{"data":{"slug":"vhs","name":"VHS","tagline":"MIT terminal GIFs as code — .tape scripts for CLI demos","category":"devops","categoryName":"DevOps","url":"https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs","github":"https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs","pricing":"open-source","hook":"VHS is terminal demo GIFs as code when you want reproducible CLI tapes instead of hand-recording screen capture.","whatsGood":"MIT. charmbracelet/vhs. Write `.tape` scripts (Type, Enter, Sleep, Set FontSize/Width/Height, Output) that drive a virtual terminal and emit GIF/WebM/MP4 for docs, READMEs, and integration demos. Charm stack; active releases. Source github.com/charmbracelet/vhs.","theCatch":"Vs asciinema (live cast recording) and freeze (Charm still frames): VHS is *scripted* GIF generation that needs a TTY-capable install path (ttyd/ffmpeg deps show up in real installs). Not an interactive recorder you click through. Keep hand-capture when the demo is exploratory, not scripted.","verdict":"MIT CLI demo tapes. Free forever; check the .tape into git and regenerate the GIF.","addedAt":"2026-09-12","featured":false,"domain":"DevOps","subSpecialty":"Infrastructure","subcategory":"Terminal & Shell","tags":["cli","self-host","permissive","active"],"capabilities":["cli"],"surfaces":["CLI","Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"OSS/MIT","githubStars":21148,"starsPerWeek":95,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2022-07-19","pushedAt":"2026-10-01","license":"MIT","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"github-actions","name":"GitHub Actions","tagline":"CI/CD that lives where your code does"},{"slug":"docker","name":"Docker","tagline":"Container runtime that changed deployment"},{"slug":"kubernetes","name":"Kubernetes","tagline":"Container orchestration at scale"},{"slug":"pulumi","name":"Pulumi","tagline":"Infrastructure as code in real languages"},{"slug":"fly-io","name":"Fly.io","tagline":"Deploy apps to VMs close to your users"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/vhs","html":"/gems/vhs","markdown":"/gems/vhs.md","category":"/api/gems?category=devops","categoryPage":"/stacks/devops"}}