# asciinema

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__asciinema__ (aka asciinema CLI or asciinema recorder) is a command-line tool
for recording terminal sessions.

Unlike typical _screen_ recording software, which records visual output of a
screen into a heavyweight video files (`.mp4`, `.mov`), asciinema recorder runs
_inside a terminal_, capturing terminal session output into a lightweight
recording files in the
[asciicast](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/asciicast/v2/) format (`.cast`).

The recordings can be replayed in a terminal, embedded on a web page with the
[asciinema player](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/player/), or published to
an [asciinema server](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/server/), such as
[asciinema.org](https://asciinema.org), for further sharing.

[![asciinema CLI
demo](https://asciinema.org/a/85R4jTtjKVRIYXTcKCNq0vzYH.svg)](https://asciinema.org/a/85R4jTtjKVRIYXTcKCNq0vzYH?autoplay=1)

Notable features:

* [recording](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/cli/usage/#asciinema-rec-filename)
  and
  [replaying](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/cli/usage/#asciinema-play-filename)
  of sessions inside a terminal,
* [light-weight recording
  format](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/asciicast/v2/), which is highly
  compressible (down to 15% of the original size e.g. with `zstd` or `gzip`),
* integration with [asciinema
  server](https://docs.asciinema.org/manual/server/), e.g.
  [asciinema.org](https://asciinema.org), for easy recording hosting.

Recording is as easy as running this command in your shell:

```sh
asciinema rec demo.cast
```

Check out the [Getting started
guide](https://docs.asciinema.org/getting-started/) for installation and usage
overview.

## Development

This branch (`main`) tracks the previous generation of the asciinema CLI,
written in Python. This codebase is now in maintenance mode, and no more
features will be added to it. All effort goes into the upcoming 3.0 (`develop`
branch), which is a complete [rewrite in
Rust](https://discourse.asciinema.org/t/rust-rewrite-of-the-asciinema-cli/777).

## Donations

Sustainability of asciinema development relies on donations and sponsorships.

Please help the software project you use and love. Become a
[supporter](https://docs.asciinema.org/donations/#individuals) or a [corporate
sponsor](https://docs.asciinema.org/donations/#corporate-sponsorship).

asciinema is sponsored by:

- [Brightbox](https://www.brightbox.com/)

## Consulting

If you're interested in integration or customization of asciinema to suit your
needs, check [asciinema consulting
services](https://docs.asciinema.org/consulting/).

## License

© 2011 Marcin Kulik.

All code is licensed under the GPL, v3 or later. See [LICENSE](./LICENSE) file
for details.