Screencli

What It Does

screencli records an AI-driven browser session and produces a polished MP4 with gradient backgrounds, auto-zoom, click highlights, and cursor trails. The AI agent navigates the target URL following your prompt instructions, then the recording is composed with effects and auto-uploaded to screencli.sh with a shareable link. No video editing needed.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• Record a demo or walkthrough of a web app, feature, or workflow
• Create a screencast or video showing how something works in a browser
• Generate a shareable link to a screen recording
• Make a GIF or video for a README, PR, docs, or social media
• Record a before/after to show a UI change or bug fix
• Demo a deploy or staging environment visually

Do not use this skill for:

• Screenshots (use a screenshot tool instead)
• Non-browser tasks (terminal recordings, desktop apps)
• Editing existing videos

Quick Start

Set up screencli (one-time):

npx screencli init

This prompts you to sign in to screencli.sh (free credits, default) or paste your own Anthropic API key. It also offers to install the screencli skill for your coding agent.

Record a demo and get a shareable link:

npx screencli record https://example.com -p "Click the Sign Up button, fill in the form with test data, and submit"

The AI agent navigates the page, the recording is composed with effects, uploaded, and you get a shareable URL.

Recording

Command

npx screencli record [url] -p "<prompt>" [options]

The URL and prompt are required. If omitted, the CLI prompts interactively.

Key Options

Examples

Simple — record a public page:

npx screencli record https://myapp.com -p "Navigate to the pricing page and compare the Free and Pro plans"

With auth — login to a private app first:

# First run: human logs in, auth state saved
npx screencli record https://app.internal.com -p "Show the dashboard metrics" --login --auth myapp

# Next runs: reuses saved session
npx screencli record https://app.internal.com -p "Export the monthly report" --auth myapp

Exporting

Export a recording with platform-specific presets:

npx screencli export <recording-dir> --preset <name>

Presets

Example

npx screencli export ./recordings/abc123 --preset twitter

Export also accepts --background, --padding, --corner-radius, --no-shadow, --no-zoom, --no-highlight, and --no-cursor.

Auth for Private Apps

To record behind a login wall, use --login and --auth together on the first run:

npx screencli record https://app.example.com -p "..." --login --auth myapp

The browser opens for you to log in manually. Once done, the AI agent takes over and auth state is saved to ~/.screencli/auth/myapp.json.

On subsequent runs, pass just --auth:

npx screencli record https://app.example.com -p "..." --auth myapp

If a session expires, re-run with --login --auth <name> to refresh it.

Cloud

Recordings auto-upload to screencli.sh by default. Skip with --local.

Commands

Credits

1 credit = 10 agent steps. Free tier includes 15 credits/month.

After a recording uploads, the CLI shows credits used and remaining.

Effects

All recordings get automatic post-processing:

• Gradient background — automatically selected (override with --background <name>)
• Auto-trim — removes idle time between actions
• Auto-zoom — zooms into the active area during interactions
• Click highlights — visual pulse on each click
• Cursor trail — smooth cursor movement overlay

Toggle individual effects off with --no-zoom, --no-highlight, --no-cursor.

See references/effects.md for gradient colors and the full effects pipeline.

Troubleshooting

References

• CLI Reference — all commands and flags
• Effects Reference — gradients, backgrounds, effects pipeline