t-rec: Terminal Recorder

Blazingly fast terminal recorder that generates animated gif images for the web written in rust.

Demo

Features

• Screenshotting your terminal with configurable framerate (4-15 fps)
• Generates high quality small sized animated gif images or mp4 videos
• built-in idle frames detection and optimization (for super fluid presentations)
• Applies (can be disabled) border decor effects like drop shadow
• Runs on MacOS, Linux and NetBSD
• Uses native efficient APIs
• Runs without any cloud service and entirely offline
• No issues with terminal sizes larger than 80x24
• No issues with fonts or colors
• No issues with curses based programs
• No issues with escape sequences
• No record and replay - just one simple command to rule them all
• Can record every arbitrary window you want (e.g. browser, ide)
• Written in Rust 🦀

Installation on MacOS

with homebrew

brew install t-rec

with macports

sudo port selfupdate
sudo port install t-rec

with cargo

NOTE t-rec depends on imagemagick.

brew install imagemagick
cargo install -f t-rec

NOTE -f just makes sure the latest version is installed

Installation on Linux

as .deb

sudo apt-get install imagemagick
wget https://github.com/sassman/t-rec-rs/releases/download/v0.5.0/t-rec_0.5.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i t-rec_0.5.0_amd64.deb

as snap

• installation for Linux Mint
• installation for Arch Linux

TL;DR:

sudo snap install t-rec --classic
/snap/bin/t-rec --version
t-rec 0.4.3

from AUR

t-rec can be installed from available AUR packages using an AUR helper. For example,

paru -S t-rec

If you prefer, you can clone the AUR packages and then compile them with makepkg. For example,

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/t-rec.git
cd t-rec
makepkg -si

Installation on NetBSD

pkgin install t-rec

Or, if you prefer to build from source,

cd /usr/pkgsrc/multimedia/t-rec
make install

with cargo

sudo apt-get install libx11-dev imagemagick
cargo install -f t-rec

tested on those distros
ubuntu 20.10 on GNOME
ubuntu 20.10 on i3wm
linux mint 20 on cinnamon
ArcoLinux 5.4 on Xfwm4

Usage

t-rec

or with specifying a different program to launch

t-rec /bin/sh

Full Options

Blazingly fast terminal recorder that generates animated gif images for the web written in rust.

Usage: 

Arguments:
  [PROGRAM]  Shell or program to launch. Defaults to $SHELL

Options:
  -v, --verbose
          Enable verbose insights for the curious
  -q, --quiet
          Quiet mode, suppresses the banner: 'Press Ctrl+D to end recording'
  -m, --video
          Generates additionally to the gif a mp4 video of the recording
  -M, --video-only
          Generates only a mp4 video and not gif
  -d, --decor <DECOR>
          Decorates the animation with certain, mostly border effects [default: none] [possible values: shadow, none]
  -p, --wallpaper <WALLPAPER>
          Wallpaper background. Use 'ventura' for built-in, or provide a path to a custom image (PNG, JPEG, TGA)
      --wallpaper-padding <WALLPAPER_PADDING>
          Padding in pixels around the recording when using --wallpaper [default: 60]
  -b, --bg <BG>
          Background color when decors are used [default: transparent] [possible values: white, black, transparent]
  -n, --natural
          If you want a very natural typing experience and disable the idle detection and sampling optimization
  -l, --ls-win
          If you want to see a list of windows available for recording by their id [aliases: --ls]
  -w, --win-id <WIN_ID>
          Window Id (see --ls-win) that should be captured, instead of the current terminal
  -e, --end-pause <END_PAUSE>
          Pause time at the end of the animation (e.g., "2s", "500ms")
  -s, --start-pause <START_PAUSE>
          Pause time at the start of the animation (e.g., "1s", "200ms")
  -i, --idle-pause <IDLE_PAUSE>
          Max idle time before optimization kicks in. Can enhance readability [default: 3s]
  -o, --output <OUTPUT>
          Output file without extension [default: t-rec]
  -f, --fps <FPS>
          Capture framerate, 4-15 fps. Higher = smoother but larger files [default: 4]
      --profile <PROFILE>
          Use a named profile from the config file
      --init-config
          Create a starter config file at `~/.config/t-rec/config.toml` (linux) or `~/Library/Application Support/t-rec/config.toml` (macOS)
      --list-profiles
          List available profiles from the config file
  -h, --help
          Print help
  -V, --version
          Print version

Configuration File

You can save your preferred settings in a config file to avoid typing them every time.

