Usage

asciinema is composed of multiple commands, similar to git, apt-get or brew.

When you run asciinema with no arguments help message is displayed, listing all available commands with their options.

rec [filename]

Record terminal session.

By running asciinema rec [filename] you start a new recording session. The command (process) that is recorded can be specified with -c option (see below), and defaults to $SHELL which is what you want in most cases.

Recording finishes when you exit the shell (hit <kbd>Ctrl+D</kbd> or type exit). If the recorded process is not a shell then recording finishes when the process exits.

If the filename argument is omitted then (after asking for confirmation) the resulting asciicast is uploaded to asciinema-server (by default to asciinema.org), where it can be watched and shared.

If the filename argument is given then the resulting recording (called asciicast) is saved to a local file. It can later be replayed with asciinema play <filename> and/or uploaded to asciinema server with asciinema upload <filename>.

ASCIINEMA_REC=1 is added to recorded process environment variables. This can be used by your shell’s config file (.bashrc, .zshrc) to alter the prompt or play a sound when the shell is being recorded.

Available options:

• --stdin - Enable stdin (keyboard) recording (see below)
• --append - Append to existing recording
• --raw - Save raw STDOUT output, without timing information or other metadata
• --overwrite - Overwrite the recording if it already exists
• -c, --command=<command> - Specify command to record, defaults to $SHELL
• -e, --env=<var-names> - List of environment variables to capture, defaults to SHELL,TERM
• -t, --title=<title> - Specify the title of the asciicast
• -i, --idle-time-limit=<sec> - Limit recorded terminal inactivity to max <sec> seconds
• -y, --yes - Answer “yes” to all prompts (e.g. upload confirmation)
• -q, --quiet - Be quiet, suppress all notices/warnings (implies -y)

Stdin recording allows for capturing of all characters typed in by the user in the currently recorded shell. This may be used by a player (e.g. asciinema-player) to display pressed keys. Because it’s basically a key-logging (scoped to a single shell instance), it’s disabled by default, and has to be explicitly enabled via --stdin option.

play <filename>

Replay recorded asciicast in a terminal.

This command replays given asciicast (as recorded by rec command) directly in your terminal.

Following keyboard shortcuts are available:

• <kbd>Space</kbd> - toggle pause,
• <kbd>.</kbd> - step through a recording a frame at a time (when paused),
• <kbd>Ctrl+C</kbd> - exit.

Playing from a local file:

asciinema play /path/to/asciicast.cast

Playing from HTTP(S) URL:

asciinema play https://asciinema.org/a/22124.cast
asciinema play http://example.com/demo.cast

Playing from asciicast page URL (requires <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-asciicast" href="/my/ascii.cast"> in page’s HTML):

asciinema play https://asciinema.org/a/22124
asciinema play http://example.com/blog/post.html

Playing from stdin:

cat /path/to/asciicast.cast | asciinema play -
ssh user@host cat asciicast.cast | asciinema play -

Playing from IPFS:

asciinema play dweb:/ipfs/QmNe7FsYaHc9SaDEAEXbaagAzNw9cH7YbzN4xV7jV1MCzK/ascii.cast

Available options:

• -i, --idle-time-limit=<sec> - Limit replayed terminal inactivity to max <sec> seconds
• -s, --speed=<factor> - Playback speed (can be fractional)

For the best playback experience it is recommended to run asciinema play in a terminal of dimensions not smaller than the one used for recording, as there’s no “transcoding” of control sequences for new terminal size.

cat <filename>

Print full output of recorded asciicast to a terminal.

While asciinema play <filename> replays the recorded session using timing information saved in the asciicast, asciinema cat <filename> dumps the full output (including all escape sequences) to a terminal immediately.

asciinema cat existing.cast >output.txt gives the same result as recording via asciinema rec --raw output.txt.

upload <filename>

Upload recorded asciicast to asciinema.org site.

This command uploads given asciicast (recorded by rec command) to asciinema.org, where it can be watched and shared.

asciinema rec demo.cast + asciinema play demo.cast + asciinema upload demo.cast is a nice combo if you want to review an asciicast before publishing it on asciinema.org.

auth

Link your install ID with your asciinema.org user account.

If you want to manage your recordings (change title/theme, delete) at asciinema.org you need to link your “install ID” with asciinema.org user account.

This command displays the URL to open in a web browser to do that. You may be asked to log in first.

Install ID is a random ID (UUID v4) generated locally when you run asciinema for the first time, and saved at $HOME/.config/asciinema/install-id. It’s purpose is to connect local machine with uploaded recordings, so they can later be associated with asciinema.org account. This way we decouple uploading from account creation, allowing them to happen in any order.

A new install ID is generated on each machine and system user account you use asciinema on, so in order to keep all recordings under a single asciinema.org account you need to run asciinema auth on all of those machines.

asciinema versions prior to 2.0 confusingly referred to install ID as “API token”.