VHS
MIT terminal GIFs as code — .tape scripts for CLI demos
DevOps / Infrastructure · OSS/MIT · 21.1k
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · last push 2026-10-01 · repo checked 2026-10-19
What's Good
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.
The Catch
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.
Embed
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Markdown
[](https://stackgems.com/gems/vhs)
HTML
<a href="https://stackgems.com/gems/vhs"><img src="https://stackgems.com/badge/vhs.svg" alt="VHS reviewed on Stack Gems" height="20"></a>