Quick start:

# Create a starter config file
t-rec --init-config

# List available profiles
t-rec --list-profiles

# Use a profile
t-rec --profile demo

Config file locations (searched in order):

1. ./t-rec.toml (project-local)
2. ~/.config/t-rec/config.toml (Linux)
3. ~/Library/Application Support/t-rec/config.toml (macOS)
4. %APPDATA%\t-rec\config.toml (Windows)

Example config file:

# Default settings applied to all recordings
[default]
wallpaper = "ventura"
wallpaper-padding = 80

# Named profiles for different use cases
[profiles.demo]
wallpaper = "ventura"
wallpaper-padding = 120
start-pause = "10s"
idle-pause = "5s"

[profiles.quick]
quiet = true
idle-pause = "1s"

# Custom wallpaper with $HOME expansion
[profiles.custom]
wallpaper = "$HOME/Pictures/my-wallpaper.png"
wallpaper-padding = 80

Using profiles:

# Use default settings from config
t-rec

# Use a specific profile
t-rec --profile demo

# Override a profile setting
t-rec --profile demo --wallpaper-padding 150

# List available profiles
t-rec --list-profiles

Available config options:

Option	Type	Description
verbose	bool	Enable verbose output
quiet	bool	Suppress the Ctrl+D banner
video	bool	Also generate mp4 video
video-only	bool	Only generate mp4, no gif
decor	string	Border decoration (shadow, none)
wallpaper	string	Wallpaper preset or file path (supports $HOME)
wallpaper-padding	number	Padding around recording (1-500)
bg	string	Background color (white, black, transparent)
natural	bool	Disable idle detection
start-pause	string	Pause at start (e.g., 2s, 500ms)
end-pause	string	Pause at end
idle-pause	string	Max idle time before optimization
output	string	Output filename (without extension)
fps	number	Capture framerate, 4-15 (default: 4)

Note: CLI arguments always override config file settings.

Smoother Animations

For smoother typing animations in demos, increase the capture framerate:

# Smooth typing (10 fps)
t-rec --fps 10

# Very smooth (15 fps)
t-rec --fps 15

Note: Higher framerates produce larger files. The default 4 fps is recommended for most use cases.

Video Generation

After recording, t-rec will ask if you also want to generate an MP4 video:

🎉 🚀 Generating t-rec.gif

🎬 Also generate MP4 video? (y/n) ›
(auto-skip in 15s)

• Press y to generate both GIF and MP4
• Press n or wait 15 seconds to skip

To always generate video without being asked, use the --video flag:

t-rec --video          # Generate both GIF and MP4
t-rec --video-only     # Generate only MP4, no GIF

The prompt is skipped in quiet mode (-q) or non-interactive environments.

Disable idle detection & optimization

If you are not happy with the idle detection and optimization, you can disable it with the -n or --natural parameter. By doing so, you would get the very natural timeline of typing and recording as you do it. In this case there will be no optimizations performed.

Alternatively, you can keep recording idle time before optimization kicks in with the --idle-pause parameter. This gives viewers time to read the text on screen before the animation jumps to the next change:

t-rec --idle-pause 1s        # Show 1 second of unchanged content before optimization
t-rec --idle-pause 500ms     # Show 500ms of idle time

NOTE: The default value is 3s.

Enable shadow border decor

In order to enable the drop shadow border decor you have to pass -d shadow as an argument. If you only want to change the color of the background you can use -b black for example to have a black background.

Record Arbitrary windows

You can record not only the terminal but also every other window. There 3 ways to do so:

1. use -w | --win-id argument to name the Window Id that should be recorded

t-rec --ls-win | grep -i calc
Calculator | 45007

t-rec -w 45007

2. use the env var TERM_PROGRAM like this:

• for example lets record a window 'Google Chrome'
• make sure chrome is running and visible on screen

TERM_PROGRAM="google chrome" t-rec

Frame cache dir: "/var/folders/m8/084p1v0x4770rpwpkrgl5b6h0000gn/T/trec-74728.rUxBx3ohGiQ2"
Recording window: "Google Chrome 2"
Press Ctrl+D to end recording

this is how it looks then:

3. use the env var WINDOWID like this:

• for example let's record a VSCode window
• figure out the window id program, and make it
• make sure the window is visible on screen
• set the variable and run t-rec

t-rec --ls-win | grep -i code
Code | 27600

# set the WINDOWID variable and run t-rec
WINDOWID=27600 t-rec

Frame cache dir: "/var/folders/m8/084p1v0x4770rpwpkrgl5b6h0000gn/T/trec-77862.BMYiHNRWqv9Y"
Press Ctrl+D to end recording

this is how it looks then:

Contribute

To contribute to t-rec you can either checkout existing issues labeled with good first issue or open a new issue and describe your problem. Also every PR is welcome. Support for Linux and Windows needs to be done.

On the web & social media

• t-rec on producthunt.com
• t-rec on hacker news
• t-rec on reddit

License

• GNU GPL v3 license
• Copyright 2020 - 2021 © Sven Assmann.