# VHS demo tapes
Each `.tape` file in this directory is a [VHS](https://github.com/charmbracelet/vhs)
script that renders an animated `.gif` (or `.svg` / `.webm`) of bee-tui in
operation. The output goes into the README + the v1.0 blog post.
## Render
```sh
# install vhs once
brew install vhs # macOS
go install github.com/charmbracelet/vhs@latest # cross-platform
# vhs also needs ttyd + ffmpeg on PATH:
# apt-get install ttyd ffmpeg # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install ttyd ffmpeg # macOS
# or grab the static ttyd binary from
# https://github.com/tsl0922/ttyd/releases/latest
# build + install bee-tui locally first so VHS can launch it
cargo build --release
cp ../../target/release/bee-tui ~/.local/bin/
# render every tape in this directory
for t in *.tape; do vhs "$t"; done
# (optional) shrink the GIFs without visible quality loss — palette
# extraction at 10 fps + lanczos downscale to 900 wide gets ~40% off
for g in *.gif; do
ffmpeg -y -i "$g" -vf "fps=10,scale=900:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen=max_colors=128[p];[s1][p]paletteuse" "${g%.gif}-opt.gif"
mv "${g%.gif}-opt.gif" "$g"
done
```
VHS spawns a real terminal under the hood, so you'll need a Bee node
reachable on `localhost:1633` (or whatever the tape's `BEE_TUI_CONFIG`
points at) for the screens to populate. For deterministic recordings,
point at a fixture node with stable peer / batch / tag state.
**Rich-data recordings**: the demos shipped on `main` were rendered
against a fresh testnet node with no postage and few peers, so S2
shows the empty stamps state and S6's drill shows the bin starvation
typical of a cold node. To re-render with rich data, point the tapes
at a warm mainnet node — `BEE_TUI_CONFIG=...` env var, then re-run
the loop above. The empty-state recordings are still useful for the
README because they show authentic UX a fresh operator will see.
## Tapes
- `cold-start.tape` — first 30 seconds of a fresh launch: tab cycle,
syncing-warn header, gates settling.
- `s2-stamp-drill.tape` — open S2, navigate to a batch, `↵` drill,
read the bucket histogram, `Esc` back.
- `s6-peer-drill.tape` — open S6, drill a peer, watch the four-way
fan-out land.
- `pins-check.tape` — `:pins-check`, watch the file appear in
`$TMPDIR`, `tail -f` it in another pane.
## Conventions
- 80×24 terminal — same constraint as the screens are designed for.
- Tape names are kebab-case + match a feature.
- Output files (`.gif`) go alongside the `.tape` and are committed
(small, ~200 KiB each); regenerated only on intentional UX changes.
- Don't include real bearer tokens in tape config; use the `local`
default profile or a dummy fixture.
