rec

A CLI tool to record, replay, and export terminal sessions.

rec captures every command you run in a shell session, then lets you replay them with safety controls or export them to scripts, CI/CD configs, and documentation - turning your terminal workflow into reusable artifacts.

Quick Install

cargo install rec-cli

# With interactive TUI (optional)
cargo install rec-cli --features tui

Pre-built binaries are available for Linux (x86_64, aarch64) and macOS (x86_64, Apple Silicon) on the releases page.

Quick Start

# 1. Set up shell hooks (add to your .bashrc, .zshrc, or config.fish)
eval "$(rec init bash)"   # or: zsh, fish

# 2. Record a session
rec start deploy-server
echo "deploying..."
git pull origin main
docker compose up -d
rec stop

# 3. Replay it
rec replay deploy-server              # interactive replay
rec replay deploy-server --dry-run    # preview without executing
rec replay deploy-server --step       # one command at a time

# 4. Export to a reusable format
rec export deploy-server -f bash -o deploy.sh
rec export deploy-server -f github-action -o .github/workflows/deploy.yml
rec export deploy-server -f dockerfile -o Dockerfile

Features

Recording

rec uses native shell hooks to transparently capture every command, its working directory, exit code, and timing -- with zero overhead when not recording.

• Bash, Zsh, and Fish support with native hook integration
• Crash-safe NDJSON storage with per-command fsync
• Automatic recovery of sessions from crashed processes
• Named sessions with auto-generated names as fallback

Replay

Re-execute recorded sessions with a multi-layered safety system that prevents dangerous commands from causing harm.

rec replay my-session                         # interactive replay
rec replay my-session --dry-run               # preview only
rec replay my-session --step                  # step through one by one
rec replay my-session --skip 3,5              # skip specific commands
rec replay my-session --from 4                # start from command #4
rec replay my-session --skip-pattern "rm*"    # skip by glob pattern
rec replay my-session --cwd                   # use original directories
rec replay my-session --danger-policy skip    # auto-skip dangerous commands
rec replay my-session --danger-policy abort   # abort if any dangerous found
rec replay my-session --danger-policy allow   # allow everything

Safety presets detect destructive commands across three tiers:

• Minimal -- rm -rf /, mkfs, dd, fork bombs
• Moderate -- adds chmod -R 777, DROP TABLE, docker system prune, shutdown, kill -9
• Strict -- adds sudo, curl | sh, pip install, apt remove

Custom patterns can be added via configuration.

Export

Convert recorded sessions into 7 reusable formats:

Smart Parameterization

Auto-detect environment-specific values and replace them with variables for portable output:

rec export my-session -f bash --parameterize
# Detects /home/alice -> $HOME_DIR, alice -> $USERNAME, hostname -> $HOSTNAME

rec export my-session -f bash --param DB_HOST=prod-db.example.com
# Set explicit parameter values

Use {{VAR_NAME}} placeholders directly in your commands during recording for manual parameterization.

Session Management

rec list                          # list all sessions
rec list --tag deploy             # filter by tag
rec list --tag deploy --tag prod --tag-all  # require all tags
rec show my-session               # show session details
rec show my-session --grep "docker"  # filter commands by pattern
rec search "docker compose"       # full-text search across all sessions
rec search --regex "git (push|pull)"  # regex search
rec diff session-1 session-2      # unified diff between sessions
rec rename my-session new-name    # rename a session
rec edit my-session               # edit in $EDITOR (TOML format)
rec tag my-session deploy prod    # add tags
rec tags                          # list all tags with counts
rec tags normalize                # normalize tag casing/format
rec stats                         # aggregate recording statistics
rec delete my-session             # delete a session
rec delete --all                  # delete all sessions
rec delete --all --force          # delete all without confirmation
rec alias deploy deploy-server    # create a short alias
rec status                        # show current recording status

Interactive TUI

rec includes an optional terminal user interface for visual session management:

# Install with TUI support
cargo install rec-cli --features tui

# Launch the TUI
rec ui

Features:

• Browse and filter sessions with keyboard navigation
• View session details and command history
• Interactive replay with output display
• Export wizard with format selection
• Delete sessions with confirmation modal

Keybindings:

Import

Import existing shell history or scripts into rec sessions:

rec import deploy.sh                          # auto-detect format
rec import ~/.bash_history --name old-cmds    # import bash history
rec import ~/.zsh_history                     # zsh extended history
rec import ~/.local/share/fish/fish_history   # fish history

Supported formats: Bash scripts, Bash history, Zsh history (plain and extended), Fish history.

Diagnostics

rec doctor        # run 9 diagnostic checks with fix hints
rec doctor --json # machine-readable output
rec demo          # interactive walkthrough of all features

Configuration

rec uses a layered TOML config at ~/.config/rec/config.toml:

rec config --list               # show all settings with sources
rec config --get safety.preset  # get a specific value
rec config --set style.colors never  # set a value
rec config --edit               # open in $EDITOR
rec config --path               # print config file path

[general]
editor = "vim"          # or $EDITOR
shell = "bash"          # or $SHELL

[style]
colors = "auto"         # auto | always | never
symbols = "unicode"     # unicode | ascii
verbosity = "normal"    # quiet | normal | verbose

[safety]
preset = "moderate"     # strict | moderate | minimal
custom_patterns = ["kubectl delete", "terraform destroy"]

Environment Variables

Shell Completions

# Generate at runtime
rec completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/rec
rec completions zsh > ~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions/_rec
rec completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/rec.fish

Generate completions for your shell and add to your shell configuration.

How It Works

1. rec init bash outputs shell hooks that register preexec/precmd functions (Bash uses a bundled bash-preexec library; Zsh and Fish use native hooks)
2. rec start creates a session file and sets a recording lock with PID-based ownership
3. Shell hooks call rec _hook preexec <cmd> before each command and rec _hook precmd <exit_code> after, appending NDJSON lines to the session file with fsync
4. rec stop writes a footer line and releases the lock
5. Sessions are stored as NDJSON at ~/.local/share/rec/sessions/ -- one JSON object per line, crash-recoverable by design

Troubleshooting

Commands not being recorded

Symptom: rec stop shows "0 commands" even though you ran commands.

Cause: Shell hooks are not loaded or REC_RECORDING environment variable is not set.

Solution:

1. Make sure you've added the init line to your shell rc file:

   # ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.config/fish/config.fish
   eval "$(rec init bash)"   # or: zsh, fish
   

2. Restart your shell or run source ~/.bashrc (or equivalent)
3. Verify hooks are loaded: the rec command should be a shell function, not just the binary

   type rec   # should show "rec is a function" not just the path
   

Recording indicator not showing

Symptom: No red ● indicator in prompt during recording.

Solution: The prompt indicator requires the shell hooks to be loaded. If you're using a custom prompt theme (oh-my-zsh, starship, etc.), it may override the prompt modification. You can:

1. Manually add $(__rec_prompt_indicator) to your prompt
2. Or set REC_NO_PROMPT=1 to disable the indicator

Permission denied errors

Symptom: Errors about unable to write to session files.

Solution: Check permissions on the storage directory:

ls -la ~/.local/share/rec/
# Should be owned by your user with write permissions

Shell hooks interfering with other tools

Symptom: Conflicts with other preexec/precmd hooks or shell plugins.

Solution: Load rec init after other shell plugins in your rc file. The hooks are designed to coexist with other tools, but load order can matter.

Run diagnostics

When in doubt, run the built-in diagnostic tool:

rec doctor

This checks 9 common issues including hook installation, storage permissions, and configuration validity.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.