Terminal Session Replay

Terminal Session Replay

What This Does

A CLI tool to record, replay, and export terminal sessions. Captures commands, outputs, and timing for later review, documentation, or sharing with teammates. Wraps the standard script command with a simpler interface and additional features.

Key features:

• Record sessions - Start recording terminal session with a simple command
• Replay sessions - Play back recorded sessions with original timing
• Export to markdown - Convert sessions to readable documentation
• Session management - List, view, and delete recorded sessions
• Metadata support - Add titles, descriptions, and tags to sessions
• Timing control - Adjust playback speed or skip timing for quick review

How To Use

Record a session:

./scripts/main.py record --output session1

Replay a session:

./scripts/main.py replay --input session1

Export to markdown:

./scripts/main.py export --input session1 --output session1.md

List recorded sessions:

./scripts/main.py list

Full command reference:

./scripts/main.py help

Commands

• record: Start recording a terminal session

  • --output: Session name (default: timestamp-based)
  • --title: Session title for metadata
  • --desc: Session description
  • --tags: Comma-separated tags

• replay: Replay a recorded session

  • --input: Session name to replay
  • --speed: Playback speed multiplier (default: 1.0)
  • --no-timing: Skip timing, display immediately

• export: Export session to markdown

  • --input: Session name to export
  • --output: Output markdown file (default: session_name.md)
  • --include-timing: Include timing information in export

• list: List all recorded sessions

  • --filter-tags: Filter by tags

• info: Show session metadata

  • --input: Session name

• delete: Delete a session

  • --input: Session name to delete

Output

Sessions are stored in ~/.terminal-sessions/ by default:

• session_name.typescript: Raw terminal recording (script output)
• session_name.timing: Timing data for replay
• session_name.meta.json: Metadata (title, description, tags, timestamp)

Export produces markdown like:

# Terminal Session: Setting up Project

**Recorded:** 2026-03-11 10:30:00  
**Duration:** 2 minutes 15 seconds

```bash
$ git clone https://github.com/example/project
Cloning into 'project'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 100, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (100/100), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (80/80), done.
remote: Total 100 (delta 20), reused 80 (delta 15), pack-reused 0
Receiving objects: 100% (100/100), 1.5 MiB | 3.5 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (20/20), done.

$ cd project
$ npm install
...

Limitations

• Requires script command (available on Linux/macOS, not on Windows without WSL/Cygwin)
• Cannot record GUI applications or mouse interactions
• Very fast terminal output may not be captured perfectly
• Sessions can be large if recording for long periods
• Color and formatting may not be preserved in markdown export
• Requires terminal with proper support for script command

Examples

Record a debugging session:

./scripts/main.py record --output debug-session --title "Debugging API issue" --tags "debug,api"
# ... work in terminal ...
exit  # or Ctrl+D to end recording

Replay at 2x speed:

./scripts/main.py replay --input debug-session --speed 2.0

Export for documentation:

./scripts/main.py export --input debug-session --output DEBUGGING.md

Installation Notes

The script command is typically pre-installed on Linux and macOS systems. On Windows, use WSL or Cygwin.

The tool creates ~/.terminal-sessions/ directory to store recordings.