Terminal Screenshots

What This Skill Does

The Terminal Screenshots skill, authored by ricardodantas, provides a specialized interface for the VHS tool by Charmbracelet. VHS is a powerful terminal-to-video tool that allows you to script terminal sessions using a declarative language called 'tape'. This skill automates the creation of professional-grade terminal recordings, enabling users to generate high-quality GIFs, MP4 videos, and static screenshots directly from command-line interactions. By abstracting the complexities of VHS configurations, the skill allows you to produce consistent, branded visual content for documentation, marketing, and technical tutorials without manually recording your screen.

Installation

To install this skill, run the following command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/ricardodantas/terminal-screenshots. Ensure that you have the necessary system dependencies installed, specifically vhs, ttyd, and ffmpeg. On macOS or Linux, the easiest way to install these is via Homebrew: brew install vhs. For other distributions, follow the specific package manager instructions provided in the skill documentation to ensure that your environment supports video encoding and terminal emulation.

Use Cases

This skill is ideal for technical writers and developers who need to keep documentation up to date. Common use cases include generating 'How-to' GIFs for README files, creating consistent screen captures for technical blogs, producing high-fidelity demo videos for CLI tools, and implementing visual regression testing by comparing current terminal outputs against stored 'golden file' screenshots. Because VHS uses a scripting approach, your terminal visual assets are version-controllable and reproducible.

Example Prompts

1. 'Create a VHS tape file that demonstrates running our CLI tool with the --help flag and save the output as a 600px wide GIF.'
2. 'Generate a terminal recording of the setup process for our service, using the Catppuccin Mocha theme, and export it as an MP4 video.'
3. 'Update the terminal screenshot for the login flow documentation; use the Tokyo Night theme and ensure the font size is set to 18px.'

Tips & Limitations

When working with VHS, remember that the terminal environment within the recording is separate from your host environment. You must include any necessary setup commands (like installing dependencies or navigating directories) within the tape file itself. Since VHS relies on ffmpeg for video encoding, ensure your system has sufficient resources. Large recordings can take time to render, so keep your scripts concise and focused on the specific command you wish to showcase. Always test your tape files locally to ensure the terminal output matches your expectations before finalizing your documentation assets.