VHS(1)

📦
version 0.12.1 · 9 versions
, in arch rolling

💅 VHS(1) — like, the manual manual ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to VHS(1) — it's the man page for vhs, and honestly? she's that girl. read this and you'll be writing terminal GIFs as code like it's nothing 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

vhs — run a given tape file and generate its outputs. that's it, that's the whole job, and she does it flawlessly 💖

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

vhs [options...] [argument...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

VHS lets you write terminal GIFs as code. no cap. literally code. 🫶

VHS reads .tape files and renders GIFs (videos). the tape file is a script, bestie — it's made up of commands describing what actions to perform in the render 🌈

here's the full list of every possible command in VHS, don't skip any i'm serious:

  • Output <path>.(gif|webm|mp4)
  • Require <program>
  • Set <setting> <value>
  • Sleep <time>
  • Type "<string>"
  • Ctrl [+Alt][+Shift]+<char>
  • Backspace [repeat]
  • Delete [repeat]
  • Insert [repeat]
  • Down [repeat]
  • Enter [repeat]
  • Left [repeat]
  • Right [repeat]
  • Tab [repeat]
  • Up [repeat]
  • PageUp [repeat]
  • PageDown [repeat]
  • ScrollUp [repeat]
  • ScrollDown [repeat]
  • Hide
  • Show
  • Wait[+Screen][@<timeout>] /<regexp>/
  • Escape
  • Alt+<key>
  • Space [repeat]
  • Source <path>.tape
  • Screenshot <path>.png
  • Copy "<string>"
  • Paste

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -o, --output — file name(s) of video output ✨
  • -p, --publish — publish your GIF to vhs.charm.sh and get a shareable URL 👑
  • -q, --quiet — quiet, like do not log messages. oh but if the publish flag is provided, it will log that shareable URL 🤫

💜 COMMANDS 💜

  • help [command] — help about any command 🫶
  • new <name> — create a new tape file, complete with example tape file contents and documentation 🎁
  • publish <gif> — publish your GIF to vhs.charm.sh and get a shareable URL 🔗
  • record — create a new tape file by recording your actions 📼
    • OPTIONS
      • -s, --shell — shell for recording
  • serve — start the VHS SSH server 🖥️
  • themes — list all the available themes, one per line 🌈
    • OPTIONS
      • --markdown — output as markdown
  • validate <file>... — validate a glob file path and parses all the files to ensure they are valid without running them ✅

⭐ OUTPUT ⭐

the Output command instructs VHS where to save the output of the recording 💾

file names with the extension .gif, .webm, .mp4 will have the respective file types. yes queen, the extension picks the format 💅

🍓 SETTINGS 🍓

the Set command allows VHS to adjust settings in the terminal, such as fonts, dimensions, and themes 🎨

here's every possible setting command in VHS, all of them, no skipping:

  • Set Shell <string>
  • Set FontSize <number>
  • Set FontFamily <string>
  • Set Height <number>
  • Set Width <number>
  • Set Rows <number>
  • Set Columns <number>
  • Set LetterSpacing <float>
  • Set LineHeight <float>
  • Set TypingSpeed <time>
  • Set Theme <json|string>
  • Set Padding <number>
  • Set Framerate <number>
  • Set PlaybackSpeed <float>
  • Set WaitTimeout <time>
  • Set WaitPattern <regexp>

💀 BUGS 💀

see GitHub Issues: <https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs/issues> — if something's cursed, that's where the receipts live 🙈

🧚 AUTHOR 🧚

Charm <vt100@charm.sh> 💌

(C) 2021-2022 Charmbracelet, Inc.

released under MIT license 📜

ok that's the whole page bestie, go make something iconic 💖

signing off from the vhs manual page, dated 2026-09-25, VHS(1) through and through — mwah 💋✨

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