Convert terminal recordings (ttyrec files) into animated GIFs by capturing screenshots of each frame.
ttygif is a command-line tool that converts ttyrec terminal session recordings into animated GIF files. It captures screenshots of each frame from the recording, enabling developers to create visual demonstrations of terminal commands and workflows. The tool is designed to be simple and efficient, focusing solely on the conversion process.
Developers, system administrators, and technical educators who need to share terminal sessions visually, such as for tutorials, documentation, or debugging demonstrations.
ttygif offers a straightforward, no-frills solution for converting terminal recordings to GIFs, with cross-platform support and minimal dependencies. Its simplicity and reliability make it a preferred choice over more complex alternatives for quick, shareable terminal visuals.
Convert terminal recordings to animated gifs
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Focuses solely on converting ttyrec to GIF with a stripped-down codebase adapted from ttyplay, ensuring simplicity and reliability, as stated in the philosophy.
Available for Linux distributions like Debian, Fedora, and Arch via source or packages, and macOS via Homebrew, with clear setup instructions in the README.
Includes a debug mode via TTYGIF_DEBUG that prints command execution details, helping troubleshoot issues, as highlighted in the debugging section.
Allows manual setting of the WINDOWID environment variable for cases where automatic detection fails, with examples using xdotool on Ubuntu.
Requires installing multiple packages like imagemagick, ttyrec, gcc, and x11-apps, and compiling from source on some systems, which can be time-consuming.
Only works with ttyrec files, forcing users to record in this format first, adding an extra step before conversion.
Relies on X11 for screenshot capture, as dependencies include x11-apps, making it unsuitable for headless or non-graphical terminals.
Users may encounter WINDOWID errors requiring manual intervention, such as setting environment variables or installing xdotool, as noted in additional notes.