VHS) 📟

The Project Showcase Skill uses VHS from the Charmbracelet team to generate high-fidelity GIFs of terminal sessions.

How it Works

  1. Tape Generation: The agent dynamically generates a .tape script based on the CLI commands you want to demo.
  2. VHS Execution: VHS reads the script, spawns a virtual terminal, "types" the commands, and records the output.
  3. GIF Generation: VHS then processes the recording into a high-quality GIF, perfectly sized for the GitHub README.

VHS Script (record_cli.tape)

A sample script for VHS might look like this:

Output showcase/cli_power_demo.gif

Set Shell "zsh"
Set FontSize 24
Set Width 1200
Set Height 600

Type "pip install project-showcase" Enter
Sleep 1s
Type "project-showcase --audit" Enter
Sleep 5s

Best Practices

  • Sleep Intervals: Use Sleep to give the viewer time to read the output.
  • Set Dimensions: Explicitly set the width and height to ensure the GIF fits the README perfectly.
  • Font Size: Use a large font size (e.g., 22+) so the recording is readable on mobile screens.