What it does
The asciinema CLI records terminal sessions as asciicast files that can be replayed in a terminal, embedded on a web page, or published to an asciinema server. It also supports live streaming to a remote server or a local web server. The official project describes asciinema.org as a public server with free recording hosting and documents self-hosting for users who want to run their own server. The repository lists GNU/Linux, macOS, and FreeBSD support, and says Windows is not currently supported.
The quick-start guide uses asciinema rec demo.cast to record a session, asciinema play demo.cast to replay it, and asciinema upload demo.cast to publish it to asciinema.org. These documented commands illustrate a workflow from local capture to web sharing. Because the recording is terminal output in asciicast format rather than a screen video, viewers can copy text from the player. The CLI can also stream live, including to a local web server with asciinema stream -l.
The official guide says hosting recordings on asciinema.org is optional and free. Linking uploads to an account with asciinema auth enables management such as changing a title or terminal theme; the guide says recordings not assigned to an account are automatically deleted after seven days. Self-hosting the server is another documented option.
The GitHub Releases page marks v3.2.1 as latest; the entry displays 16 Jun without a year. Its notes describe a small release focused on error handling and formatting, including server API error reporting, an updated virtual terminal, and dependency updates. The official repository LICENSE is GNU General Public License version 3, dated 29 June 2007. The project is useful for replayable terminal walkthroughs, but an unattended public upload has a short retention window.
Strengths
- Captures terminal output in a text-based format that can be replayed and copied from.
- Supports local playback, web embedding, remote live streaming, and self-hosted servers.
- The official project documents free hosting for recordings on asciinema.org.
Watch out for
- Recordings not assigned to an account are automatically deleted after seven days.
- The official repository says Windows is currently not supported.
Best for
- Creating terminal walkthroughs that viewers can replay and copy from
- Sharing terminal demos in project documentation or streaming a session live
Sources
- asciinema.org (Oct 25, 2026)
- Getting started (Oct 25, 2026)
- Quick start (Oct 25, 2026)
- asciinema/asciinema (Oct 25, 2026)
- Releases: asciinema/asciinema (Oct 25, 2026)
- Release v3.2.1 (Oct 25, 2026)
- asciinema LICENSE (Oct 25, 2026)