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vhs-recording

vhs-recording

github.com/atholaCreative & media343104 installsUpdated 1d ago
Repository

About vhs-recording

vhs-recording is a skill for creating terminal recordings, aimed at people producing terminal demos for documentation. It validates a VHS tape file, runs the recording, and checks the resulting GIF.

Key features

  1. 01Validate a tape file
  2. 02Check VHS installation
  3. 03Run terminal recordings
  4. 04Verify GIF output

Use cases

  1. 01Create terminal demo GIFs for documentation
  2. 02Record terminal sessions from tape scripts

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market --skill vhs-recording

After installing, type/vhs-recordingin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Bundled filesmodules/execution.mdmodules/tape-syntax.md

Details

From the project README

VHS Recording Skill

Generate professional terminal recordings from VHS tape files.

When To Use

  • Recording terminal sessions with VHS tape scripts
  • Creating terminal demo recordings for documentation

When NOT To Use

  • Browser-based workflows - use scry:browser-recording instead
  • Non-terminal demos or GUI applications

Overview

VHS converts declarative tape files into animated GIFs of terminal sessions. Tape files define commands, timing, and terminal appearance.

Required Progress Items

- Locate and validate tape file
- Check VHS installation status
- Execute VHS recording
- Verify output GIF creation

Module Reference

  • See modules/tape-syntax.md for VHS tape file directives
  • See modules/execution.md for recording workflow details

Workflow

Phase 1: Validate Tape File
  1. Confirm tape file exists at specified path
  2. Read tape file contents
  3. Verify required directives:
    • Output directive specifies GIF destination
    • At least one action command (Type, Enter, etc.)
Phase 2: Check VHS Installation
which vhs && vhs --version

If not installed:

# Linux/WSL
go install github.com/charmbracelet/vhs@latest

# macOS
brew install charmbracelet/tap/vhs

# Also requires ttyd and ffmpeg
Phase 3: Execute Recording
vhs <tape-file.tape>

VHS will:

  1. Parse tape file directives
  2. Launch virtual terminal (ttyd)
  3. Execute commands with timing
  4. Capture frames
  5. Encode to GIF using ffmpeg
Phase 4: Verify Output
  1. Check GIF file exists at Output path
  2. Verify file size is non-zero
  3. Report success with output location

Exit Criteria

  • GIF file created at specified Output path
  • File size indicates successful recording (typically >50KB)
  • No error messages from VHS execution

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

If vhs is not found, verify that your Go bin directory is in your PATH (typically ~/go/bin). If the recording fails to start, ensure ttyd and ffmpeg are installed, as VHS depends on them for terminal emulation and video encoding. For "permission denied" errors when writing the GIF, check that the output directory exists and is writable.

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