VHS Screenshots for Kelora Documentation

This directory contains VHS tape scripts for generating animated GIF screenshots used in the Kelora documentation.

What is VHS?

VHS is a tool for generating terminal GIFs as code. It reads .tape files containing instructions and outputs animated GIFs.

Prerequisites

Install VHS:

# macOS
brew install vhs

# Other platforms: see https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs#installation

Generating Screenshots

Regenerate All Screenshots

just screenshots

This command:

1. Builds Kelora in release mode
2. Runs all .tape files in this directory
3. Outputs GIFs to docs/screenshots/

Generate Individual Screenshots

vhs vhs/hero.tape
vhs vhs/mark-gaps.tape
vhs vhs/levelmap.tape
vhs vhs/error-triage.tape
vhs vhs/colored-output.tape

Screenshot Inventory

Tape File	Output	Used In	Shows
hero.tape	hero.gif	Homepage (hero)	Multiline stacktraces with --before-context/--after-context colored highlighting
mark-gaps.tape	mark-gaps.gif	CLI Reference	Time gap markers with --mark-gaps
levelmap.tape	levelmap.gif	Formats Reference	Compact levelmap output format
error-triage.tape	error-triage.gif	CLI Reference	Error filtering with context highlighting
colored-output.tape	colored-output.gif	Basics Tutorial	Default formatter with colored key-value pairs

Creating New Screenshots

1. Create a new .tape file in this directory
2. Use this template:

# Description of what this screenshot shows
Output docs/screenshots/your-screenshot.gif

# Settings
Set FontSize 14
Set Width 1200
Set Height 600
Set Padding 20
Set Theme "Dracula"

# Type your command
Type "./target/release/kelora [your command here]"
Sleep 500ms
Enter

# Wait for output
Sleep 3s

# Pause for reading
Sleep 2s

3. Test it: vhs vhs/your-screenshot.tape
4. Integrate into docs with: ![Alt text](../screenshots/your-screenshot.gif)

Tips

• Escaping quotes: Break complex commands into multiple Type commands to avoid escaping issues
• Timing: Adjust Sleep durations to ensure commands complete and viewers can read output
• Terminal size: Keep width around 1200px for readability in docs
• Theme: We use "Dracula" for intense, vibrant colors
• File size: GIFs can be large. Keep recordings under 10 seconds when possible

Troubleshooting

VHS parse errors with quotes:

# Instead of:
Type "kelora --filter 'e.contains(\"error\")'"

# Use:
Type "kelora --filter 'e.contains("
Type '"'
Type "error"
Type '"'
Type ")'"

Command not found: Ensure you've run cargo build --release first. The tape files use ./target/release/kelora.

Output too fast: Increase the Sleep duration after Enter.