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PhanTerm

Session Recording

Whether for writing documentation with exact operation logs or for auditing and post-mortem analysis, recording terminal sessions is a mandatory skill for advanced operations. PhanTerm provides a first-class, built-in lossless recording feature.

Asciicast v2 Format Standard

Section titled “Asciicast v2 Format Standard”

Unlike standard screen video recordings or rigid text logs, PhanTerm captures sessions using the asciicast v2 format, which is widely popular among developers. It accurately records timing and keystroke trajectories, resulting in extremely small file sizes. These files can be replayed internally within PhanTerm and are perfectly compatible with the vast Asciinema ecosystem for web playback.

How to Record

Section titled “How to Record”
  1. While in a terminal tab, press R (uppercase) to start recording the current session.
  2. The bottom status bar will illuminate with a red ● REC indicator.
  3. Press R again to stop recording. The file will be automatically timestamped and saved locally without causing any interruptions.
  4. Recording state is strictly isolated per session. You can independently record in multiple tabs simultaneously, and they will never interfere with each other.

Cinema Mode & Replay

Section titled “Cinema Mode & Replay”

Once recording is complete, press W (uppercase) to summon the built-in playlist.

  • In this interface, you can browse all historical recordings or press d to clean up unneeded records.
  • Select a file and press Enter to enter player mode.
  • Player Controls:
    • Space: Pause or resume playback.
    • + / -: Adjust playback speed in real-time (stepless variable speed from 0.5x to 4x), allowing you to fast-forward through waits or observe in slow motion.
    • Esc: Exit the player and return to the list.